First things first, congratulations on your engagement! Wedding favours are often considered an after-thought, and whilst we may be biased, we think it's an important part of your wedding styling and really speaks to you as a couple. Here are some important considerations when planning your wedding or event, and why favours should not be viewed as an after-thought.
First things first, budget.
Let's be honest here. Wedding Favours do add a line item to your wedding budget. They cost money and some may argue that they're not a necessity. On the contrary, with a really good wedding favour, you can actually SAVE money in other areas. Yes, they're still an outlay but let's talk through all the ways bottle or alcohol wedding favours can actually save you money. You will need to work out how much you're willing to spend on a wedding favour. We've heard people say a good rule of thumb is approximately $10-$12 per person on a wedding favour, but again it all depends on your overall wedding budget. But with this $10 per person spend, you can save money on your place cards, or on alcohol, which we will dive into. You will need to establish whether you'll be making your alcohol, if you're doing Rakija, Limoncello, Arak or Ouzo Wedding Favours as an example, or if you'll be buying it. Making it is a cheaper option, but you HAVE to know what you're doing. Don't try your hand at making Rakija for your wedding if you have never done it before, it will likely end in disaster.
In saying that, we have solved many DIYs gone wrong. We've had clients panicking the week of their wedding and reaching out to us to recreate their favours. Whilst we're truly grateful for the love and support, it is sad that DIY-ing can sometimes cause an extra layer of stress and expense in the lead up to the wedding when things go wrong. So, if your budget only allows DIY, please be mindful of any issues that may crop up and how you'll solve them. This goes for any part of the wedding: invites, flowers, or even cars (if you're borrowing off friends).
Incorporating your culture
Are you looking for a way to incorporate your Croatian, Serbian, Macedonian, Italian, Greek, Maltese, South American, etc, culture into your wedding? Is it important to you to incorporate traditional spirits into your wedding? Having these spirits as your wedding favour is the ULTIMATE guest gift and really ties an elegant modern wedding in with tradition. If you're unsure of favours, but its still really important for you to incorporate these spirits, then utilising a table bottle (such as the 750ml custom bottle) is an excellent way to still incorporate traditional spirits such as Rakija, Limoncello, Arak and Ouzo. These bottles can then be given away to close family and friends at the end of the night as a large favour or special gift. Pro-tip: Get your MC to make an announcement that bottles are NOT to be taken, because cool table bottles filled with spirits have a tendency to go missing (IYKYK).
Saying thanks
A wedding favour is a small token of thanks, and a momento from your big day. We think the message of wedding favours has been lost, and it really is about giving a small gift of gratitude for those that have travelled to celebrate you, and likely given a gift. From our own wedding in 2022, we still get delighted when we see people bringing out our wedding favours (we did shot glasses to accompany the 750ml table bottles, that's how Bespoke Bottle Co was born!) and it shows that people actually like and use a good favour.
Unique place card ideas
Hear us out: why not double your bottles as your place card. By placing your guest names on your custom bottles, you're literally giving your guests their own custom bottle. How cool is that? You're saving sometimes hundreds of dollars on place cards (as we don't charge extra to put your guest names on the bottle), and you're ensuring the favour won't be wasted or left on the table. It's a unique and thoughtful idea, and also reduces clutter on your wedding reception tables.
Save money on welcome drinks or cocktails
An alcoholic wedding favour is a really funky way to save money on welcome drinks or cocktails. Many venues charge $20+ on a welcome cocktail, but if you put the cocktail in one of our Bespoke Bottles, then you're hitting the money saving trifecta: still including a cocktail, incorporating a wedding favour AND doubling these as your place card. So save your money, and change things up.
All in all, weddings are large investments and we understand that. We're not here to sell you our products and leave you high and dry. We're here to help guide you, drive efficiencies with your wedding, and look for ways to save money. But we have also seen so many DIYs go wrong, and our job as conscientious and ethical wedding suppliers is to really ensure that you know what you're up against and if you have never DIY-ed something in your life, then one of the biggest days of your life is PROBABLY not the best place to start. We want your wedding or event to be as stress-free, calm, and as beautiful as possible. So if you're looking for a wedding supplier who can make that happen, then look no further!
