10 Earth-Friendly Wedding Favors

Photo // 1985 Luke Photography

Over the years wedding favors have rose to become one of the many notable elements in weddings. These little thank you gifts for guests can truly be a hit- or- miss. The right gift can properly convey your message and elevate the overall guest experience, while the opposite can leave your guests feeling indifferent and may just end up as excess waste. When not properly planned, wedding celebrations can be expensive and harmful to the environment with its large amount of leftover waste; unwanted favors just adds on to that impending list. With just a bit of thought and care, you can honor your guests with gifts that are meaningful not only to you but to the local community and planet as well. Here are 10 unique and purposeful earth- friendly wedding favors that will add a special touch to your big day!

Photo// Nicole Veldman Photography + Video

Soy Candle

Scented candles make lovely gifts for your guests! Compared to the usual paraffin candles, soy candles are a much more eco- conscious alternative. Not only do they burn slower and last longer, they also produce 90% lesser soot than normal candles making them more environmental – friendly and healthier for those who like to enjoy a good scent. If you’re having an outdoor wedding, we’d highly recommend lemongrass – scented soy candles as they can double as mosquito repellents. Burn a few at the venue for a calming aroma and give out the rest as favors for your guests!

Soy candle // Dorothy Scent
Photo// Louis Loo Photography

Photo // Etsy

Photo // Marrygrams

Seed Favors

Seeds of love! Seed packets make fun and exciting favors as guests can try their hand at gardening. ⁣There are many seed types available to choose from. You can go for symbolic flowering plants like Forget-Me-Nots (protection) or Sunflowers (longevity), or opt for vegetable seeds in which your guests can experience growing and harvesting their own food. One of our recent couples chose a variety of vegetable seeds to gift to their loved ones. They came in cute little jars along with guests’ names on personalized heart tags! In support of a local brand, the seed jars were by Eats, Shoots & Roots – a homegrown social enterprise aimed to empower our urban community to grow our own food. At their reception, guests were gifted with either birdseye chilli, cucumber, lady’s finger, brinjal, pak choy, french bean, long bean, Thai basil or cilantro seeds. Not to worry if some of your guests do not have a green thumb as these seeds are said to be fairly easy to grow!

Seed jars // Eats, Shoots & Roots
Photo // Louis Gan Photography

Photo// Notonthehighstreet

Photo// A.J. Dunlap Photography

Photo// Erin L. Taylor Photography

Potted Plants

A green favor that uplifts the planet and adds on to your wedding decor. Flowering plants and potted herb plants are among the few that are popular at weddings. You can buy them in bulk at a local nursery which in return also helps to support our local businesses. Succulents are also a great choice as their easy to care for, low maintenance and they come in a variety of colours and patterns which can make beautiful decoration on your guest tables.

Succulent // Ola Cacti
Photo // Brickhouse

Photo // The Knot

Photo // The Succulent Source

Photo // One Fab Day

Photo // The Knot

Zero Waste Essentials

Eco- conscious and practical! Gift your guests a set of eco- friendly daily use items like stainless steel water tumblers, metal straws or reusable canvas bags. You can also go the extra mile and personalize your gifts by having each individual’s name tagged or printed on their respective kits. It’s the perfect tool to help minimize our daily trash output and your loved ones will surely be reminded of your big day whenever they’re out shopping with their bag or sipping bubble tea with their straws!

Photo // Ndrew Photography

Photo // Pinterest

Photo // Etsy

Photo // Justweddingparty

Photo // Etsy

Photo // The Knot

Fair Trade Coffee Beans

If you’re a coffee lover, why not gift your guests coffee beans so they can sip on a good cup! Fair trade certified coffee contributes to sustainability by offering better trading conditions to farmers. This directly supports a better life for farming families in developing nations through fair prices, community development and environmental stewardship. Puro Fairtrade Coffee and Cottle Coffee are some of the fair trade certified brands that you can find here in Malaysia.

Photo // The Knot

Photo // Matt Stallone Photography

Photo // Heather Jowett Photography

Photo // Meredith Jane Photography

Natural Self- Care Products

Bar soaps, bath bombs, body butters… Treat your friends and family to chemical- free products formulated from plant-based, raw or natural ingredients. You can support beauty brands that offer packaging-free products or recyclable packaging to further minimize the use of single- use plastics. A few environmentally – conscious beauty brands that you can visit here for some natural self – care favors are Lush, The Olive Tree and Handmade Heroes.

Photo // Pop Sugar

Photo // Etsy

Photo // Confetti Sweethearts

Photo // Pretty My Party

Charity Donation

Skip out on the material things and make a donation in your guest’s name instead! Give back to those in need or support a meaningful cause on behalf of your guests as a gift. You can leave a note on your guest tables with details of the donation, which will help spread awareness on the charitable organization and its cause too. The world is in need of more acts of kindness especially during these times. With many being deeply affected by the pandemic, you can choose to support COVID-19 relief funds that are dedicated to helping vulnerable communities – MERCY Malaysia COVID-19 Emergency Relief Fund, The Lost Food Project, #KitaBantuKita Tabung Covid- 19: Bantu Jiran Kita and NGOhub Emergency Fund.

Photo // Leah Rife Photography

Photo // Amanda Watson Photography

Photo // Caroline Ro Photography

Photo Source // DogsTrust

Floral Centrepiece

Elegant floral centrepiece decor on guest tables can also double as favors! Did you know that florals contribute a significant amount to the overall waste produced at each wedding? Often times these lovely fresh flowers are only on display for the mere few hours and will be thrown away once the celebration is over. We witness this cycle at almost every wedding and can’t help but feel disheartened as it is such a waste to throw them out. These beautiful arrangements definitely deserve a second chance at display. So once they’ve done their part styling your wedding, why not have your guests bring back to decorate their home? A multipurpose approach that we’d highly encourage you to consider! Few things to take note – do make sure each table has enough bouquets/ plants for guest to bring home, and have your host emcee inform everyone of these take- home centerpieces at the end of the celebration.

Photo // Rustic Wedding Chic

Photo // Event Crush

Photo // Reego Photography

Photo // Martha Stewart Weddings

Snack Favors

An edible treat can never go wrong! Cookies, sweets, popcorn are all good safe choices as they’re loved by guests of all ages. A unique and healthier option to consider are dried fruits. Tasty and nutritious, we had a couple get them as kid favors for their younger guests and let’s just say the kids weren’t the only ones snacking on them at the wedding! You can fill these yummy gifts in Mason jars or recyclable packets for a more eco- friendly packaging.

Dried Fruit Favors // The Two Pineapples

Photo // Etsy

Photo // Something Turquoise

Photo // Nikki Mills

Photo // Etsy

Photo // Etsy

Photo // Jenna Briane Photography

No favors

It’s totally fine to not have any favors at your wedding! As these door gifts can have a negative impact on our planet and can be quite costly especially when you have a big celebration, you can choose to forego this element and focus on other priorities for your big day. Favors are a good addition to the party, but are not absolutely necessary. If you’re providing food and drinks at your wedding, there is no reason to feel guilty about not giving out gifts to your guests!

Photography // Erin J Saldana