I am not sure where I picked up this idea but I am positive it was a mix between the hundreds of Pins I saved on Pinterest and my fascination for tiny lights. Honestly, the fact that my table favors served as decoration was sort of a happy accident.
I knew I wanted to have some sort of candles on the tables. So after convincing my mom to be the master creator of my wedding favors by cross stitching the tops, I ended up wondering if I should still put something IN the jars and I quickly realized that this was the perfect container for my candle idea.
I initially wanted real candles but since I needed to have the jars with the lid on, a trip to Michael’s was the solution to my problems.
Look at that flickering! I think they turned out amazing and got really great complements from my guests. All the kudos to my mom though, who really was the start of the show with my favors.
The great thing about this idea, is that it will work with any decoration on the top, it obviously doesn’t have to be as elaborate as cross stitching.
And if you want to use your favors as placeholders you can totally print a nice tag with your guest names on it and tie it to the top with a cute rope.
Table Wedding Favor Supplies
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1. Wide Mouth 8 oz Mason Jars (12 per pack):
Buy your jars in bulk to get a better price. Uline has Mason Jars in bulk for $1.80 per jar if you buy 3 cases or more (12 jars each case). This is a better price than what you can find on Amazon and shipping and delivery in my experience went great with Uline.
I liked the traditional style of Mason Jars but they also have the one that has more texture.
Save the packaging and box separators that come with the jars as you can use them to repack your favors after they are all put together.
2. Flameless Tea Lights
I prefer the warm yellow light tone from the white. But they are available in all sorts of colors. You can find this type in most common craft stores and Walmart. However, Amazon has the better prices for what I learned.
3. Shredded Filler Paper
It might seem exagerated, but the lights from the candles projected on the paper made for even more flickering effects. Plus, a bag of this stuff is only $3.5 and it also helps make the candles look less bland.
Also available in all sorts of colors, but I’d go for the lighter tones as the darker ones with block the light from the tea lights.
4. Top Decor
From customized stickers to something more elaborated the choice of top decor is yours. Make sure to choose color that go with your palette as these favors will be sitting right on the tables next to your flowers or other decor.
5. Ribbon
If you are not great at making bows (like me), buy a string that has a thin metal wire so that once you tie it around the lid, it will remain perky and will look pretty even without a bow.
Steps to follow
Division of labor and mass production is the name of the game here.
Do one task at the time, many times, and you will finish faster. Better yet if you gather friends or family and make a day out of it.
Look, my brother was a forced helper of the whole thing, and he still smiled for the photo. Gracias, hermanin!
The amount of work will obviously depend on the size of your wedding. I personally made 60 jars and gave one favor per family or couple. My mom would have murdered me if I asked her to do even more cross stitching.
Step 1 Personalize Your Tops
Whether your are placing stickers on top or you are an expert DIYer and are doing something more elaborated, once you have the tops ready the rest will go super smoothly.
I think the easiest way to go about the tops is custom ordering your own stickers with your preferred size and message. Small business vendors like the one above offer stickers at a great price and quality. You can choose from size and design making it extra personalizable.
To make things even more personal you can include a hashtag to your sticker. If you can’t think of anything original use Chat GPT to help you with some ideas.
Decorating your tops with fabric is also a super cute idea. Simply cut circles of fabric and tie it around the lids the way they do for homemade jams.
Another way is buying cupcake liners with a cute design and use the lid to fix them in place. It looks SUPER pretty and it is really easy to pull off.
For mine, once we had the cross stitching done we glued the ends of the fabric to the bands and then placed the self sealing lid on top.
In my opinion, even when when you are using a template, you may want to add a little something that is really unique to you as a couple or your love story.
My mom and I used cross stitching templates of brides and grooms that we found on Pinterest and she added her interpretation of my husband’s hairstyle, which made the favors even more personalized and special. That is one of my favorite parts.
If you are a pro cross-stitcher and would like to create a template of your own as a wedding gift, check out Cross-Stitched.com they make personalized cross-stitching kits out of your own images. How cool is that?
Step 2 Fill jars with shredded paper and lights
If you are making your favors with plenty of time in advance, place the shredded filling in the jar, check that the batteries for each candle work and just leave them upside down with the switches off.
That way it will be easier for you or your planner to pick them and turn them on for the big day. The battery for these candle will last throughout your wedding no problem, as 72 hours straight is the average life for these.
You may leave the switches on one day before your wedding and they will still shine bright for the big day.
Step 3 Match tops with jars and tie the ribbons
If you are tying labels to your jars, fold your string in half and put it through the label’s hole forming a letter U. Then grab the two ends of the string and insert them through the U loop that you just created. Then simply tie the two ends around the lid.
*If you like complicating things for yourself like I do and you personalized EACH favor with your guest names, write the table number of the guest on the back of the labels. That way your planner will know what table EACH favor belongs to.
So there you have it! Like I said, in the end I really loved how these turned out, so much we even used it to place the rings during the ceremony, and had my nephew be the ring bearer. My heart melts every time I see this picture.
Not convinced? Check out this 22 DIY Mason Jar Wedding Favor Ideas
