Custom Candle Boxes with Inserts for Posting Glass Jars

Measuring Jars, Tins and Votives

Measure the vessel with the lid on. Note the diameter at the widest point, which is often the lid rather than the glass, and the full height including any wooden lid knob. If the jar has a pronounced shoulder or tapers towards the base, tell us both diameters, because the insert needs to grip the right part of the vessel. For tins, measure the lid lip as well, since it is usually a few millimetres wider than the body.

Weigh a finished candle too. A 200 g votive and a 600 g three-wick jar need very different board grades even if the boxes look similar from the outside. If you are unsure, post us a sample jar, empty or filled, and we will size the box and insert around it. p1 The guide to measuring a product for a box covers lids, knobs and tapered jars.

Outer Box Styles That Pair With an Insert

For candles sold in shops and online, a folding carton with a tuck top and a card insert is the most common pairing. It prints well, folds quickly and costs less than a rigid box. For higher-priced candles and gift editions, a rigid lid and base box or a drawer box with a fitted insert feels substantial in the hand and is often kept and reused by the buyer. For direct mail, a printed corrugated mailer with a corrugated insert can go straight into the post without an outer carton.

Window cartons work with inserts too, but the window has to sit in front of the label rather than the insert. Your proof shows exactly where the jar will sit behind the window.

Think about how the box opens, too. A tuck top that opens from above lets the customer lift the candle straight up out of the insert. A side-opening sleeve or drawer means the candle slides out horizontally, which is fine for tins but can tip a tall jar. For heavy jars, we usually recommend a top-opening style so the weight stays on the base of the insert from packing bench to customer's table.

Print and Finish for Fragrance Brands

Candles are bought on mood. The box needs to suggest the scent before anyone lifts the lid, so colour does a lot of the work: soft greens for herbal blends, warm ambers for woody scents, pale pinks for florals. Full colour printing handles photography and painted textures; one or two spot colours on kraft give a quieter, handmade look.

Soft-touch lamination, foil logos and embossed scent names are popular finishing touches. Printing the inside of the box or the insert itself in a contrasting colour adds a pleasing moment when the lid comes off. Do leave space on the base or back for the safety and usage information your candles carry, along with the burn time, weight and your contact details.

Who Orders Candle Inserts

Small candle makers selling through their own websites and craft marketplaces make up a large part of our candle work, along with home fragrance brands supplying gift shops, interiors stores that commission their own scents, and corporate gifting companies sending candles to clients. Wedding favour makers order tiny boxes with multi-cavity inserts for tealights and mini tins. Subscription box companies use inserts to stop a candle rattling against other items in a mixed box.

Makers who sell both in person and online often order one box design with two inserts: a lighter card collar for market sales and a sturdier cradle for parcels.

Interiors stores commissioning their own scent usually want the box to feel like part of the shop rather than the maker's range, so we often print the store's branding outside and keep the maker's details on a small base panel. The insert stays the same either way, which keeps the price sensible for short runs.

Weigh the Filled Candle, Then Choose the Insert

Candle makers tend to send jar dimensions and forget the weight, yet weight is what decides the insert. A 200 g votive sits happily in a folded card cradle; a 600 g three-wick jar needs a corrugated insert and a heavier outer box, or the cradle collapses the first time a courier drops the parcel. Put a filled, lidded candle on the kitchen scales and send that number with the diameter at the lid and the full height to the top of the knob.

Then pack one candle in a plain box with your chosen insert and drop it from waist height onto a hard floor. If it survives, that is the specification to order. The custom quote comes by email within one working day; a folding carton with card insert starts from £0.25 and minimums are set per job.

The free proof draws the box and insert together so you can see how the jar sits. After approval, production takes 4 to 7 working days and delivery to UK mainland addresses is free and tracked. Makers who post single candles often order corrugated shipping boxes for candles alongside, so the retail box travels inside a mailer.