Ditch the box of sweets or dry fruits as wedding favours, and experiment with not just a range of gifts but creativity and customisation as well, say experts.
Kunal Rai, Head-Events and Weddings, Tamarind Global, and Inayat Khubchandani, Innaz Communique, have some ideas:
1. Scarf: Items that keep your guests warm and fuzzy are not only practical, they are thoughtful too. Pashmina scarfs, handmade shawls or mulmul razai are perfect for fall or winter weddings.
You can customise the shawls with the initials of the guest. During summer, the pashmina fabric can be replaced with mulmul and summer prints.
2. Premium chocolates: Sweeten the deal and treat your guests to fine, delicate and select chocolate. You can even get customised chocolates that are monogrammed with couples initials or the wedding logo.
3. Leather goods: Some trendy and practical favours which have been quite frequent at recent weddings are leather gifts such as monogrammed travel pouches and customised passport holders.
4. Kitchen items: Sets of cups, tableware or a classic teapot — they can all serve as contemporary, practical and usable gifts.
5. Personal care: Personal care kits are often customised and given on the first day of the celebrations so that guests at destination weddings can make use of these instead of the hotel toiletries.
6. Favours for wedding functions: Another trend is to integrate favours into the wedding functions and themes. For instance, the Mehendi function can have an entire designated area where guests could choose giveaways that were relevant to the function. You can have Kolhapuri chappals, bangles and dupattas.