Gone are the days when a simple bag of sugared almonds adorned every place setting at the wedding breakfast table. If you are planning a rustic wedding, you need rustic wedding favours to compliment your themes. Here are nine of the best ideas gleaned from the treasure trove of the world wide web and personal experience.

1. Jars Of Loveliness

Boho Rustic Wedding Collection

Little jars of honey, jam, pickle or chutney make fantastic favours at a countryside wedding. This will work especially well if your caterer can provide the fillings, or you are getting married at a country restaurant or farm that sells its own range of jams and pickles. Or if you think your guests have feasted enough during the wedding breakfast, take a look at our beautiful glass mason jar for tealight candles, that doubles as a name place setting.

2. Toffee Apples

Pocket full of dreams

If you are having an Autumn wedding, offer each guest a wrapped toffee or caramel apple as their favour. These will make for some fun photographs later in the day as sweet-toothed guests dive into the treat and try to avoid smearing their outfits with sticky toffee.

3. Handmade Biscuits

Cookveg.co.uk

For the rustic effect the biscuits really need to be handmade, as shop-bought varieties look boringly uniform. Choose traditional types of biscuit such as oaties or shortbread, rather than the more modern cookie or brownie. Flapjacks also work well as the chunky oats and golden colour are immediately evocative of the British countryside.

4. Sweets

The History Kitchen

Whether presented in a paper bag, or inside a traditional humbug jar, sweets are inexpensive but always welcome. Choose a variety of wrapped sweets so guests can mill around swapping unwanted flavours with each other.

5. Cake Mix

Instead of sending your guests home with a piece of napkin-wrapped cake, destined to get squished in the bottom of a handbag, give them jars of cake mix to make themselves. Pour the ingredients into defined layers in each jar, and decorate with a label carrying the mixing and baking instructions.

6. Lollipops

A Pocket Full of Sweets

Much like the toffee apples, these childhood sweet treats will be irresistible to your guests. Choose something visually appealing such as a jumbo swirly circular lollipop, or a shaped chocolate lolly.

7. Sunflower Seeds


Cameron Ingalls

For a natural wedding give a packet of sunflower seeds. This is a small favour that has the potential to make a big impression as just a few weeks from your wedding your guests will be the proud owners of tall, colourful sunflowers. Photographs of the sunflower family you have created will make a lovely finishing touch to your wedding album.

8. Something Functional

Nature inspired Wedding collection

Lovely as trinkets are, there are only so many bits and bobs a home can accommodate. Make sure your wedding favour earns its shelf space by giving something that is functional as well as beautiful. Our woodland toadstool money banks will bring a touch of nature to your tables, and give your guests somewhere to store their spare change at home.

9. Bird Food

Bird Wallpaper

Bird seed or suet balls are ideal favours for natural weddings. After scoffing a delicious wedding breakfast and sinking a few glasses of wine, many guests will appreciate an inedible party favour. Check with the venue if they are happy for guests to sprinkle the seed there, or write a note on each packet asking guests to use it at home.

It's All In The Presentation

Sweet Little Shop Blog

You can make just about any wedding favour look rustic provided you present it in the right way. Glass jars, small hessian sacks, and brown paper bags make great containers and can be simply decorated with string, ribbon, lace, old fashioned postage labels and pegs.

For more inspiration browse through my collection of rustic and vintage wedding favours.