Eco-Friendly Wedding Favor Ideas ♥

In today's installment of our Wedding with Heart series we deal with an interesting topic: wedding favors. In recent years brides have begun to wonder if they really need to have wedding favors at their weddings? Do their guests enjoy them? And, more importantly, are they perhaps a waste of money and resources? If not properly planned, weddings can be expensive, and sadly, damaging to the environment, too, with unwanted wedding favors adding to the excess.

This needn't be the case. In fact, with a bit of thought and a little bit of care, there are many ways that you can gift your guests wedding favors which are meaningful and eco-friendly, while at the same time supporting your local community and helping the environment. Yay! Here's how.

Plant Based Eco-Friendly Wedding Favor Ideas

Above: Fresh herbs for guests to enjoy. Pics:Christine Le Roux photography
Above: Home-grown succulent wedding favors. Pics: Chloe Luka Photography

1. (Above) Home Grown Succulent Wedding Favors: Grow them at home in your own garden or buy them ready grown at your local nursery. Pop them into recycled glass containers or Mason jars.

2. (Above) Fresh potted herbs: These can be taken home to be potted by your guests or sprinkled onto the meal served at the wedding.

3. Fresh Flower Seeds: Select a local flower that has a special meaning, or in a colour that you love, and gift them to your guests to prettify their garden. If you live in a city, choose flowers that can easily grow in a window box so that guests without gardens can enjoy them, too. (Confession, we did this for our wedding more than four years ago and shamefully have still not planted our own seeds. Perhaps the next option might be more practical!)

(Above) DIY Eco-friendly tree saplings. Photo: Christopher Smith Photography,

4. (Above) Potted Plant or Tree Sapling: Instead of seeds, gift your guests sweet tree saplings that simply need repotting when they're large enough. Attach a handwritten note or printed instructions and set at each place to prettify your table, too!

5. Plant a Tree or Sponsor an Acre of Rainforest: Reduce your carbon footprint by adding to the environment instead of taking from it. Sponsor the planting of a tree, or save an acre of rainforest. Organisations such as Greenpop, Platbos, or similar will be happy to help.

6. (Above) Terrarium Favors: What we love about these is that in addition to being beautiful, handmade and environmentally friendly gifts that keep giving joy to the recipient, they're also going to double as eco-friendly wedding decor! {Photo by Kusjka du Plessis}

7. (Above) Plantable Seed Paper: Give your guests plantable paper that will grown into herbs! So fun! Get them here. (If this feature inspires you to purchase this eco-friendly wedding favor for your guests, we'll get a small percentage of the sale for sharing it with you. Thank you for supporting our content!)

Edible Eco-Friendly Wedding Favor Ideas

8. (Above) Home Made (or organically bought) Preserves: If you're the homely type and have a special Jam or preserve recipe, treat your guests to a thoughtful gift from the heart. If you're more of the store-bought kinda gal, like me, purchase organic preserves from your local farmers market! Image: Jack and Jane Photography.

9. (Above) Feed the Birds: While not quite tuppence a bag, these seed favors are especially great for weddings held outdoors or close to nature. Get them via our sponsored link, here.

10. Your Secret Herb and Spice Blend. You're famous for it, your guests love it each time they come over for dinner, so why not gift your special recipe in the form of a herb and spice blend?

11. Organic Tea blends. Get creative with a blend of berry teas or delightful herbal creations to transport your guests to heaven in a tea-cup.

12. Fair Trade Coffee Blends. If you're more of a caffeine fiend than a tea-drinker, get your hands on some amazing fair trade beans and share the love with your guests.

13. Organic Cocoa / Mocha Favor. You can make it yourself using organic ingredients, or support your local market by having some made especially for your wedding as your official wedding drink! (We also love this as a DIY project from Something Turquoise, too!)

Pampering Eco-Friendly Wedding Favor Ideas

14. (Above) Eco friendly Tote Bags: Gift your guests this all natural cotton tote bag to carry their pamper products around in at home or when they head away for the weekend. They can also be used at the store to save grocery bags. Grab them via our sponsored link and you help support our content, too. Thank you. ♥

15. Eco Friendly Soaps: Naturally made soaps are not only good for the environment, they're a real heaven-scent treat, too!

16. Organic Bath Salts: Give your guests the gift of a gentle, relaxing bath with organic bath salts. They'll thank you later!

Skipping Wedding Favors Altogether

17. Donation in Lieu of Favors: A popular trend emerging among couples is skip wedding favors altogether, and instead donate an amount in your guest's name to a charitable organization that is close to your heart. A nice way to do this is by leaving a cute note at each guest's place setting with details of the organization that the donation is supporting, and a few words on how the money will be put to good use. (Printed on recycled paper, off course!)

18. Locally Sourced, Organic Wedding Dessert Buffet: Arrange a delicious spread of treats, cakes and organic baked goods, sourced from small businesses or charities. Provide your guests with a cute bag made from recycled paper and let them help themselves to your organic, eco-friendly dessert bar!

18 Cute Eco-Friendly Wedding Favor Ideas

Are you considering eco-friendly wedding favors for your special day? Do you have any additional ideas that we've missed? We'd love to hear in the comments below.