Wedding Favor Boxes

A wedding favor box that carries itself: a satin handle threaded through the lid, a silk scarf tied into a bow, and a gold foil logo on the front flap. Three sizes, three colours, and an outer surface that is specialty paper rather than a printed sheet. Made to order in Wenzhou.

Specifications

Three sizes, and what actually goes in them

The small box takes one thing well. A mini jar of honey, a bar of soap, a folded note, a single macaron in a clear sleeve. It is the size most couples order when the favor is one item and the guest list is long.

The medium box is the one that gets photographed. It holds a set: a small candle, a box of matches, a card. Or two or three chocolates sitting in straw.

The large box is not really a favor box any more. It is a welcome box — the thing left on the hotel bed, or handed to the bridal party the morning of. A folded shawl, a candle, a small bottle, a printed schedule.

All three are measured on the outside. The wall is a board thickness, so if your item is already at the limit of a size, send its dimensions and we will tell you whether it drops in.

The scarf is the part guests keep

Most favor boxes use a printed ribbon or a polyester bow that is stapled on. Both look fine in a photo and go in the bin within a minute of the table being cleared.

This one is tied with a square silk scarf, and it is not fixed to the box. Guests untie it, and it becomes a scarf. That is the difference between a favor that gets thrown away and one that ends up in someone’s bag. If you have ever watched a table being cleared after a wedding, you know which favors survive.

We tie the bow by hand at the factory. If you would rather tie them on site so the boxes travel flat, say so when you order and we will ship the scarves separately, folded, with the boxes.

The colour is the paper, not a print

Red is the default for Chinese weddings and for any return-gift order where the box has to read as auspicious from across a room. Navy is the safer choice for a Western ceremony, and it photographs well against white linen. Orange sits between the two and tends to get picked for outdoor or autumn dates.

None of those three is printed. The box is wrapped in a specialty paper, and the colour belongs to the sheet itself, with its own grain and surface. There is no ink layer sitting on top of it.

That changes how a colour order works. Picking a shade means picking a paper, not mixing an ink. Send a paper swatch, a piece of the paper you want the box to be, and we match it against what we can source, or tell you the closest sheet if yours has been discontinued. A Pantone reference also works, but we read it as a target for the paper rather than as a four-colour build. A photo on a phone screen will not do it — send the sheet.

The advantage shows up in the hand. A specialty sheet keeps its texture under a finger, which is the part photographs never capture and the part a guest feels when they lift the box off the table. It is also steadier across a run, because the shade comes from one paper lot instead of an ink mix judged by eye under factory light. If you reorder in six months, ask us to check the paper lot first, and we will tell you whether it matches before anything is cut.

What goes inside

The box ships empty. What you put in it is your call, but three things come up often enough to mention.

Straw or shredded paper is the cheapest way to stop items sliding, and it photographs well in red and cream. Colour foam balls suit a small box with one item, because they fill the volume. A short string of warm LED lights turns the medium box into something people open slowly, and it costs less per box than most people expect.

We can add any of these at packing, or ship them loose for your team to fill. Filling on site is usually cheaper on freight and gives you control over the last metre.

From the packing table to the table setting

A favor box has one job on the day: it has to arrive at the seat looking the way it left the factory.

The handle is part of the box, not a separate paper bag, so nobody has to match bags to boxes at the venue. The lid closes flat against the body, which means the boxes stack without crushing the bow. And the foil logo sits on the flap, facing up, so a table of them reads as one set rather than a pile.

For a 200-guest wedding, that is 200 boxes that can be carried in two arms, stacked in a car boot, and set out by two people in under an hour.

This is not a wedding gift box

Worth saying plainly, because the two get mixed up. A wedding gift box is what you give the couple, or what the couple gives the bridal party — one box, higher value, more elaborate. That is a different product, and we make those too: custom wedding gift boxes with a rigid body and a metal clasp.

This page is about the box you give every guest. If you are ordering both, send them together and we will match the foil colour and the board so the two look like they came from the same wedding.

Chocolate, jam, candle — the insert question

If the favor is food, the inside needs to hold it still. A custom chocolate box with a die-cut tray does that better than loose straw, particularly if the venue is warm.

For a jar or a candle, a paperboard collar around the base is usually enough, and it costs less than a full insert.

If you are not sure, send a photo of the item with its dimensions. We will tell you whether it needs a tray, a collar, or nothing.

If you want print on top

As shipped, there is no printed colour on the outside of this box. The front flap carries the logo in gold foil, which is stamped rather than printed. On red and navy the foil reads clearly; on orange it needs a darker foil or a white screen print underneath, or it disappears in daylight. We will tell you which one your colour needs before the plate is made.

Full-colour artwork across the whole box is possible, and we do it, but it produces a different object from the one in the photos, so it is worth being clear about what changes. Ink sits on the surface and covers the grain wherever it lands. On a textured sheet, a printed area stops reading as paper and starts reading as ink, and the effect is strongest over a large solid. On the darker shades a white base coat has to go down first, which flattens the surface further.

The practical line: a small logo or a fine line prints well on specialty paper. A full-bleed pattern does not. If the pattern is the point, move to a coated sheet made for printing — see custom printed boxes — and we will quote it on that stock. If you want this paper and a pattern, expect the two to look different from each other, and ask for a printed sample before you commit to a run.

Ordering

Send three things: the size, the paper you want, and the artwork. If the favor is already chosen, send its dimensions as well and we will confirm the size before anything is cut.

Samples and production dates are quoted with the price rather than published here, because both depend on whether the colour is a stock paper or a swatch we have to source, and on whether the logo is foil or print. Ask for the date you need and we will tell you straight whether it is achievable.

For a wedding with a fixed date, work backwards from the day rather than forwards from the order. The box is the long item; the filling is not.

These boxes sit in the same production line as the rest of our custom gift boxes, so a favor box and a welcome box for the same wedding can be run together and matched in colour.

FAQ

What is the minimum order? Set per size and per colour. Ask for the current number when you send your quantity — it changes with the board, the paper and the finishing.

Can I order three sizes in one order? Yes, but each size is a separate die and a separate run. Mixed sizes in one order are common for weddings, where the small box goes to guests and the large one goes to the bridal party.

Is the scarf fixed to the box? No. It is tied on, and it comes off. That is deliberate — guests keep it.

Can I print our names and date? Yes, in gold foil on the front flap. Send the artwork as vector, with the text outlined.

Is the colour printed on, or is it the paper? It is the paper. The outer surface is a specialty sheet and the shade comes from the sheet itself, with no ink layer on top. We match your colour against a paper swatch. If you also need printed artwork, we can run it, but the printed areas will read differently from the bare paper.

Can the boxes ship flat? The body is rigid, so it travels assembled. If you want to tie the bows yourselves at the venue, we can ship the scarves separately.

Do you make a magnetic version? No. This is a hand-carry box with a folded lid. If you need a magnetic closure, that is a rigid gift box, which is a different product and a different price.