When we first started talking about wedding favors there were lots of ideas that came to mind. We wanted something local, that was a treat and allergen-free. That’s when the idea of local honey came about. Why not give our guests something that they can take back home and enjoy for a while.
We came up with these cute jars of local unpasterized honey with special little touches like wooden honey dippers, Tibetan bee charms, colourful ribbon and a sweet label. It was a fun project that got lots of family and friends involved.
We displayed the jars in the bar area of the venue, so that guests would be sure to see them during cocktail hour and then grab one on their way out at the end of the night. They would have also looked nice at each place setting.
The jars were paired with a packet of wildflower seeds for guests to plant in their garden or toss in a ditch on their way home. It was our little way of giving thanks back to the bees for making the honey.
We ended up having TONS of honey leftover. For 115 guests, we made 144 jars with the hope that everyone would take one and then we’d have some leftover to give to the vendors, drop off with family/friends who were unable to attend and then take some with us on our honeymoon road trip to give out along the way. I guess that lots of couples just took one to share, so we have plenty of honey now. Any time I’ve used honey in a post over the last two months, it’s been from the leftover jars.
When we first started looking at honey jars, everyone told us it was too difficult to do on our own and that we should just buy them pre-poured. The cheapest we could find was $4-5 per jar for just the jar and the honey. With 144 favours to make, that adds up really quickly, but by doing it ourselves we saved over $115 and were able to add the bee charms and wooden honey dippers.
Here is a quick cost breakdown, including where we bought all the supplies.
| Local Honey | $1.56 | Staite’s Honey – Uxbridge, Ontario (25 kg) |
| 100 mL Jars | $0.75 | Atkinson Maple Syrup Supplies |
| 4″ Wooden Dippers | $0.63 | Woodworks Ltd. |
| Ribbon | $0.17 | Fabricland – on clearance |
| Bee Charms | $0.08 | DHGate Wholesale |
| Labels | $0.02 | Martha Stewart Avery Collection – on clearance |
| $3.21 |
We had more than enough favours for our wedding, as well as plenty of extras, but if you’re looking to save more you could do them as one per couple.
We picked up 25 kg (over 55 lbs) of honey from Staite’s Honey in Uxbridge, Ontario in big 5 kg and 15 kg pails. On the way home, my mom was terrified of them breaking open and covering her truck in honey. That was a pretty common theme throughout the process – don’t let the honey spill. I kept picturing someone knocking over a 15 kg pail of honey all through the kitchen. Thankfully we had no major spills – and the dogs were more than happy to lick up any little drips on the tile.
The biggest obstacle we had to overcome was how to pour the honey out of those big pails into a pitcher to make filling the jars easier. The honey guy said the important thing was to stop the flow of the honey. It has a much thicker viscosity than water, so it will keep pouring forever if you let it – and when you have $215 of honey, so don’t want to have too many spills. That stuff is liquid gold.
The trick was for my dad to carefully pour the honey from the pail into a large glass pitcher and then I’d run a knife along the edge of the pail to cut off the stream (I’ll show you a pic of it in a minute). We placed the pitcher on a dinner plate to make it easier to clean up and spills.
When we were ready to go, we setup an assembly line around the kitchen table. Dad was in charge of pouring the honey (it was quite the workout!), mom took care of cleaning any drips on the jars and I tightened the lids on the cleaned jars, added labels, packaged them up and got the next round of jars ready for pouring.
The jars didn’t need to be washed (they came sterilized from the supplier) and we just put them on a large dinner plate to make it easier to clean up an drips and spills. I’d setup a plate with jars and my dad would start to carefully fill the jars with honey from the pitcher.
When a jar was almost full, he’d use a knife to cut off the stream.
He continued around a whole plate before passing the jars off for cleaning.
Using a clean tea towel damped with hot water, my mom wiped all the edges of the jars before I put the lids on. Once the jars had dried, we added on the labels.
For the labels, my mom scored a great deal on these Martha Stewart Avery Labels. I’d previously seen them for $5, but she got them on clearance for 50% off the ticketed price ($1.50) making them $0.75 for 36 labels – or $0.02 cents each!
Using the label template and this free stock image of a bee, I was able to design the labels with our names, wedding date and a cute little saying. Once the jars were dry, I applied the labels.
Then it was time to decorate them up with ribbon, bee charms and a honey dipper! Some of the bridesmaids came over to help with this and we were able to knock out all 144 jars in under two hours (including a break for pizza!).
I pre-cut the ribbon into 17″ pieces and we strung the bee charms about 1/3 of the way in on the right. This is roughly where we wanted to tie the bow on the side of the jar.
Months before we even knew we were doing honey jars, my mom found the ribbon on clearance months before for $1 for a 3 yard skein and bought a bunch in some of our colours – navy and sage green. They turned out to be perfect for this project, but we could have also found uses for them throughout the decor. Once you find ribbon on sale, in your wedding colours, buy it – because I can almost guarantee it won’t be on sale when you’re ready to make favours, wrap bouquets, etc.
I thought these Tibetan bee charms from DHGate Wholesale were just too cute to pass up.
To keep the charm and ribbon in place, we tied a double knot. The extra knot kept the dipper from sitting father away from the jar. Without it, I found that the dipper wanted to flop one way or the other. The wooden honey dippers at Woodworks Inc and we made sure they would fit the opening of the jar before ordering. Can you imagine doing all this and then they don’t fit?
Then it was time to tie on the wooden dipper. Make sure it’s a tight knot to keep it in place.
We tied the ends into a little bow, clipped any stray threads and then turned the bee charm so that it was facing forwards. Voila!
Due to the height of the wooden dippers, we had to leave the boxes open on the top. The finished jars needed to be stored in a warm place to prevent the honey from crystallizing. It doesn’t take much to make them crystallize – even the spare jars sitting in my parents basement this summer started to harden.
Once we got to the venue the day before the wedding, it was time to set it all up! We used vintage wooden fruit crates (previously bedside stands at our cottage) to give the display some height.
It also gave us more space to display all 144 jars.
I made this sign on Photoshop using the bee image and font from the jars, as well as a little honey quote about love. The frame and stand are dollar store finds that we stained at the same time as the DIY Painted Wedding Direction Signs.
To display the wildflower seed packets, I made this moss-covered box to sit in among the jars. I’ll be sharing a post soon all about the seeds and this box.
If you are planning to make honey jar favours for your wedding and have any questions, email me or leave me a comment below and I’d be happy to help!
Absolutely LOVE those!! 🙂
Super cute… I am featuring you! Thank you so much for linking up with us!
I am a Justice of the Peace, hence my E-mail and I have done a lot of weddings. That is absolutely the cutest idea I have ever seen. I was going to say the sweetest but thought that too much of a pun. I truly love the idea. I would have loved to receive something like that at a wedding.
WOW this is so impressive! The jars look professional – you should start your own shop! 🙂
Seriously, these favors are absolutely wonderful and I think giving back to the bees is so classy and thoughtful! Nice job and thanks so much for sharing!
I really like the label for the honey. Super cute! I use honey a lot in my tea and in cooking. I think these are great favors!
I am doing this for my wedding also. You did an amazing job. The challenge I am having is picking the size of a jar. How many ounces of honey did you give each person?
Thanks!
Love them. What size jar did you use?
The jars are 100mL.
I’m having trouble finding the martha stewart labels. please advise. thank you!
Those specific labels were from Staples, under the Martha Stewart Avery labels collection. I’m not sure of anywhere else that they sell them, but you may be able to find something similar online. You can also print out the shape and design you like on full sheet sticker paper and cut it out by hand too. I’ve done that for odd shaped labels.
Please let me know what size jar you used. Thanks!
The honey jars I used were 100mL
Wonderful project! I am really interested in doing something similar. Can you please share the size of the jars you used? Thanks… and keep it up 🙂
The honey jars I used were 100mL. Thanks for stopping by the blog!
Hello, thank you so much for sharing! I have decided to do something very similar for my upcoming wedding. How long in advance did you buy and put the honey in your own jars? I would love to do them about a month ahead of time so I don’t have to worry about them close to the wedding, but I don’t want them to crystallize. Thanks so much for your help!
Kristin
I made them about a week or two before the wedding, but you could do it earlier. The biggest issue is keeping the honey warm. It only takes one cold day for them to crystallize. I filled mine, decorated them, put them back in the boxes and then stored them in a warm room of my in-law’s house. Somewhere that doesn’t get cold or drafty (a basement or garage is a big no-no). If you have any more questions, feel free to give me a shout. Good luck!
I would like to place an order for 150 pieces. Can you please get in touch with me regarding the following:
1. total price
2. if you deliver to Dubai and how long the delivery takes time.
Unfortunately I’m not selling these online (just sharing a tutorial on how to make them), but you might be able to find them on a site like Etsy.
We Would need 75 for a Wedding favor. Please let me know if possible to order and what the cost would be thank you!
Love is sweet
Angelika & Jakub
08-22-15
Heart
Angelika:
Where are you located.
Wonderful idea. Can you tell me where you picked-up the wild flower seeds? I love the idea of helping the bees by planting the seeds.
Thanks so much!
Here is the post on the wildflower seed packets: http://smallhomebigstart.com/2014/07/diy-honey-bee-wildflower-seed-packets-wedding-favors-moss-covered-box-wedding-wednesday.html
Hi Amanda – when you ordered the honey dippers (they come from Texas), did you have to pay extra customs fees or a brokerage fee? The company sent me an email after I placed my order saying that we may incur these costs. Just wondering what your experience was. Thanks 🙂
I sent them to my parents’ house in Florida so we didn’t get any brokerage fees. In the past, I have had companies say that I was responsible for customs fees or brokerage fees, and then there weren’t any. I’m not sure if that is the case with this and they are just warning you that you’re responsible, or if this is something they know you have to pay. I would recommend giving them a call to see. Good luck!
Thanks so much for the info 🙂
I am trying to find similar jars but I live in another country and it is hard to find 100ml jars. Could you please share the exact measurements such as height and diameter? It would be very helpful to me.
Thank you so much. It is an awesome tutorial.
I will be using your idea as a template for my own wedding. This is exactly what I was looking for. Where did you find the shelf and wooden items to display the honey?
I’m glad you like it Danielle! The shelves are actually old wooden fruit crates from my parents cottage.
Hi, I am making the same thing for my daughter in laws Mother to Bee baby shower which is the Sunday October 25th. Can I pour the honey in the jars today Thursday or should I do it a day before? I am always afraid the honey may change. Let me know how far in advance I can pour the honey in the jars since I have only today , Friday and Saturday to do this. I figured if the honey will not change and I can start tonight Thursday since it takes time to decorate them after too. Thanks.
Donna Manzo
You can pour the honey well in advance, you just need to make sure it doesn’t get cool, otherwise it will crystallize. We poured our jars well before the wedding and then kept them on my in-laws dining room table where it was warm. Good luck!
Also…great theme! Such a cute name.
Thank you. I poured them on Friday before the shower on Sunday. I also left one jar filled for now to experiment to see how long it will take to crystalize. I left it on my kitchen counter. They came out beautiful. I used a larger jar rounded on the sides and flat on the front and back and I placed light brown burlap piece over the lid and tied with a natural color raffia ribbon that looked like straw and then tied a round tag to it that read, “Myla’s Ba-Bee Shower. Thank you for Bee-ing here. Everyone loved the idea of getting a honey jar since edibles are always nice to receive. Take care. I wish I could add an attachment to show you but there is no attachment icon. Take care.
It sounds like they turned out lovely! Great shower favour idea. I still have people who tell me how much they loved the honey from our wedding.
Do you still have the template for the sign you made for the table? Would you be willing to share it?
Hi Amanda, I am getting ready to do the same thing. Do you think we should bring up the temperature of the honey to 135 degrees. Did any of the honey crystalize after and if yes how long after you bottled it did it take. Your favors were beautiful by the way. loved it..
Cristina
We didn’t need to bring the temperature of the honey up because it was still liquid. Some of it did crystalize the following winter when I stored it in our pantry, but I just pop the jars in the microwave to remelt them when I need to.
The big trick to keeping them liquid before the big day is to store them something warm, like a living room or bedroom that doesn’t get cold or drafty.
Hello,
The link to the label no loner works. Would you happen to still have the label?
Firstly, I wanted to say that I love your favours!
I am a beekeeper and just wanted to point out that the crystallization of honey is a completely natural process. It usually starts to occur a few months after it is harvested. Honey should be stored at room temperature and never in the fridge (because it speeds up the crystallization process). If honey does crystallize, the best way to re-liquefy it is to place the jar in a pot of hot water. Microwaving honey actually kills all of the beneficial enzymes.
These are so cute! Where did you get the stock image of the bee?
Your honey favors came out beautiful. I am from New York. Do you know where I can begin to find a honey farmer???
Thank you! And amazing job with your favors!
Thanks Ania! The American National Honey Board lists honey suppliers by state! You can call these suppliers in New York and hopefully one of them can help you 🙂 http://www.honey.com/honey-locator/find/state/new-york
I absolutely love these! I am planning to do something similar for my wedding in June. I really love the look of the labels you created – do you happen to remember which fonts you used? Thanks!
Place your honey jar favors at each guests’ place setting, or display them with a ‘take one’ sign that you’ve also DIY’d at the door to your wedding, bridal shower, baby shower or celebration, and guests will find their sweet treat waiting for them, so easy to take home.
I’m having a vow renewal it will be 35 years. We didn’t have a church wedding so we are do it 2019. And I would love to have honey as my wedding favors. I need some information. Thank You
Hi Freda! Congrats on 35 years!!! This is a tutorial on how to make your own honey jars. I don’t sell any myself, but you should be able to find a local honey producer who may be able to point you in the right direction. Best of luck!
If you do these months in advance should the jars be sealed or will honey go bad if done too early?
Honey will never go bad on its own. Jars of sealed honey buried in ancient Egyptian tombs are still perfectly safe to eat. The most important part is that you keep it sealed. Honey can actually pull moisture from the air into the jar if it’s not sealed. The biggest issue with making them ahead is keeping them at a temperature where it doesn’t crystalize. Even a drafty room can get cold enough to crystallize. If you can store it in a nice warm room until you need it, that would be best. Good luck!