I Baked My Own Wedding Favors and Here’s How It Went
Some people told me the idea was nuts, others weren’t surprised one bit, and some even expected it. To me, baking the favors for my wedding a few weeks ago seemed like a totally natural fit.
Although what sounds great on paper doesn’t always follow a smooth path. Here’s how baking my own wedding favors really went.
At first we considered not having wedding favors. As I’ve previously mentioned, I think they can be kind of a waste, and my husband very much agreed with me. Homemade favors, on the other hand, are an entirely different story.
When the idea of baking our favors crossed my mind, it was like a light went off — I felt like it completely made sense. It was another touch that really represented us, and added a sense of our personality to the day. My husband was equally excited and totally on board.
I didn’t even have to think twice about what to bake: rosemary shortbread. I’d made it enough times that I knew the recipe by heart, plus I knew these cookies were sturdy, held up well, could easily be made in advance, and best of all, were a hit each and every time I made them in the past.
Baked with Love and Exhaustion
My husband said it best when one of our guests asked if I made the favors. “Yes,” he told them proudly, “she baked them with love and exhaustion.”
It was a big undertaking. And as the very first of a dozen batches of shortbread went into the oven three nights before our wedding, I realized I slightly underestimated the scope of this project and just how much time it would take.
→ 10 Important Things to Consider Before Cooking for Your Wedding
It took a few batches before I fell into a steady rhythm of prepping, mixing, creaming, pressing, docking, baking, cooling, wash the mixing bowl, and repeating — then I was like a well-oiled machine; a machine who was committed to staying up all night to finish baking shortbread. Thankfully it didn’t quite come to that, but it was close, and I was more nervous about feeling exhausted come the wedding than I was about finishing the favors.
Perhaps you’re wondering about my husband’s role in all of this. As luck would have it, he came down with an awful cold the day prior. Sore throat, coughing, congestion — the works. He was down for the count, so it was more important that he get healthy by our wedding day than bake cookies in between coughing fits.
We were down a set of hands, but what actually would have been a hundred times more useful was a second bowl and paddle for the stand mixer, and more 8×8-inch baking pans.
By the time these cookies were cooled, cut, and packaged, I was beyond thrilled to be finished! And sadly by that point, I was so tired of looking at the shortbread that I didn’t even want to eat any of it. I didn’t even want to smell cookies anymore. But as I packaged the last of the shortbread, I thought long and hard about if I would do it all over again. I’d definitely start a little sooner, but without a doubt, I know I’d do it all over again in a heartbeat.