Modern Bonbonniere Options

Gone are the days when bags filled with sugar-coated almonds are the main choice of bonbonniere for wedding guests. Today, couples tend to take a more modernised approach, giving their guests playful, useful, or meaningful favours for them to leave their wedding with. Here are some brilliant ideas to ensure that no matter what your theme, you’ll have some unique, modern bombonnieres that ensure your guests remember your wedding day for years to come.

(Courtesy weddingchicks.com)

Practical Favours

Giving your guests a wedding favour that they can utilise in everyday life is always a winner.

  • Letter opener (for your love letters)
  • Scented hand creams in cute jars with custom labels
  • Sunscreen, shawls, sunglasses, caps, or hand- fans for outdoor weddings
  • Playing cards designed with your names and wedding date
  • crayons and a blank card for kids attending the wedding. Include instructions to create a picture/ make a note out to the couple!
  • Biodegradable confetti
  • Personalised bottle openers
  • Personalised wine stoppers
  • Magnetised photo frames
  • Personalised trinket boxes
  • Personalised tissues
  • Personalised breathmints

Cute and Quirky Favours

Makes your bonbonnieres memorable (for all the right reasons)!

  • Maracas, castanets, any noisemakers. To be used during the reception!
  • Ribbon twirls (a piece of roughly 2-3 metre ribbon attached to a wooden stick)
  • Personalised bubbles
  • Minature personalised snowglobes
  • Minature laterns
  • Disposable cameras. Have your guests use these to capture their own experiences and then have them collected at the end of the event.
  • If you’ve decided on using disposable cameras, consider including a checklist of things to take photos of, for example, “the church”, “laughter”, “the best smile of the day” etc.
  • A CD of the day’s songs
  • A simple ‘goofy pack’. Include items like false moustaches, oversized glasses, bubble gum, etc.
  • Flip flops. Place them in a bucket near the dance floor with a sign directing ladies with sore feet to take a pair!
  • Glow sticks. Who can resist the pull?
  • Sparklers. Aside from these appealing to all ages and generally being awesome, you’ll get some great pictures.

Romantic Favours

For all of those classic romantics out there, there are many types of bonbonniere to celebrate your love.

  • “Love Potion”- could be some juice, iced tea, or any cool drink. Package in glass bottle with the label of “love potion” and “instructions for use”
  • Sugar scrub
  • ‘Two Cent’ Coasters- print onto the coasters “my advice for the bride and groom”, along with a few blank lines for your guests to write.
  • Personalised candles
  • A photo-flip book! Ask your videographer/ photographer about turning a short clip into one of these.
  • Tealight holders
  • Simple printed dance instructions. This could be a mix of classic dances (e.g. the waltz), and the fun (e.g. macarena)
  • Small bar of personalised soap
  • Personalised coasters
  • Minature vases
  • Messages in a bottle. You can either inscribe a note of thanks on the parchment, or have your guests fill it out and launch it in their own time.
  • “Fairy dust”. Put some glitter in a jar and include a note instructing your guests how to make a wish using it.


    (Courtesy loveluxblog.com)

Edible Favours

The only drawback here being that you may not be able to hear your guests’ words of gratitude clearly through their chewing.

  • Personalised cookies with labels
  • Personalised chocolate bars
  • Homemade desserts (e.g. Turkish delight, baklava, cupcakes, etc)
  • Home made jams and chutneys/chocolate sauces with personalised labels
  • Fortune cookies
  • Single tea bags in boxes with custom design labels
  • Handmade macaroons in your wedding colours
  • Mini bottles of champagne/ plonk of your choice with personalised labels.
  • Jar of unpopped popcorn, with some spices to flavour it.
  • Personalised paper bags filled with seasonal fruits.
  • Rice Krispie treats (heart shape optional)
  • Honey
  • Conversation Hearts

Green Favours

Do your environment, as well as your guests, a favour.

  • Eco bags
  • Flowers- mini posies of the brides bouquet are a great Eco option
  • Seedlings in mini pots
  • Seed packets with custom designed labels
  • Petals in a personalised bag- to be used instead of rice for the traditional rice toss.
  • Miniture terrariums. Repurpose old light bulbs for this.
  • Mini, easy-to-hang birdfeeders (countless recipes can be found online).
  • Donation to a charity with a card for each guest explaining the details
  • Matches with custom designed labels
    (Courtesy air-plants.com)

So no matter what theme you’re planning for your wedding, there are a variety of unique and modern wedding favours to compliment it. Your guests are sure to notice the thought and effort you have gone to with your personal choice of bonbonniere, and appreciate you all the more for it.