Choosing the Right Votive Cup for Your Candles

You've got the menu, the florals, the fancy tableware, and your votive candles all planned for your party. The only things missing are the votive cups to hold your candles and complete the look. Do you pick a narrow cup or something a little wider? If you find really wide decorative cups, do you need to put the candle in a smaller one within the really pretty one? Do you even need a votive cup?

The answers to these questions are simple, but first we need to discuss how votive candles behave when lit so that we can determine what kind of holders to look at when considering both decor and function.

How Votive Candles Work

A votive often comes packaged as a small freestanding candle similar to the way that a pillar candle looks. What this means is that they do not automatically have any sort of container with them as a jar candle does. For a pillar candle, this is no issue because it melts outward at a slow rate, so you can make sure the wax does not melt over the edge. However, due to the small size of a votive candle and the fact that the wax is made to melt all the way across the top, the melt pool will reach the edge of the candle very quickly. Therefore, if you were to treat your votive candle as you would a pillar, the wax would melt over the edge and create a mess.

Because of the way a votive candle melts, something is needed to keep the wax contained and within reach of the flame. Thus, votive cups are a crucial part of how votive candles work. Using a holder for your votives essentially turns them into miniature jar candles but with customizable jars for every occasion. As the wax melts, it reaches the inside walls of the container and continues to melt downward and heat the wax below the liquid pool. This behavior means that you need the farthest edge of your wax to stay within reach of the heat of the flame in order to keep melting.

There are 100s of varieties of votive cups available for purchase on the internet, and there are a lot of styles that are wider cups. Since we know that the wax needs to stay within reach of the flame, it is important to choose votive holders that will accomplish this.

Votive Cup Styles

With almost endless options for votive cups, it can seem overwhelming trying to decide which shape, height, color, or material to use. Fortunately, there are a few things you can use to help you eliminate some of those choices.

The first criteria is to look at how wide the cup is. This is because as we mentioned before, you want to keep your wax from spreading beyond the reach of the heat from the flame.

A narrow cup that just fits your votive candle will keep the wax nice and close, giving you a long burn-time and ensuring that all the wax can be used up. Our unscented overdipped votive candles are 1.5 in. wide, and our scented votive candles are 1.75 in. wide, meaning you will need a holder that is at least as wide as the candles themselves. 

Choosing a slightly wider cup, which has been an increasingly popular style, will allow your candle's wax to melt over the edge of the candle and down into the bottom of the cup. At first, it may seem like that wax will be wasted, but as more wax floods the bottom of the cup and the wick gets shorter, that wax is able to be melted. Using a votive cup that is a bit wider than the wax itself is not going to ruin your candle.

Picking a cup that is much wider than your candle will cause the wax to melt beyond the reach of the flame, and you will have wax that goes unused.

A good rule of thumb when picking the diameter of your votive cup is to keep it within standard ranges. Most cups are about 1.5-1.75 inches wide, and some are even as large as 2.5 inches at their widest point and still burn beautifully while the wax stays close to the flame. The most important thing to consider is keeping the wax close to the heat from the flame.

If you find a votive cup that you really want to use even though it is significantly wider than standard holders, you may want to put the candle itself within a smaller cup inside of the decorative one. This means you won't have to clean out the decorative holder and can easily switch fragrances.

The second criteria is to look at how tall the cup is. A 10-hour votive candle is 1.25 inches tall, and a 15-hour votive candle is 2-2.25 inches tall. You will want to choose a holder that is just a little taller than the candle to prevent it from melting over the sides.

Shorter votive cups can work, but you will want to monitor them so they don't overflow.

When it comes to color and material, those are generally based on personal preference, though glass and metal are the most common materials used for votive cups. The only note about metal is making sure any heat won't damage your tabletops, as the flame and melted wax may make the metal very warm.

So, Do You Need Votive Cups for Your Votive Candles

In short, yes, you absolutely need votive cups for your votive candles.

Without a votive cup, the candle wax will melt out of reach of the flame and cause a great mess. The key factor when choosing votive cups is making sure they are narrow enough to keep the wax close enough to the heat of the flame. A slightly wider container will not harm your candle, but you may notice that the wax melts and pools in the bottom of the glass. Yet, the wick will eventually shorten to the bottom and continue to melt it. For significantly large votive holders, using a narrow cup to contain the candle within the larger one will allow you to enjoy your lit votives in whichever pretty holder you use. Additionally, it will give you an easier cleanup to when switching scents in your decorative votive cup.

Regardless of what votive cup you use, as long as your candle is contained within the walls of the holder, you are sure to have a beautiful party with votives that add the perfect ambiance.

Check out this video demonstration we did that shows the way a votive candle melts in a narrow cup, a wide cup, and no cup at all. Each of these scenarios cause the votive to melt in different ways.