Wedding Favor Gift Ideas Guests Will Eat, Not Leave Behind
A wedding favor is a small thank-you at each place setting. Something to eat gets taken home and finished, so this guide sticks to edible favors: honey, French and Italian pastilles and a small chocolate bar.
Each idea below has a cost per guest worked out from listed prices, what the maker says about it, and notes on packing, storage and allergens. For baked favors, see the cookie gift box guide.
Honey straws
Savannah Bee Company fills its honey straws with acacia honey, which the maker says comes from Romania and Hungary. Each straw is 6.5 inches long and made of BPA-free plastic. A 30-pack is $17.00 at listed price, about $0.57 a straw, so two straws tied with twine come to about $1.13 a guest (shop Savannah Bee Acacia Honey Straws).
The CDC advises against giving honey to children under 12 months old. If babies are among the guests, a note on the card helps parents.
French anise pastilles
Les Anis de Flavigny makes its pastilles at the abbey in Flavigny-sur-Ozerain, France, to a recipe the maker dates to 1591. Each one is a green anise seed coated in sugar, about 1 gram, and the maker says one takes 15 days to make. Les Anis de Flavigny lists all its ranges as vegan and says its workshop does not handle nuts or peanuts.
The 50 g oval tins come in several flavors, including Rose (shop Anis de Flavigny Rose, $8.00), Orange Flower (shop Anis de Flavigny Orange Flower, $8.00) and Lemon (shop Anis de Flavigny Lemon, $8.00). One tin per guest is $8.00.
Italian fruit pastilles
Pastiglie Leone traces its start to 1857, when Luigi Leone began making small pastilles in Neive, in Piedmont; the company now works in Collegno, near Turin. Its small tins hold 0.95 oz. The Mandarino tin lists sugar, gum arabic, tragacanth, tangerine juice, natural flavors, tartaric acid and cochineal extract (shop Leone Mandarino, $6.00). The Frutti di Bosco tin uses blueberry, raspberry, red currant and strawberry juices and is colored with cochineal and grape skin extracts, per its ingredient list (shop Leone Frutti di Bosco, $6.00). Cochineal is made from an insect, which matters to vegan and vegetarian guests.
A mini chocolate bar
Mayana's Kitchen Sink mini is a 1.5-ounce bar (shop Mayana Kitchen Sink mini, $4.49). The maker's label reads: contains peanuts, milk, soy and wheat; may contain traces of tree nuts and eggs.
Wedding favor gift ideas, cost per guest
| Favor | What goes in | Per guest at listed prices |
|---|---|---|
| Honey pair | Two Savannah Bee acacia honey straws from a 30-pack | about $1.13 |
| Chocolate | One Mayana Kitchen Sink mini bar | $4.49 |
| Chocolate and honey | One Mayana mini bar and one honey straw | about $5.06 |
| Italian tin | One Leone pastille tin | $6.00 |
| French tin | One Anis de Flavigny oval tin | $8.00 |
Prices follow the listed price on each product page. Products ship across the continental U.S. from theambrosianpantry.com.
Packing and storing favors
Tins can go out as they are, tied with a ribbon and a tag. Honey straws and small bars fit in a small paper bag or a glassine envelope, folded over and tied. Put the couple's names and the date on the tag, and on the back, what is inside.
The favors here are sealed tins, honey straws and wrapped bars. The USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service advises storing shelf-stable food in a cool, dry place, away from the stove and out of a damp garage or basement, with temperatures below 85 °F. Follow the date on each package.
Allergens on the label
The FDA lists nine major food allergens: milk, eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soybeans and sesame, with sesame added on January 1, 2023, and it tells consumers to always read food labels. For favors, copy each maker's contains line onto the tag, or set out a small card by the favor table that lists what is in each one.
Short answers
What are good edible wedding favors? Small sealed items that keep at room temperature, such as honey straws, tins of pastilles or a mini chocolate bar.
How much should a wedding favor cost per guest? The ideas here run from about $1.13 for two honey straws to $8.00 for a tin of Anis de Flavigny pastilles, at listed prices.
How do you label allergens on wedding favors? Copy the maker's contains statement onto each tag, and check it against the FDA's nine major allergens.
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