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Top Ten Wedding Favor Ideas

The practice of handing out favors as a token of appreciation to wedding guests dates back to the Middle Ages.

Since then, wedding favors have evolved from fancily packaged sweets to the elegantly presented sugar-coated Jordan almonds.

Today the wedding favor is a firmly entrenched wedding tradition, with endless choices ranging from sterling silver trinkets to more inexpensive ways to simply say "thanks for coming."

Here are some of the most popular:

• Do it yourself - Good old fashioned ingenuity comes into play when planning a do-it-yourself favor, and can get everyone involved. What's more, you're sure to save lots of money on homemade gifts. Scented candles or tea lights, fancily wrapped candy tins or home baked cookies, homemade sachets or potpourri fit the bill nicely, and can be easily personalized with labels created on a home computer.

• Personalized wedding favors - Champagne bottles, sterling silver coasters, matchbooks, pens and even golf balls are all part of the wedding favor industry's bonanza for supplying the bride and groom with their names and wedding date professionally printed on items handed out to guests. Pricey, sure, but the 'wow' factor is definitely still there.

• Edible wedding favors - Personallized fortune cookies, chocolate, candy, almonds, mints, honey jars ("Meant to bee!"), gourmet teas and coffees, candy hearts.

• Bubbles - A favorite pasttime from childhood makes a whimsical gift that's a hit with both kids and adults.

• Au natural - Think sea shells, engraved natural stone, wild flower seeds, jute tote bags, natural soaps & gels.

• Seasonal wedding favors - Incorporate these into a winter or fall wedding theme with gifts of spice-scented candles, baked goods, jams and jellies, snow globes or personalized Christmas ornaments.

• Frames - The versatile picture frame may hold a photo, the wedding invitation, or serve as a keepsake place card holder that guests can bring home.

• Candles - Practical, elegant, and today packaged in all sizes, shapes and scents.

• Plants & flowers - A Love in Bloom theme can be displayed in personalized packets of flower seeds, elegantly presented flowering bulbs or potted plants

• Cameras - Keeping shutterbugs busy at the reception is even more popular as prices come down on throwaways, while supplying the bride and groom with memorable moments only their guests could have shared.

• Silver - Bells, cookie cutters, (inscribed "we were cut out for each other") coasters, spoons, wine stoppers, ice cream scoops.

• More about wedding favors around the Web:

The Knot - Wedding Favor Ideas

Wedding Favor Ideas