Fire up your Pinterest board ladies and stock up on a variety of arts and craft supplies! A great way to stay within your wedding budget is to make your own wedding favors. These wedding favors are a sweet gesture to show your love and appreciation to your wedding guest for joining you on your special day. Keep in mind many of these items you can buy in bulk and save you quite a bit of money. Where will you find the time to handcraft 100+ unique wedding favors for your charming celebration in the world? Don’t worry – grab a bottle of wine (or two) and get your gal pals together for an evening to assist. This will make the process easier, fast, and a lot more fun! BONUS: if some of your bridesmaids have not yet had the opportunity to meet, this will be an excellent way for them to mingle and socialize before the wedding.

As a friendly reminder, there are numerous gifts you can craft together. No matter what you end up choosing for your special day, your guest will be beaming with excitement and appreciate the kind gesture of your gratitude. Below we have provided a few ideas we think would be a wonderful touch to your dream Southern Bell wedding, but feel free to switch up the ideas and put your own personal spin on them. There is no such thing as cheesy gifts or too mushy of catchphrases to tie onto that gift when it comes to weddings.

Bundle Me Up….

If you are planning an enchanting rustic wedding this fall at our stunning Gruene Wedding Estate venue, the perfect wedding favor is simple. Wrapped blankets or scarfs! This is a great way to add an extra flair to your wedding color scheme. Show off those breathtaking blue, blush pink or lavender hues, that your guest can drape themselves in when it gets a little chill at dusk. Attach a short and sweet note and be sure to have the thoughtful gift placed at the reception entrance. Rest assured our open-air venue has robust heaters to keep you and your guest cozy, but a thoughtful blanket or scarf will be a sentimental gift they will keep with them always.

Hot Cocoa Mason Jars

Who doesn’t love a cup of hot cocoa in the winter? This is a tasty gift that can be enjoyed during the celebration or saved for later. Spicy it up with mini-liquor bottles to add a splash of Bailey’s, Fireball, or Crown for the adults.

S’ more Kit Favors

Prepare pre-packaged s’ more kits for a gift your guest can open during the reception and toast some delicious treats over our outdoor fire pits. The kiddos will appreciate these the most and be thrilled they have something to look forward to!

Wildflower Seeds

Let your love blossom! Craft a catchy rhyme that doubles as a “thank you for coming” note and attach it to a bag of wildflower seeds. Select a variety of flowers or use seeds specific to your wedding floral selection. Your guest can sprinkle in the magical evening’s memory into their very own gardens back home and have a special memory of your wedding day when the blooms begin to blossom.

Mini Champagne Bottles 

Pop the champagne; you’re changing your last name! Miniature champagne bottles can be customized to your liking and provided either at the beginning or end of the wedding reception. There are a couple pros to both. First, if you provide the champagne bottle as a gift when your guest arrives at the reception, it starts the evening off with a “POP” and the party is officially a hit!

Should you decide to hold off until the end of the night and pass the champagne bottles out as a “goodbye” and “thank you for coming” gift, the bottles are least likely to get left behind. Holding off until the end of the night can serve as a “cheers” opportunity to you and your soon to be hubby as you exiting the venue to leave for the evening.

Take-Home Goodie Bags

Between the delicious dinner and enriched wedding cake, your guest may be stuffed to the max. However, after an evening of dancing and socializing, one is bound to begin catching a little sweet tooth towards the end of the night. Have a dessert station placed out towards the reception exit. Take it up a notch and have personalized take-home dessert bags made with a catchy phrase and your wedding date. This will give those guests who may have missed cake an opportunity to have a dessert, as well as serve guests a quick “to go” bag as they head home for the night.

Wedding Koozie

Can one really have too many koozies? We think not! Design a unique wedding koozie featuring your theme and celebration date. Have the gift available at the entrance to your Texas Hill Country wedding reception as a “welcome to the party” and a “thank you for coming”. Your guest will be thankful for the gesture and your gift will be featured in every wedding photo all night long!

Take this gift up to one notch by tying on a personalized bottle opener to each koozie! This gift is a fan favorite as it can be used long after your wedding day.

Fur Friend Favors

This year’s ever-growing trend is a mason jar (or doggie bags) full of treats for our furry friends! Many guests had to leave their fur babies at home alone. Pack a “to-go” bag of dog bones/treats for your guest to take on their way out. Have a pup or two of your own? Place a family picture of all of you at the gift table and mention the doggie bag from Mr. or Mrs (Insert doggie name here).

Although you may have some leftovers, it is better to have a little too many than not enough. A good rule of thumb is making at a minimum of 10 extra wedding favors. We also advise ordering a sample product before placing a full order. Make sure the product looks how you want it to and is a good base to your craft. To ensure everything dries in enough time, or arrives on time, have the wedding favors prepared or delivered at least three weeks before your wedding date. If you are baking treats and they need to be fresh, make sure the mason jar, personalized bag, decorated box, etc. is completely finished, so you can easily stuff the container a day or two before your celebration! Lastly, you are the bride! Between getting ready, and greeting family that has come into town, be sure you have designated a reliable family member or friend to deliver the wedding favors to the venue. This should be the least of your worry, so mark it off your list as soon as it is assigned to your trusted party guest.

Photos by Darkroom Foto.