Wedding Recipe Cards: Complete Guide + Free Ideas (2025)
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Time to read 5 min
The Complete Guide to Wedding Recipe Cards
Imagine guests leaving your wedding with not just memories, but your grandmother’s famous lasagna recipe. In this guide, you will learn how adding wedding recipe cards as wedding or bridal shower favors will not only share something personal with your guests, but also provide something that will help make memories.
What Are Wedding Recipe Cards?
What makes a recipe card a wedding recipe card? With the Dashleigh Wedding recipe card collection, we note that these recipe cards are gifts for the newlyweds and the bride. We also include a variety of designs to match most wedding themes. Wedding recipe cards serve to give your best and warmest family recipes to a brand-new family.
Many use them as bridal shower recipe cards, either included in the physical bridal shower invitation to be returned to the party. The host will typically provide the bride-to-be with these recipe cards in a binder or recipe box as a memento of the best recipes from favorite people.
Or some hosts will offer a table of recipe cards as a bridal shower activity, so guests can fill them out on the day of the party and put them into a recipe binder.
Occasionally, brides include recipe cards as a modern twist on a traditional guest book. When the guests arrive at the reception, they will fill out a heirloom recipe card to give to the newlyweds to start their own family recipe collection.
Creative Ways to Use Recipe Cards at Your Wedding
At a bridal shower, having a station to hand out wedding recipe cards to a bride-to-be is a clever and unique way to give a personal, helpful start to a wedding recipe card book. At the station, have a sign that says “Share your favorite recipe with the bride”, while some hosts will provide the recipe cards in invitations, so they may request they keep one in mind, so when they arrive, they can fill out a card to build a custom, heartfelt cookbook for their loved one.
As an alternative to a wedding reception guestbook, the bride might provide a station on arrival where guests can fill out a recipe card.
The station should include a sign with instructions, a cup of pens, a binder for guests to put the cards in, and more recipe cards than you think you'll need (guests might have more than one recipe to share with the bride!). And the newlyweds will return from their honeymoon with a practical DIY wedding guest book and family recipe collection in one.
A few wedding reception prompts:
“Delicious dishes for the Mr. & Mrs”
"Recipe for a happy marriage (or your favorite dish!)"
"Share your cooking wisdom with the newlyweds"
Remind the guests to grab a pen, share their recipes and sign their name on each card.
Some brides might bring recipe cards as a rehearsal dinner activity, which is a perfect way to add a personal touch to the dinner. Provide pens and cards at each place setting for guests to add a recipe, which will be collected at the end of the dinner.
Match Your Wedding Theme
At Dashleigh, we offer many bridal/wedding recipe cards that match themes ranging from farmhouse to modern minimalist, vintage, classic, garden, and floral. Each card is made from thick cardstock for long-lasting heirlooms. Our cards are double-sided for plenty of room to write the best family recipes to share.
Dashleigh Product Tags: wedding recipe cards, bridal shower recipe cards, recipe cards for wedding, wedding recipe card wording, DIY wedding recipe cards
Uses for Bridal Shower Recipe Cards
Collect as a Bridal Shower Activity
Include Wedding Recipe Cards in Bridal Shower Invitations
Use a Replacement for a Guest Book
Browse Dashleigh Wedding Recipe Cards
Frequently Asked Questions about Wedding Recipe Cards
How many recipe cards do I need for my wedding?
A: Plan for 60-75% of your guest count, plus an extra 20-30 cards. Not every guest will participate (especially plus-ones who don't know you well), but some enthusiastic guests will want to share multiple recipes. For a 150-person wedding, ordering 100-120 cards usually hits the sweet spot. Remember that couples typically share one card together, which brings down your needs. It's better to have leftovers—you can use extras for family recipes you collect after the wedding or save them for thank-you notes with your favorite recipes from the day.
When should guests fill out recipe cards?
The cocktail hour is your golden window. Guests are relaxed, mingling, often have a drink in hand, and are looking for something to do. The second-best time is during the pre-ceremony arrival period when early guests need entertainment. Avoid dinner time (too chaotic) and late reception (people are dancing or tired). Some couples set up stations at both the ceremony and reception venues to catch different crowds. If you're having a bridal shower, that's actually the perfect low-key environment for recipe collecting—smaller group, more intimate setting, and guests expect activities.
What if guests don't know what to write?
Provide prompts on your instruction sign or directly on the cards. Try these: "The dish I'm famous for is..." or "New couples should master this easy recipe..." or "This comfort food fixes everything..." You can also suggest categories: weeknight dinners, special occasion dishes, family traditions, guilty pleasures, or breakfast favorites. Display a completed example card showing the level of detail you're hoping for. Some couples create category labels so guests can grab a "Dessert" or "Appetizer" card based on their specialty.
Can I use recipe cards for both bridal shower and wedding?
Absolutely! This actually works beautifully. At the shower, focus on recipes from your closest friends and family—these tend to be more detailed and personal since it's a smaller group. You might even make it an activity where guests share the story behind their recipe. Then at the wedding, you'll capture recipes from extended family and friends. Use the same style cards for both events so they create a cohesive collection. Just order enough for both events and designate a pretty box to store shower recipes until you combine them with wedding ones.
How do I word the request without sounding demanding?
Keep it warm and focus on creating memories together. Try: "Help us build our family cookbook! We'd love a favorite recipe from your kitchen," or "In place of a traditional guest book, we're collecting recipes to make our house a home," or "Share a dish that brings people together—we can't wait to try it!" Avoid phrases like "required" or "must include." On your wedding website, frame it as something fun: "We're excited to try your favorite recipes in our new kitchen!" Add that it's optional: "If you have a favorite recipe to share, we'd be honored to add it to our collection."
