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.

We gave out Big Boyz Bail Bonds pens! Practical! (That's what I was dressed as when Bob proposed. )

My friend K made delicious jam for her wedding. And when my friends J and G and got married (at Treasure Island on the pirate ship) they gave out eye patches and fake cutlasses.

The best favor I ever got at a wedding is the only one I still know where it is. It was a super cool, low key outdoor wedding in eastern Tennessee. Favors were frisbees with the name & date of the wedding printed on them. Love. That bride was also so awesome that the (handmade) bridesmaids' gowns were totally usable lovely spring dresses that I wore for a decade afterwards.

Christmas us. If you scroll through backwards, you'll see our little live tree, complete with ornaments from Kat!