Wedding DIY: Part 4 | Beaker Candle Favors and Kid Favors + Beaker & Erlenmeyer Flask Centerpieces

Photo Credit: Brooke Beasley Photography

There were so many reasons we chose to get married at the gorgeous location we did, but one of those many reasons (aside from the lake access, gorgeous facilities for the entire weekend, etc. etc…) was for the lavender fields.

Photo Credit: Brooke Beasley Photography

Seriously, who can resist a spectacular blooming lavender field!? With that said, of course we tried to plan the wedding at the right time between the blooming and harvesting of the lavender. And, although it was early on, we ended up hitting it at a pretty perfect time.

Photo Credit: Brooke Beasley Photography

Because of all the lavender, I knew I wanted to incorporate it into the wedding somehow, and what better way than lavender candle favors!? Then when the guests leave and burn the candle later, it can bring them back to that wonderful day in the lavender fields. (ha! too much? sentimental overkill? oh well… that’s just how things roll around here…).

Photo Credit: Brooke Beasley Photography

I’ll start off by saying, my history with candle-making is minimal. As in, I tried to make one candle that one time a few years ago and it didn’t go very well. :P So when I suggested beaker candles after seeing these beauties (plus we met in pharmacy school, so it was fitting), and Danny assumed I meant make them (I didn’t… I was busy researching sellers), I wasn’t sure that was an option for me! Ha. But, according to the then-fiance, “don’t you just pour some wax in the things?” — yes, it was a classic case of the non-crafty person assuming it’s just THAT easy — lol. :) But, naturally, I got online anyway, ordered supplies, and recruited helpers! If nothing else, at least it’s a good excuse to get everyone together, right!? (or at least that’s what I tell myself). :)

Supplies Used:

Google “DIY Essential Oil Soy Candle” and you’ll find about a million tutorials on how to make them. :) Some of them make it sound really hard. Some easy. We actually found it surprisingly simple, it just required time and a little bit of trial and error. Calculate how much wax/supplies you need –> buy supplies –> attach wick to container –> melt wax –> mix in essential oil –> pour in container –> stabilize wick –> let cool –> add label –> done!

Lessons learned:

The more people you have, the better. With five of us, this whole process took about four hours to make 120 candles. Pretty good, I thought, for first-timers!
Depending on the essential oil you’re using, you may not need as much as you’d expect. We used about 1 tbsp (~1/2 oz.) per ~lb of wax and it worked great (these measurements do not need to be exact by any means) — I ended up having a TON of lavender oil leftover; luckily it’s one I’ll actually use and I gave some away.
There are many ways to attach the wick. After trying a few things, we found it easiest to use a dot of hot glue. (BUT, watch out for the glue strings…)
There are many ways to stabilize the wick after pouring in the wax. After trying a few things, we found it easiest to use a strip of scotch tape with a hole in the middle for the wick (this was also best for us because we were making so many and we could do them all at once).
If you’re making labels, the sticker paper we used attached to the glass really well and looked great but it came with warning reviews about it being hard to peel the stickers from the paper backing. Those warnings were true. If you don’t get frustrated easily, it will work great for a great price. If you do get frustrated easily, I would suggest looking at other paper options :)
Lastly, the labels can be added before or after adding the wax. We did some both ways and each worked fine. I was initially worried about spilling wax all over the labels, but as long as you’re halfway coordinated while pouring, you shouldn’t have an issue ;)

The labels were made in Word and printed on the sticker paper, as mentioned. I was able to fit 20 labels on one page, so you really don’t need much paper. They were inspired by this and this (a plain white candle with a simple label gets me every time…). Note: if you’re making candles and are looking for a layout like this, lemme know and I can send it to you; I’m just too lazy right now to link it. :)

Photo Credit: Brooke Beasley Photography

Once we had agreed on beakers for the candles, the centerpieces just fell into place. I ordered a bunch more beakers and graduated cylinders of all sizes, and planned for three per table, to use for the flowers. We added in a few more plain candles (which looking back now I’m not even sure were used… that happened a lot… I just had to roll with it), plus the beaker candles on the tables, and the whole look turned out perfect. Not too cutesy, but just enough to be very “us” :)

Photo Credit: Brooke Beasley Photography

Lastly, for the kiddos, we almost didn’t do anything but we had so many of them on the guest list (it’s that time of our lives… everyone we know is having them lol) I wanted something for them. I figured an activity is always good… since weddings can get boring for the littles, so I found THIS printable coloring book on Etsy, and set them out with crayons.