Wedding Favours — How Many to Prepare, Ideas & Budget

Wedding favours are the little keepsakes hosts give guests to thank them for sharing in their special day. While it might seem like a minor detail compared to the venue or the dress, getting the quantity wrong or choosing poorly means you waste both your budget and your goodwill. Nothing is sadder than seeing dozens of expensive favours left behind on tables at the end of the night!

Here is your comprehensive guide on how to calculate the exact quantity you need, popular ideas across different price ranges, and expert tips to ensure your favours are genuinely appreciated by your guests. (The gifts you hand to senior relatives during the ceremony are a separate budget line — see gifts for the rub wai ceremony for those.)

1. The Math: How Many Favours to Prepare?

The biggest mistake couples make is ordering one favour for every single person invited, months before receiving RSVPs.

Instead, base your order on your expected attendance (the number of guests who have actually RSVP'd "Yes" — online invitations with built-in RSVP make that number trustworthy), and then add a 10–20% buffer for unexpected plus-ones or breakages.

2. Popular Favour Categories & Price Ranges

For a shopping-list view of what guests genuinely take home, browse 10 favours guests actually use alongside this. The golden rule of modern wedding favours is to choose items that are useful, consumable, or keepable. Purely decorative trinkets with your names engraved on them often end up in the trash. Here are the top categories:

The Consumables (The Crowd Pleasers)

Range: ~30–120 THB / piece You can never go wrong with food or drink. People love a midnight snack or something sweet for their coffee the next morning.

• Ideas: Mini jars of local honey, artisanal tea blends, custom cookies, macarons in clear boxes, or small bottles of infused olive oil.
• Pros: Almost guaranteed to be taken home and enjoyed.
• Cons: You must check expiration dates and consider melting if you have an outdoor wedding (avoid chocolate in the summer!).

Eco-Friendly & Green

Range: ~30–90 THB / piece Perfect for garden weddings or environmentally conscious couples — we have a whole set of eco and mutelu favour ideas too.

• Ideas: Succulents, mini cacti, packets of wildflower seeds, or bamboo straws.
• Pros: Sustainable, looks beautiful on the table, doubles as decor.
• Cons: Plants require care leading up to the wedding; guests traveling by plane cannot take plants home.

Practical Household Items

Range: ~20–100 THB / piece Give your guests something they will actually use in their daily lives.

• Ideas: Scented candles, handmade artisan soaps, luggage tags, elegant bottle openers, or high-quality hand sanitizers.
• Pros: Long-lasting utility.
• Cons: If it’s too heavily branded with your names/wedding date, people might hesitate to display it in their homes. Keep the branding subtle (e.g., on a removable tag).

The Meaningful Alternative: Charitable Donations

Range: Whatever your budget allows! Instead of buying physical items, many modern couples donate their favour budget to a charity close to their hearts.

• Execution: Place a beautifully designed card at each table setting stating, "In lieu of traditional favours, a donation has been made in your honor to [Charity Name]."

3. The DIY Trap: Is It Worth It?

Making your own favours (like pouring your own candles or baking hundreds of cookies) sounds incredibly romantic and cost-effective. However, beware the DIY trap!

When you factor in the cost of raw materials, jars, custom labels, ribbons, and the immense amount of time it takes to assemble 200 items the week of your wedding, it often ends up costing more than buying them professionally made. Only choose the DIY route if you genuinely love crafting and have a dedicated team of bridesmaids or family members to help assemble them.

4. Presentation and Packaging

A 20 THB item can look like a 100 THB luxury gift with the right packaging.

• Tags: Always include a small tag with a brief "Thank You," your names, and the wedding date. Include your wedding hashtag so guests remember to use it!
• Display: Decide how they will be distributed. Will they be placed at each individual seat (doubling as table decor)? Or will you have an impressive display table near the exit where guests grab one on their way out?

5. Timeline: When to Order

Order your favours 2 to 3 months ahead of the wedding. This aligns perfectly with the 2–3 month stage in the Thai Wedding Checklist.

Why so early? It allows ample time for manufacturing (especially if the items are personalized), shipping, assembling the packaging, and fixing any issues if the wrong items are delivered.

Control Your Favour Quantity and Budget with Wedly

Favours tie directly to two critical elements: your guest count and your budget.

In the Wedly app, you can track your live guest count and RSVP status to estimate exactly how many favours to order. Furthermore, you can log the favour cost into the Budget tool and instantly see its impact on your overall spending (or try the numbers first in the web free budget calculator)—meaning no guessing on quantities and no accidental overspending.

Summary

Choosing the perfect wedding favours comes down to three things: the right quantity (based on RSVPs + a 15% buffer), selecting useful or consumable items, and controlling the per-piece cost. Order them 2–3 months in advance, keep your personalization subtle so guests actually use the items, and present them beautifully. By following these steps, you will send your guests home with a token they truly love.