There are plenty of ways to make your wedding eco friendly, reduce the carbon footprint it creates and generally give Mother Earth a helping hand. You can always hire a photo booth to save on the cost of a photographer and on the harsh chemicals some use in developing non-digital prints. However, one area of the wedding is really easy to go green with and that is the wedding favours that each guest takes home at the end of the reception.

Much of the time these favours are just rubbish that people don’t want. But you can make yours count in a way you may not expect and neither will your wedding guests. Here are some ways to make wedding favours not enjoyable, but also eco friendly.

  • Have a local market gardener grow heirloom tomato plants in tiny containers for your wedding favours. You can have the tag personalised with each person’s name. They can take them home and plant them, then enjoy a harvest of special tomatoes to remind them of your wedding. Of course, the wedding will need to be in spring for this to work. If it’s not, choose a different vegetable that should be planted in the season. Or it could be a shrub or a fruit tree.
  • Have potted topiary for the wedding favour. These can go on the porch or at the front door of your guest’s home and will be a permanent reminder of your wedding. And the more greenery there is growing the better our oxygen supply will be.
  • If guests have travelled long distances to get to your wedding they may not be able to carry a pot-plant back home, especially on a plane. Have a small jar of organic jam, lemon cheese, local honey or relish from a farmer’s market or a local maker for the party favours.
  • Handmade items such as soap, candles, lip balm when made organically will be a wedding favour that adds interest and sustainability.
  • A tiny teacup and saucer planted with a succulent or some herbs can become a wedding favour as well as a place card if you add a bamboo teaspoon with their name on it. Plus you can often pot them up from your own or a friend’s garden. Provide a zip-lock bag to aid travelling home with it.
  • A small tote bag made from an organic material and printed with the wedding couple’s names is another eco-friendly choice for wedding favours.
  • Find pretty teacups at thrift stores and make them into candles or have someone else make them. You are recycling and adding a lot of pleasure to your guest’s lives.
  • Mugs filled with single wrapped gourmet chocolates can also make great party favours and the mug will be a memento of your wedding.