Edible favors are always popular with wedding guests, and many are easy to make at home. Very simple favors can still be elegant and attractive, and it can be quite inexpensive to make a large number of them. Here are 5 ideas for homemade edible wedding favors.
TUXEDO & WEDDING GOWN OREOS
Allow two Oreo cookies for each guest. Dip the cookies in a meltable chocolate coating to make little tuxedo and wedding gown favors. Dip half of the cookies in a white chocolate coating for the wedding gown. After dipping, put the cookies on a rack until they are almost dry. Make a semicircle of silver sprinkles to resemble a necklace on one edge of each cookie while the coating is still moist. You can make a stencil with the semicircle cut out so that each cookie will look the same.
Dip the rest of the cookies in dark chocolate and allow them to dry on a rack. Make a stencil by cutting out a pie-slice-shaped wedge from a piece of cardstock. Put the stencil over each cookie, and paint or squeeze on white chocolate into the part you cut into, aligning the curved end of the pie slice with the edge of the cookie. Allow cookies to dry. Then using a small paintbrush or icing applicator and black royal icing, put two small V-shapes on the white part at the edge of the cookie and 2-3 dots below them to resemble a collar and buttons of a tuxedo. Dry the cookies on the rack. A tuxedo cookie and a wedding gown cookie can be put into a box or envelope for each guest.
COOKIES ON A STICK
Prepare cookie dough using your favorite sugar cookie recipe. Purchase wooden or paper sticks used to make lollipops at a craft or cooking store. If you want to make the cookies in a shape such as a heart, bell, flower, etc., you’ll need a cookie cutter so they will all look alike. To make the cookies, roll out the dough, cut out the shape, and then place the dough over the stick on the cookie sheet. Press down lightly. Bake the cookies and remove them from the cookie sheet very carefully, using a spatula. Put them on a rack, and allow them to cool. Decorate the cookies by pouring icing over them, coating both sides. Add the wedding date, the names of the bride and groom, or any other inscription if desired. After the cookies are completely dried, wrap cellophane around the cookie part, and tie the cellophane with a ribbon where the cookie meets the stick.
CHOCOLATE BARS
Candy bars are popular favors, and you can make small bars using a mold and meltable chocolate in any shape you like. You may also purchase your favorite bar and make labels for them. Decide what you want on the label, such as the names of the bride and groom, the wedding date, a quote, a photo of the couple, etc. If you’re handy with a computer, you can design your own labels using photo software and print them out to fit each candy bar. If not, you can cut and paste together what you want and take it to a copy center to be duplicated. Wrap each bar in the special label for a cute, edible favor.
ORGANZA OR TULLE BAGS
Organza is a thin, rather stiff fabric often used for weddings, and tulle is a thin type of net. Both fabrics can be purchased in many different colors and can be used to make bags for wedding favors. You can sew organza into little drawstring bags if you’re handy with a sewing machine. If you don’t want to sew or want to use tulle, cut the material into squares, put the edibles in the center, and pull the fabric up, gathering it over the top of the contents with your fingers. Tie a ribbon around that part, leaving several inches at the top fluffed out. Experiment with different square sizes to find the one that best fits your needs.
Many different edibles can be put into organza or tulle bags. Traditionals include almonds, candies in the wedding colors, mints, or small cookies. When using thin fabrics, do not use edibles that would crumble, such as soft cookies. Jelly beans in the wedding colors, small conversation hearts commonly sold around Valentine’s Day, or any candy that has significance for the bride or groom would be perfect for the favor bags. Visit a candy shop, and look around to find just the right treat for your favor bags.
PETIT FOURS
Petit fours are tiny little cakes that can be cut into any shape you want. Use a white cake recipe, and bake the cake in an 8”x 11” pan; cut the cake into shapes when it is cool. Pour fondant icing, which dries to a very smooth surface, over the cakes while they are on a rack. They can be decorated with additional icing or other ornaments such as little sugar flowers or silver balls after the icing dries. Use icing and decorations in your wedding colors. To present as favors, put the cakes into little paper boxes, and tie a bow around the box. They will be perfect favors for your wedding guests.
