Most families ordering binyag giveaways in Canada land between $20 and $25 a guest for something keepable, and the count is usually one per family rather than one per head. My pressed flower keepsake candle is $25 each, $22 from 10 pieces and $20 from 20 — and $20 is as low as I go. A bulk order takes 4 to 6 weeks, so your date matters more than your guest list.
Somebody's cousin messages me from Cambridge or Mississauga, the binyag is booked, the church and the hall are booked — and nobody has thought about the souvenirs. There are eighty guests and four weeks.
If you search for binyag souvenirs from here in Canada, what comes back is Manila. Peso prices, Manila suppliers, a TikTok of somebody's beautiful table in Antipolo. Lovely, and no use to you in Kitchener in October.
So here is the Canadian version, with the numbers in dollars.
What do Filipino families give as binyag giveaways in Canada?
The traditional list has not changed much: a rosary, a little framed photo of the baby, personalised stationery, a plant, cookies, a candle. Smart Parenting's giveaway round-up lists notebooks, potted plants, soaps and candles — all priced in pesos, from suppliers who are not going to ship to Ontario.
What I notice from the families who order here is that the list narrows to three things:
- Something with the baby's name on it. This is non-negotiable. If the name and the date are not on it, it becomes a generic object by Christmas.
- Something that gets used. A candle gets lit. A fridge magnet gets looked at twice. Consumable wins, every time.
- Something that survives the drive home. Boxed, not loose. Half the guests drive back to Toronto or London that night with a toddler in the car.
Mine arrives boxed with a ribbon in your colour and a tag — nothing to wrap at the hall at eleven at night. And any candle in my shop can carry a custom label instead: the baby's name, the date, the church.
How much do binyag giveaways cost per guest?
Here are my actual numbers:
- $25 each for one, or a few.
- $22 each from 10 pieces.
- $20 each from 20 pieces — and that is my floor. It does not get cheaper at 50 or at 150, because the work per candle does not get smaller.
So eighty guests at one per family — say fifty pieces — is $1,000, plus shipping if you are outside Kitchener–Waterloo.
If your budget is under $20 a head, I am honestly not your maker, and I would rather say that now than waste your week. At $8 or $10 a guest you want printed stickers, or soap, or cookies from a tita who bakes.
How many giveaways do you order for 100 guests?
A Filipino guest list counts people, but giveaways go home in households. A hundred guests is often thirty-five to fifty households once you take out the children and the couples arriving together.
Then add the spares, because they always get used: the priest, the photographer, the tita who did the cake, the two who came anyway.
Count your households, add five. Tell me that number and your date and I will say straight away whether it works.
What do you give the ninong and ninang?
This is the question underneath the question. The godparents usually get something a step up from the general giveaway — they have stood up for your child, and often paid for a chunk of the day.
- Same piece, different label. Everyone gets the keepsake candle, and the ninong and ninang get their own name on the front. A different name can go on every single box, so each one finds theirs on the table.
- One tier up. The giveaway for the guests, and a sculpted flower bouquet for the godparents at $55 — and it never wilts, when the day is already full of flowers that will be gone by Tuesday.
How early should you order before the binyag?
A bulk order is 4 to 6 weeks from an approved design. That is not a cushion, it is the real figure — I pour every piece myself at my kitchen table in Kitchener, between shifts at the hospital, and fifty candles is a lot of evenings.
And if you need 500 pieces, I am the wrong maker entirely. There is one of me.
From my kitchen table
The thing nobody tells you about ordering fifty of anything handmade: the weight. Fifty candles is around forty kilograms. I quote the courier as its own line rather than hide it inside the per-piece price, because a family planning a binyag deserves to see what is the candle and what is the van.
Pressed flower keepsakes: $25 each, $22 from 10, $20 from 20. Your ribbon colour, your label, and a different name on every box if you want one.
What I would send to a binyag
Pressed Flower Keepsake Candle
9 oz, boxed and tied. The one almost every christening list ends up choosing.
$25
White Floral Purse Candle Bouquet
For the ninong and ninang. White wax flowers that do not wilt after the party.
$55
The baby's name, your count
Ten pieces or more. Send me your date and your households and I will quote it.
GET A QUOTE
Four things help me quote quickly: your date, how many pieces, what goes on them, and a photo of anything you like the look of. The form is on the custom and bulk orders page, and I come back with a price and a photograph of something similar I have already made.
Free hand delivery in Kitchener–Waterloo. Anywhere else in Canada I quote the courier at cost, on its own line.
Everything I make
All hand-poured by me in Kitchener, Ontario.
Free hand delivery in Kitchener–Waterloo · Free shipping across Canada on orders over $125
