Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve probably noticed custom matches all over your socials, your friends’ weddings, and maybe your apartment. Custom matches—tiny little canvases on which you can express yourself—are hot, hot, hot! We’ve talked matches on this very blog again and again and again, going all the way back to 2018. So, you could say we’re a little bit ahead of the curve on this one. Recently, custom matches have gone crazy on TikTok, and have even made it as far as our feature in the Wall Street Journal. So, it’s not just us anymore—custom matches have made the leap into the popular imagination.
Custom Matches and You
What do your custom matches say about you? We’re so glad you asked. There are three big categories: home entertaining, weddings, and businesses.
With entertaining at home trending, custom matches have taken on a life of their own as the hottest home decoration in town. Maybe you’ve seen this on TikTok already, but there’s nothing more popular than a bowl of custom matchbooks in your apartment as an homage to the cozy bars and restaurants we love. They’re the perfect way to leave your friends impressed. Best of all, if everyone in the friend group gets on board, you can start to exchange them, leading to everyone’s house having its own gloriously mixed bowl!
We can’t get through a blog without talking about weddings, but, hey, it’s why we’re in business. Matches are an enduring wedding accessory because they can be customized to any theme, and are a perfectly compact yet memorable party favor. They are the perfect gift to express that you’ve met your match.
We also have to give a shout out to corporate orders. Businesses are what started the custom matches trend all those years ago, and custom matches are still going strong today! They are perfect for many different kinds of business—working just as well at a gift shop as at a bar. So, there’s really no need to wait if you’re reading this and wondering if custom matches are the right fit for your business. Trust us, they’ll work. We’re even seeing design studios and artists make matches to sell on their own. Let your imagination run wild!
Latest Bestsellers
Fans of both custom matches and the For Your Party blog might remember our Top 5 Custom Matches blog from just about a year ago. Back then, our most popular custom matches were Olive Bar Name, Where Every Hour Is Happy Hour, Retro Winter Names, Simple Initials, and Mod Mediterranean Burnin' For You. One year later, who’s up and who’s down?
To begin with, congratulations to Olive Bar Name and Where Every Hour Is Happy Hour—not only are they staff favorites, they’re still some of the top designs for custom matches on our site! If you ask us, the fact that these two instant classics are based around home entertaining is no accident—this really speaks to the enduring post-pandemic popularity of gathering with your friends.
Trending Custom Matches
So, who are the new characters? First up, we’ve got Pasta Party Names Matchbook. We brought this one out for our Winter Pasta Party collection and haven’t looked back. It’s safe to say that wavy, doodle-y frames are having a moment in weddings right now, so choose these to be on-trend!
Next up from our beachy bachelorette party collection is the Bachelorette Beach Party Seashell Match. This custom match design is pure and simple beach elegance, channeling bright sunshine and old-school swim clubs. Since they’re really timeless, we think these are going to be hanging around the top of the charts for a while.
Lastly, we’ve got our Kitschy Cocktail Hour Wasted Love Matches. The star of our Kitschy Cocktail Hour collection, these matches have been extremely popular ever since they launched earlier this year. The bubble frame, combined with the handwriting-style font (thanks, honeymoon!), creates a confident, relaxed vibe. Cheeky captions are also in, so these custom matches are the perfect combination!
Meet Your Match
Of course, we also love to see how you design our custom matches! Even though they’re popular at the moment, each custom match is still a personal reflection of you and your life. While we love our themed templates, we also love seeing what you come up with in the FYP Customizer, where you can upload your own art and personalize matches from scratch. Be sure to show us how your projects turn out by tagging us on Instagram. If you can imagine it, you can match it!
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