Calling all creative brides! Now that your destination wedding is fast-approaching, you’ve probably got the biggest strokes down—that is, the wedding dress, your venue, decor, and catering. Congratulations on making it so far in the planning process!
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The next concern? Super unique wedding guest favors that are a step higher than your run-of-the-mill figurine souvenir.
Since your guests will be traveling all the way to your wedding destination, it’s only fitting that they are treated to personal, meaningful gifts that will have them cherishing the memories of your wedding. After all, getting to collect pretty keepsakes is one of the best parts of traveling!
Here are some quick tips to consider while brainstorming for unique favors:
- Engage the senses. Since traveling is often a sentimental, cherished activity, give guests a sensory gift that they can taste, smell, or touch. This will revive the sweet memories of your wedding like no other!
- Support local businesses. Contact suppliers from the region for your personalized gifts.
- Relate the favors to the culture of your wedding destination. Choose gifts that are particular to the region you’re in, whether it be a particular weaving pattern, textile, delicacy, or other distinct products that they can’t get elsewhere.
- Err on the safe side and give simple, standard items that won’t give them trouble when they pass through customs on their flights home. Or, give them consumables that they will surely use on the trip to enrich their vacation!
Without further ado, let’s get into a list of ideas for creative destination wedding favors!
10 Unique Favors and Souvenirs for a Destination Wedding:
1. Local Artisanal Snacks and Delicacies
Celebrate the region’s flavors with specialty treats and ingredients. Examples include spices and powders, pastes, jams, candies, and even beverage bases, such as tea leaves and coffee grounds. If your wedding will be in flavor-rich territories like India, Japan, and Vietnam (for coffee and tea!), make sure that your guests take home pieces of their world-famous cuisine.
2. Customized Travel Checklist
If your guests will be exploring the destination region after your nuptials, give them personalized maps or pamphlets that list the best nearby attractions that you know they’ll love. After being in touch with local businesses during your wedding planning, you might have gotten wind of cool leads and worthwhile spots that the typical tourist wouldn’t know about.
3. Travel Kits
Practical supplies go a long, long way. Treat your guests to a thoughtfully-assembled travel kit with a variety of pocket-sized essentials. Here are some ideas: a fragrant herbal bug spray, cooling wipes, hand sanitizer with a bag clip, a soothing balm, and a small mirror engraved with your wedding logo or initials.
4. Local Handicrafts
Capture some aspects of your destination’s culture with artistic, beautiful trinkets. Intricate gold-plated earrings from Thailand, carved wood bulul statues from the Philippines, and Burmese pottery from Myanmar are some examples.
5. Local Spirits
If you’ll be serving alcohol at your wedding, you can consider gifting your guests some drink samplers. Get them petite bottles of locally produced champagne, wine, beer, or popular cocktails! To be safe, keep each flask below 100 ml so that guests traveling with smaller suitcases won’t have problems getting past airport security.
6. Multi-Use Textiles
If your wedding will be in a textile-rich country like Indonesia, offer your guests a stretch of fabric that they can repurpose however they like. Get a batik or sarong that they can use as a scarf, cover-up, wall art piece, tablecloth, or as material for a future sewing project.
7. Personalized Luggage Tags
You could also go for simple luggage tags that your guests are sure to appreciate! Design sleek unisex tags that bear reference to your destination country.
8. Photo Booth Printouts
If you’ll be having a photo booth onsite, make sure that the printouts are of high-quality so that the photos will also serve as souvenirs. Some come with pop-up frames, or are printed on 3D refrigerator magnet pads. These are crowd-pleasers and are low-effort on your part—you’ll just have to find the perfect supplier!
9. Local Books
Gift guests a good read for the flight back home. Choose a poetry chapbook by a renowned local author, or a cookbook containing the best dishes from the region. It’s always a good idea to add a meaningful title to a friend’s library!
10. Scented Treasures
According to popular belief, scents are the biggest nostalgia triggers among all other sensory stimulants. That said, give your guests perfumes, linen sprays, essential oils, scented candles, and other olfactory goodies that’ll transport them back to your wedding. For weddings in the Nordic regions, consider fresh pine or cardamom scents that evoke the chilly, idyllic forests. For Dubai, source deep fragrances with intriguing notes of oud and frankincense. Your guests will be obsessed with such luxurious keepsakes!
To explore the latest trends, expert advice, and breathtaking inspiration in the world of weddings, don’t miss out on the Get Wedded in Australia 2023-2024 digital magazine! Whether you’re a bride-to-be or a wedding enthusiast, this magazine is a must-read.
Below, browse and read your free copy of the Get Wedded in Australia 2023-2024 digital magazine today.
