Though often taken for granted as just another standard accessory, wedding favours can in fact be a fantastic way to show real appreciation for your guests and to provide them with a memento of the big day. Nevertheless, it’s probably fair to say that in the vast majority of instances, most wedding favours handed out tend to either be disposed of the morning after or perhaps left behind in the first place. Suffice to say it neither is particularly preferable when considering that those putting together and providing these kinds of favours are doing so with genuine thought and sentiment.

So if this is the case, what exactly can those organising weddings do to ensure that their own favours are both appreciated and ideally retained long term?

Here’s a quick look at six expert tips for creating perfect wedding favours every time:

1 – Be Practical

First of all, the very best gifts are those that not only carry a message, but are also to some extent practical. One of the best ways of thinking about these kinds of gifts for weddings is as if you yourself were to be receiving the gift, rather than giving it away. If for example you are a guest at somebody else’s wedding and this is the gift you received, would you have any practical use for it and would you even wish to keep it at all? Never forget that practical doesn’t necessarily have to mean useful, as it can also mean things that are edible – anything from macaroons to chocolates never fail to work a treat.

2 – Avoid the Cheesiness

One of the very best ways of instantly transforming what could’ve been a fantastic wedding favour into something destined only for the garbage bin is to cross the line into outright cheesiness. For example, gifts like coasters are universally useful and are guaranteed to be appreciated – unless of course you decide to add a giant picture of the happy couple’s smiling faces. Chances are there may be one or two close relatives who will appreciate this gift and hold onto it as something of a keepsake, but the vast majority of those receiving it will have no intention of ever putting it on public display.

3 – Make it Meaningful

You should always try to make your wedding favours as meaningful as possible without necessarily having to rub sentiment and emotion in the faces of the recipients. For example, if the two of you met for the first time in a coffee shop, you could include a very small bag of your favourite coffee beans. Or if the two of you share a love for wine, perhaps some kind of wine accessory. It needs to be meaningful and something that represents you as a couple, but you don’t have to make it cliché or generic.

4 – DIY

Now more than ever, DIY favours are being chosen over the standard purchased variety as a means by which to not only save money, but to create gifts that are 100% unique and infinitely more meaningful. Of course, it’s important to acknowledge the fact that to make your own wedding favours will undoubtedly add yet another task to what is probably an already extensive wedding planning list, but at the same time it can be a uniquely fun job to tackle. And it’s the kind of job that you can rope in as many other people to help out as you like and maybe turn the job into something of a party.

5 – Samples First

If you have decided to buy your favours online and are pretty sure you have things exactly as you want them to be, do yourself a favour and order a sample batch of just a few before going ahead with the full order. The very last thing you want is to find yourself with 175 table gifts the likes of which you immediately realise you cannot stand and have no intention of giving out on the big day. Always order samples first in order to make sure you are happy with what’s in there and indeed the way they are presented.

6 – Double Up

Last but not least, never forget that it is more than possible to kill two birds with one stone, so to speak, by doubling up your wedding favours as place settings for your guests. Simply by adding the names of each of your guests to each of the wedding favours individually, you can use these as the most fantastic welcoming gifts to not only delight your guests, but also show them where they are sitting and eliminate the costs associated with separate place settings.