Your wedding day wouldn’t have been the same if it weren’t for your friends and family. They were right by your side and made your experience unforgettable by sharing all the love and joy. It’s only natural you want to thank them for being there. And is there any better way to do it than by creating amazing eco-friendly wedding return gifts?
If you want to help save the environment, gift your guest something meaningful, and be original at the same time, check out our suggestions!
What Should a Wedding Return Gift Look Like?
Wedding return gifts can be anything, from food to decorations. They always carry some kind of emotion both for you and your guests. You can choose if you’ll hand out the gifts as your friends and family leave the party, or send them a few days after the wedding.
Whatever you decide, this gift makes your guests feel appreciated. That’s why it should be personalized. To make the gift even more unique, you can add a handwritten thank you note. Investing time and love into creating the return wedding gifts for guests will make the memory of your wedding day even more precious.
Having an organic wedding doesn’t limit your options. It may even make you more creative when it comes to these gifts! Take a look at our ideas.
12 Ideas for Amazing Eco-Friendly Wedding Return Gifts
1. A Colorful Basket of Organic Fruit
You don’t need apples and pears in your backyard to create such a basket. You probably have at least one local organic grocery shop where you can purchase different fruits to make this yummy return gift. And not only is it delicious, but it’s also healthy. At the same time, you’re likely to support a small business by buying from them.
Choose different colors to make the basket look beautiful and pick fruits that won’t go off too quickly. For example, apples, lemons, pomegranates, oranges, and even dried fruits. To make it one of the best eco-friendly wedding return gifts, pick a bamboo basket!
2. A Basket of Healthy, Organic Sweets
Dried fruit can be a part of your basket with organic sweets. If you’re more into candy, this type of basket might be what you’re looking for. It can include dark chocolate, banana bread, peanut butter cookies, organic candy bars, chocolate bites made with almond milk, and more.
If you’re unsure if a product is organic, check the label. Most of them will have the USDA symbol. This means they’re made of 95% organic ingredients. They don’t contain sugar or cow milk. Also, they’re typically made of organic fruit juice and have organic sweeteners.
3. Inspiring Herbal Tea and Spices
It’s something every kitchen needs to have. Chamomile, berries, dandelion, Echinacea root, ginger, or hibiscus – the options are endless regarding herbal tea. After all, it isn’t just a drink. It’s a whole cozy experience of sitting by the fire while it’s snowing outside. Your friends will think of you each time they enjoy a warm cup of tea.
Bags of organic spices are also an excellent choice – they make every meal more delicious. Cumin, anise, nutmeg, coriander, and curry are available in almost every organic spice shop. Pack them in a cute paper bag and wrap a ribbon with a color that matches your wedding theme. Here’s one of the most perfect eco-friendly wedding return gifts!
4. A Delicious Organic Coffee Blend
Who doesn’t like coffee? It’s a favorite morning ritual for many, while for others, it means a pleasant chat with a friend after work. True coffee lovers will appreciate a bag of their favorite brown beans – especially if it’s organic. That means it was produced without harmful chemicals and can even be more caffeinated than regular coffee.
Whether it’s strong or less intensive, it’s definitely something different and will amaze your guests. You can choose between ground coffee and whole beans. Just make sure you pick the most delicious brand to surprise your friends and family with unique wedding return gifts.
5. Bees’ Golden Secret: Organic Honey
Not only is this a sweet gift, but it’s also extremely healthy. Organic honey doesn’t contain additives, and it’s as close as possible to natural honey in its original state. Make sure the honey you buy is USDA certified. If you know the person who makes and sells organic honey, that’s even better. You’ll be sure it’s pasteurized and safe.
You can decorate the jar with stickers or lace. How about designing a personalized label for each jar? Leave a funny or cute note for your guest and thank them for attending your wedding. This way, your gift will be both eco-friendly and adorable.
6. A Simple Way to Grow Love: Plants and Seeds
What’s more eco-friendly than a plant? It’s long-lasting and will remind your guests of your special day for quite a while (if they don’t forget to water it, that is).
Plants can be a lovely addition to any home. If you want to choose a variety that’s not too much trouble, a cactus is undoubtedly one of the best return gifts for weddings. Other succulents also require little maintenance. You won’t go wrong with aloe, for instance, considering its burn-soothing effects. Your guest might also like lavender – it smells lovely! Amaryllis has a beautiful flower that blooms in winter – consider it too.
A bag of plant seeds might be an even more romantic idea. Especially if you decorate it with a simple note – “Grow love!”
7. Being Versatile: Wooden Kitchen Cutlery
Want to be practical? Wooden kitchen cutlery isn’t only eco-friendly but also highly functional. Your friends might keep forks and spoons as ornaments, though. Either way, it’s a beautiful and versatile gift.
The most sustainable choices are bamboo, cork, and wood from sustainable forests that are FSC-certified. Most of the cutlery made of bamboo and other wood can sustain up to 150-200°F, but it depends on the manufacturer. These might be pricey, so check how much it will cost you before you decide.
8. It’s the Small Things: Wooden and Jute Decoration and Jewelry
Living room decoration is something you can never go wrong with. Many items can be made from sustainable wood, starting from picture frames, figurines, jewelry boxes, and more. These work for both men and women. Key chains, pencil holders, and similar things can also be made of wood.
The best thing about wooden gifts is that you can carve in a special note for your guest, your names, or your wedding date. Also, they’ll probably place the gift somewhere they can see it all the time – to keep reminding them of you.
Jute is another great, versatile material that can be used for creating many things. If you want to make special gifts for your best friends, jewelry is always a safe bet. Even wood can be used for making beautiful earrings or bracelets.
9. Hand-Painted Flower Pots and Vases
When you create something yourself, it’s even more valuable for your loved ones. Do you have any creative hobbies, such as design or painting? If you like to paint, you can decorate flower pots or vases and pack them as eco-friendly wedding return gifts.
Why are these items eco-friendly? Because they’re made of natural materials, such as terracotta, which is also great for fitting into any home design. Clay and cork are also superb choices, as well as wooden boxes. Let your imagination run free while decorating them, and you’ll get beautiful and eco-friendly gifts.
10. Organic and/or Handmade Soap
Cosmetic products aren’t always eco-friendly and contain lots of chemicals that might be great for our skin, but not for the Earth. However, handmade soap can be a perfect gift for your environmentally conscious friends!
Organic soap is something you can even make on your own. If you don’t have that much time, visit a few shops with natural beauty products, and you’ll find lots of unique smells, shapes and sizes of organic soaps. Use paper bags or some sustainable material to pack it and voila! It looks and smells beautiful.
11. Tote Bags Made of Organic Materials
Now that we’re all trying to ditch plastic bags, tote bags have become very popular. They’re often made of sustainable materials such as hemp, so they’re very environmentally friendly. Tote bags can also make excellent eco-friendly wedding return gifts.
Depending on the material you choose, you can print or embroider a note or an image to make the bag personal and decorate it. Not only will it look beautiful, but your guests will be able to use it for their everyday needs like grocery shopping.
If your wedding is an intimate ceremony with a relatively small number of guests, you can even consider gifting T-shirts, scarves, or handkerchiefs. You can add a personalized note or any reference to your wedding day. These can be made of organic cotton or bamboo.
12. A Donation to a Green Organization
Making a donation in the name of your guests is a truly original gift and probably the most rewarding one on this list. What’s better than the feeling you’ve done something good for the planet?
There are plenty of “green” organizations to choose from.
If you’re not sure which to pick, you can talk to your friends and family before the wedding. Try to find out what causes they care about – but make sure they don’t see through your plan!
A Final Word
Weddings are one of the most wonderful and romantic occasions when people get together to celebrate love. Your gifts should reflect this and make love the first association when your guests receive them.
Eco-friendly wedding return gifts are an excellent way to show your creativity if you have enough time to make them on your own. And if you don’t, you’ll at least spread eco-awareness even on your wedding day. That’s true devotion!
