Custom Candy Favor Boxes
Custom candy favor boxes for weddings, showers and parties, from 100 units. Small shapes that fold flat and assemble in seconds, sized to a handful of candy, and printed or foiled with the names and the date — because these are made in batches of two hundred by people at a kitchen table.
Two hundred of them, folded by hand, the week before
- Board
- 16–18 pt SBS or kraft, matte finish; colored board available
- Shapes
- Pillow, cube, tuck, pyramid, gable with handle
- Sizes
- 2–4 in per side; pillow boxes 3–5 in wide
Get a price for Candy Favor Boxes
Send the size and quantity — we reply the same working day with a price, a dieline and a date. Artwork optional at this stage.
- Free dielineThe flat drawing comes with the quote, before you commit.
- Proof before pressNothing is printed until you have seen it laid on the dieline.
- Die kept for reordersTooling is paid once. Every reorder skips straight to press.
- Quoted in four marketsUS, UK, Canada and Australia, in the delivery currency.
Assembly time is the real specification
A box that takes fifteen seconds to fold is four minutes for the whole order at fifty units, and nearly an hour at two hundred. A box that takes forty-five seconds because it has interlocking tabs and a fiddly base is closer to three hours, usually late at night, usually by someone who is already doing too much.
So the honest recommendation for a large favor order is the simplest shape that suits the event: a pillow box or a cube, both of which fold in one motion. The elaborate shapes belong to small orders where the assembly is part of the pleasure.
| Pillow box | Two curved folds, opens by pinching; fastest to assemble, flattest to store |
|---|---|
| Cube or tuck box | Four folds and a tuck; the plain workhorse, easy to fill |
| Pyramid | Four petals folded to a point; slower, but no adhesive needed |
| Gable box | Handle formed by the top panels; slowest, and the most substantial |
Sized to a handful, not to a product
A favor box holds a portion rather than a product: five or six almonds, a small handful of candied nuts, two truffles, a scoop of jelly beans. That means the size is a judgment rather than a measurement, and 2 to 3 inches on a side covers almost every case. Bigger than that and the box looks under-filled, which is worse than being small.
If the candy is loose and might leak sugar dust, a small cellophane or glassine bag inside the box solves it — and it also means the box can be assembled weeks ahead and filled the day before.
Assemble and fill a test box with the real candy before ordering. Almonds settle and a box that looked full at the table looks half empty by the reception.
Personalizing without a reprint
The sticker route is worth serious consideration for a wedding, because dates and spellings change more often than anyone plans for and a box is not reprintable.
- Print the names and date on the box, which is the cleanest and commits you to the final wording early.
- Print a blank box and add a printed sticker or tag, which lets the wording be decided later and fixed if it changes.
- A blind emboss or a foil monogram on a plain color, which photographs beautifully and suits a formal event.
- A printed belly band around a plain box, which is the cheapest way to change one design across several events.
What the box has to survive
Favor boxes are set out hours before the event, sit under warm lights, get handled by guests and are carried home in bags and pockets. A light card creases, and an uncoated stock shows every fingerprint on a table of two hundred.
A 16 to 18 pt board with a matte finish handles all of it and still folds easily by hand. Where the favor is chocolate, heat is the additional problem and the box should not be dark or sitting in sunlight — the same warehouse caution that applies to our candy bar sleeves and cartons.
Candy Favor Boxes — specification
The rows that are specific to this build first, then what applies to every job we run. Anything not listed is a question, not a limit — send the brief.
This build
- Board
- 16–18 pt SBS or kraft, matte finish; colored board available
- Shapes
- Pillow, cube, tuck, pyramid, gable with handle
- Sizes
- 2–4 in per side; pillow boxes 3–5 in wide
- Full color, single color, foil, blind emboss; blank plus sticker or band
- Extras
- Glassine or cellophane inner bag, ribbon slot, tag hole
- Minimum
- 100 boxes
On every job
- Print process
- Flexo in one to six colors, printed on the outer face only and before any lining goes on.
- Color
- Food-safe inks throughout. Kraft mutes color; a white board or liner is needed for anything photographic.
- Tolerance
- Cutting plus or minus 1 mm, and fit confirmed by filling a plain sample from your own kitchen or line.
- Tooling
- A cutting die per size, kept. Molded pulp needs a tool per shape, which is a longer lead and a larger one-off.
- Food contact
- Every board food-contact grade, with grease resistance built into the sheet and never a PFAS treatment.
- Sustainability
- Aqueous linings and unlined boards repulp with ordinary paper. PE-lined cups need cup collection, and we say which you have.
- Artwork
- Vector PDF or AI, 3 mm bleed, 4 mm safe area, fonts outlined. We check every file and send a proof before press.
- Dieline
- Supplied free with the quote, before you commit. Yours whether or not you order.
- Sample
- A plain unprinted sample at the finished size on request, for fit and construction.
- Reorders
- Skip the tooling and go straight to press at a lower unit price.
- Lead time
- Quoted with the price against your fill date rather than promised before we have seen the spec.
- Markets
- United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia — priced in the delivery currency, freight included.
Boards and films we build candy favor boxes on
Food packaging is chosen for what the food does to it: grease, steam, heat and time. Every board here is food-contact grade, and none of them uses a PFAS treatment for grease resistance.
Food-grade virgin board
Bleached board made for direct food contact. Clean, bright, no recycled fiber and no mineral-oil risk from recovered paper.
14–24ptGrease-resistant board
Resistance built into the sheet rather than sprayed on. Holds fries, pastry and butter without darkening. PFAS-free.
16–24ptPE-lined cupstock
Board with a polyethylene film for hot and cold liquid. Microwave-safe for reheating; recycled only where cup collection exists.
260–350gsmAqueous-lined cupstock
A water-based lining instead of PE. Repulpable in ordinary paper recycling in more places, and compostable; a slightly shorter hold time.
260–320gsmGreaseproof and glassine
Dense, calendered paper that resists fat through the fiber. Wraps, liners and interleaves; breathable, so pastry stays crisp.
30–55gsmFood-grade corrugated
E and B flute with a food-contact liner, vented where steam has to leave. Pizza, catering and anything hot and heavy.
E and B fluteMolded pulp and bagasse
Fiber pressed into a shape. Holds heat, resists grease with no lining, composts, and takes only an embossed or one-color mark.
Molded to shapeRecycled board
Post-consumer fiber. Used for outers, sleeves and anything that does not touch food directly — not for direct contact.
Non-contact onlyNot sure which? Say what goes in it and where it is sold — the material follows from that. Our notes on recycled, recyclable and compostable cover which claims each stock can honestly carry.
- 01
Send what you have
A dimension, a photograph beside a ruler, or the product itself. No technical drawing needed — that part is ours.
- 02
We quote and draw
A price, a dieline and a date come back together. If a different build would suit the product better, that is in the reply too.
- 03
Approve the dieline
The flat drawing is yours to check: which panel is the front, where the folds fall, how deep the cavity really is.
- 04
Artwork on the dieline
You place your design on the flat we sent, or we place it for you, and you see a proof before anything goes to press.
- 05
A sample if you want one
A plain unprinted sample at the finished size shows fit and construction — the things a drawing cannot.
- 06
Cut, printed, shipped
The die is cut once and kept, so every reorder skips the tooling and goes straight to press at a lower unit price.
Format
Vector PDF or AI where possible. Raster artwork at 300dpi at final size, in CMYK.
Bleed
3 mm past every trim line, so a fraction of drift on the cutter never leaves a white edge.
Safe area
Keep type and anything important 4 mm inside the cut and away from every fold.
Color
Convert to CMYK before sending. Uncoated stock prints lighter; a spot color is the only exact match.
Fonts
Outline them or supply the files. A missing font substitutes silently and the proof will not match.
Barcodes
On a light, matte, unvarnished patch with the quiet zone clear — a code on gloss fails the scanner.
Not set up that way? Send it anyway — fixing a file is a short conversation, and we check every one before press. Our guide to preparing print files covers each point.
Food finishes are limited by what may touch food, and that is the point.
Food-safe inks
Printed on the outer face only. Every food pack we make uses them, laminated or not.
Uncoated kraft
No coating at all. Breathable, so pastry stays crisp, and it takes one or two colors.
Aqueous varnish
Scuff resistance without a plastic film, so the pack still repulps.
Molded emboss
A logo pressed into pulp or bagasse. No ink, nothing to rub off, and it survives grease.
Grease-resistant face
Not a finish you can see. It is in the sheet, it is PFAS-free, and it is why the print stays clean.
Matte lamination
Available on outers and sleeves that never touch food — a cake box lid, a carrier, a gift sleeve.
Not sure which suits the shelf it sells from? Say where the product is sold and we suggest one — our notes on specialty finishes show them on real boxes.
Sizing food packaging around a portion, hot: candy favor boxes
Food is sized by serving, not by dimensions, and it is served hot, heaped and in a hurry. Send us the portion — or better, the box you use now with the food in it — and we size to how it is actually filled.
- Portion, heaped
- Fries, popcorn and salad are served above the rim. A box sized to a level fill looks mean and spills in a bag.
- Lid clearance
- Enough that a loaded burger or a topped cake does not touch the lid. This is the single most common complaint about a food box.
- Venting
- Hot food steams. Vents in the lid keep pastry and fries crisp; a sealed box is right only for cold food.
- Grease path
- Where the fat sits decides the board. Say if the food is fried, buttered or sauced, and whether it is held for minutes or an hour.
- Stacking in a bag
- Delivery boxes are stacked five high on a bike. The lid has to hold the box above it off the food below.
- Sample fill
- A plain box filled from your kitchen settles the size in one try, and we send one before the run.
Not sure your numbers are right? Send the product dimensions rather than the box dimensions and we work the box out — the full method is in our guide to measuring for a box.
Interactive · five steps · no sign-up
Build your Candy Favor Boxes in 3D
Pick a shape, type a size, choose a board and a finish. The preview on the left redraws as you go, and the spec lands with us exactly as you set it.
Frequently asked questions
Got a question about candy favor boxes? The answers below cover what we get asked most. If yours is not here, send it with a brief, message us on WhatsApp, or call +1 503-461-4788 — we reply the same working day.
Which shape is fastest to assemble?
A pillow box — two curved folds and it is done. A cube is next. Pyramids and gables look better and take two to three times as long.
How long will 200 boxes take to fold?
Under an hour for pillow boxes, closer to three for a gable with interlocking tabs. It is worth deciding on that basis.
What size should a favor box be?
2 to 3 inches per side for most candy. Larger boxes look under-filled, which reads worse than a small box that is full.
Does the candy need an inner bag?
If they are loose or dusty, yes — a glassine or cellophane bag. It also lets you assemble weeks ahead and fill the day before.
Should I print the names and date?
You can, and it commits the wording early. A blank box with a printed sticker is safer, because dates and spellings change more often than people expect.
Can I have foil?
Yes — a foil monogram on a plain colored box is the formal option and photographs very well at small sizes.
Will the boxes crease before the event?
Not on 16–18 pt board with a matte finish. Lighter card creases and uncoated stock shows fingerprints across a table of two hundred.
Can they hold chocolate?
Yes, though heat is the risk rather than the box. Keep them out of sunlight and off warm surfaces, and use an inner wrap.
Do they ship flat?
Yes, as die-cut blanks. That is what makes them practical to order in quantity and assemble at home.
Can I add a ribbon?
Yes, with a slot or a punched hole for a tag. It adds assembly time per box, so factor it into the evening.
What is the minimum order?
100 boxes. They run many-up on a sheet, so 100 and 300 are close in unit price.
Will you send a sample?
An unprinted box in your shape and size, so you can fold one, fill it with the real candy and time yourself before ordering two hundred.
Same range
