Do You Give Wedding Favors to Each Guest?

There are a lot of details involved in the wedding planning—including making plans for your wedding guests. You need to create your seating chart to figure out where your guests are going to sit during the wedding reception, figure out what kind of signature cocktails you’re going to serve your guests during cocktail hour, and figure out what wedding favors you’re going to send your guests home with at the end of your big day.

But choosing your wedding favors is only the first part of the equation; once you’ve settled on your personalized wedding favors, you also need to figure out how many of those favors you need to purchase for the special day.

So, the question is—do you need to buy a wedding favor for every guest at your wedding? Or can you save some of your wedding budgets and give out favors more sparingly—for example, one wedding favor per household?

Here are a few things to consider when determining if you need to give wedding favors to each guest at your wedding:

How Many Guests You’re Having at Your Wedding

*Photo Credit * // Annemolnar Photography

When deciding whether to buy a wedding favor for every guest at your wedding, the first thing to consider is how many guests are going to be in attendance.

If you’re hosting a small, intimate wedding—for example, 15 to 20 people—that’s not a huge number of wedding favors to have to purchase. So, if you have the budget for it, buying a wedding favor for each guest would be a nice gesture—and a great way to say “thanks” to your close-knit group of guests.

On the other hand, if your guest list is currently at 200 people (and growing every day!), that’s a lot of wedding favors—and buying a party favor for each of your 200+ guests can easily eat up a good chunk of your budget.

Can you buy a wedding favor for each guest if you’re having a big wedding? Of course. But just make sure to keep an eye on your budget—and make sure that you’re not spending a disproportionate amount on [custom wedding favors] (especially if that budget could be more effectively spent elsewhere, such as investing in an amazing wedding photographer to capture all the love in the air or booking the wedding venue of your dreams).

What Kind of Wedding Favors You’re Giving Your Guests...

Another factor to consider when figuring out how many wedding favors to buy—and whether you need to buy one for each guest—is the kind of favors that you’re planning on gifting on your wedding day.

For example, if you’re giving your guests a household item as a wedding favor—such as a personalized drink coaster, wine glass, or candle holder—you probably don’t need to give out those favors in a one-favor-per-guest ratio; one per household is probably fine.

On the flip side, if you’re giving out more affordable wedding favors that you expect your guests to enjoy while at your wedding—such as bubble wands for your big send-off, fans to keep cool during the ceremony, or candy boxes to fill at your dessert candy bar—then one wedding favor per guest is probably appropriate.

...And the Cost Per Wedding Favor

The biggest thing you’ll want to keep in mind when deciding whether to give a wedding favor to every guest at your wedding is how much those wedding favors are going to cost. Depending on your wedding size, the price can vary. Keeping that in mind, how much should you spend on wedding favors, realistically?

If you’re buying more expensive wedding favors, the cost per favor is going to be high—and buying one wedding favor per guest can drain a significant amount of your budget. If you’re going with a less expensive wedding favor (or taking the DIY route), then gifting every guest at your wedding with a unique party favor is going to be more affordable—and, depending on your budget, could be do-able.

*Photo Credit * // Robert Norman Photography

Unless you’re working with an unlimited budget, you need to factor in how much each wedding favor is going to cost—and, from there, figure out if you have enough budget to give every wedding guest a wedding favor.

Ultimately, there’s no one-size-fits-all answer to the question “do you give wedding favors to each guest?” For some weddings, gifting every guest in attendance with a wedding favor makes total sense, while for other weddings, the cost of giving every guest a wedding favor can push things over budget. Just remember, whether you give every guest a wedding favor, gift one favor per household, or skip wedding favors altogether, it’s totally fine! Your guests will be happy to be there celebrating your big day, regardless of the wedding favor situation.