IT’S ALIVE! Three Exceptional, Eco-Friendly Wedding Favor Ideas

You’ve heard the cliché “Every Little Bit Helps.” Those words are never more true than when we’re talking about supporting our environment, and while weddings may be the last place you’d expect to go green, there are several ways to do your part. If you want to go to the extreme, you can find hemp wedding gowns and soy wedding cakes. Not happenin’, huh? Well, for the great majority of us, less is usually more when it comes to weddings and the environment. Perhaps the very least you can do is thank your guests with eco-friendly favors. Here are three fun ways to favor your guests—and the planet—with green goodies. We’ll start with seed wedding favor ideas.

Plantable Favors
If you’re having an urban wedding with cosmopolitan guests who have lovely abodes with absolutely no place to plant a garden, plantable favors can bring some color and life into their lives. Plantable favors are small pieces of paper embedded with wildflower seeds. The seed-embedded favors come in a variety of shapes, like hearts, flowers, wedding bells, etc. You simply plant the favor in a flower pot filled with potting soil, water it regularly and watch your wildflowers bloom.

Wildflower Seed Packets
For suburban and rural weddings, wildflower seed packets are just the thing. You can get wedding-ready packets and bags (many of them personalized) in a variety of sizes, colors and styles (elegant or whimsical.) The packets or bags contain the wildflower seeds, which will have to be planted. Experts recommend you choose a location for your wildflower garden that’s near a hose for regular watering. Rather than just tossing them on the ground somewhere, you need to clear out a special bed for your garden, till the soil a bit and spread the seeds across the area. The seeds don’t need to be planted in the ground. Just walk around the bed in your shoes to tamp the seeds down. It’s amazing what a little water and love can bring about.

Baby Succulents
Ideal for the extremely busy or overly lazy guest list, baby succulents are water-retaining plants adapted to arid climate or soil conditions. Yes, they’re cacti—easy to care for and cute as they can be. Your guests just take them home and watch them grow…slowly. You can find baby succulents already planted in small, favor-sized pots, or you can find pots, bowls or containers that match your theme or color scheme and transplant a variety of succulents into stylish plant holders that complement your reception décor.

See what a snap it is to do just a little bit for Mother Earth, even on your wedding day? Whether or not your guests—or anyone else—tell you your efforts are appreciated, be certain—they are. And Mother Earth herself would be the first one to thank you.