Personalized Favors

• A popular trend is to send guests away with a gift that commemorates the date of the wedding. This is done by monogramming typical wedding favors with the bride and groom's names and the date of the wedding or by adding photographs to the gift. Ideas include key chains with a photo of the bride and groom, custom playing cards, monogrammed hand fans (this is especially useful for an outdoor reception in the summer), drink cozies with the wedding date printed on them, and any number of edible treats contained in personalized tins.
  
  

Edible Treats

• Edible wedding favors are always a hit because guests love having something to snack on after the wedding. Plus, these treats are often inexpensive for the bride and groom to provide. Consider a glass container filled with monogrammed candies, a tin of cookies shaped and decorated to match the wedding theme, custom fortune cookies with romantic fortunes, jelly beans in the wedding party colors, and even slices of wedding cake packaged in fancy boxes.
  
  

Practical Parting Gifts

• Wedding parting gifts can be both fun and practical. Practical favors are perfect for couples who want their guests to get more than one use out of their gift. Options include wine glasses, tea cups, hand towels in decorative shapes, coasters, bottle openers, luggage tags, soaps, picture frames, and votive candle. All of these gifts can be decorated to match the theme of the wedding, and many are easily personalized with the wedding date or a photograph of the happy couple.
  
  

Seasonal Send-Offs

• Parting gifts can be set to pay homage to the season in which the wedding takes place. Spring time, for example, is about the rebirth of the earth, so plants, flowers, and seeds make exceptional gifts. Summertime weddings bring the heat, and many are even set on the beach. Consider paper or sandalwood hand fans and sand art for summer favors. Autumn weddings often incorporate nature into the event. Bookmarks shaped like fall leaves and pumpkin-scented candles work nicely during this time of year. Winter evokes imagery of white snowfalls, crackling fires, and the smell of pine. Winter wedding favors can easily play with these concepts -- think individualized packages of hot cocoa, pine-cone-shaped bottle stoppers, and miniature snow globes.