You really get me, Liese.

I am always pleasantly surprised by wedding favors, when I get them at the wedding, and when I happen to see them amongst all my other junk and think "where did that come from? Oh, yeah, what's-his-names wedding..." But I totally wouldn't miss them if they weren't offered and don't think I gave out any at my own wedding, unless almonds count. I don't even know what Welcome Bags are.

I'm a big fan of edible or practical favors.

For my sister's bridal shower we gave them paper fans. Very handy.

Man, there is nobody in my office today. I mostly came in for lunch because I haven't been home in two weeks and need to get groceries, and I also have some receipts to scan and an expense report to file.

I suspect I'll be leaving early.

I got a favor of homemade-by-the-bride jam at one wedding, but since I had flown there I couldn't take it with me. (I think megan walker got it, actually.) At another wedding, I got soap made by a friend of the couple.

Consumables are great because then you, as a guest, don't feel bad about throwing things away.

I do like the idea of having goodie/activity bags for any children in attendance, though, in hopes of keeping them occupied.

That's a good idea. I wouldn't even notice if there were no favors or welcome bags at a wedding. I figure, I'm there for them; why would they give me stuff?

The best favors I ever created for a wedding were the books from the last big flower project I did.

The couple are both writers and scholars, so the books were either in their areas of expertise, or well-loved for one reason or another.

I covered the ones outside the color scheme in a lovely batik.

An unexpected delight was that tables began negotiating with each other for the books they really wanted. Some took the covered ones just because they were pretty. Some titles sparked bidding wars paid by good deeds!

eta: I should add that the books all came from yard sales, free piles and second hand shops. Much less expensive than a lot of traditional favors.

We gave out small plastic toys (dinosaurs, mermaids, eagles, polar bears, etc.) at our wedding. We weren't necessarily planning on doing favors, but we found several boxes of cool and cheap little toys at a local toy store and decided our guests would love them, and indeed they did.

Work has been a major pain the last two days. I am buried in paperwork and keep having to put it aside to deal with other things.

Closed! About to start appliances and beds. Lordy.

DCJ, my utmost condolences, I just saw.