Fall Favor Ideas

The following favor ideas were mainly based upon a wedding reception, but would work well for any occasion.

1. Leaf shaped candles or soaps, placed in either a organza drawstring favor bag or a clear cellophane favor bag. These bags can then be embellished by tying your "thank you for sharing our special day" card to the ribbon ties, or even adding small charms or beads in coordinating colors to the strings. If using a cellophane favor bag, be creative with the ribbon ties - use 2 different colors of ribbon, or some very pretty fall themed ribbon.

2. Leaf and pumpkin shaped chocolates, handmade by you and your wedding party. Buy the appropriate candy molds and melting chocolate at the craft store, and make it a fun group activity night with the wedding party or any friends/family willing to help out. Have dinner together, get some work done, and just have time together to talk, reminisce, etc.

3. Same idea as number 2, but use homemade cut out cookies in the shapes of leaves and pumpkins. Check out any craft store's cake decorating aisle or any retailer's section of fall merchandise to find the cookie cutters if you don't already own them. Again, have an activity night together to make the cookies. For this idea, if you are willing to share your cookie recipe, you can have your "thank you/wedding date" card that gets attached to the favor do double duty. Have the cookie recipe printed on the other side of the card so people can enjoy the cookies again on their own sometime.

4. Hot chocolate, hot tea or coffee favors. Many wedding supply companies offer personalized pouches of hot chocolate, hot tea bags, or coffee. If you prefer to do something more creative or homemade, you can always get favor containers, such as small tin or plastic containers, and fill them yourself with your choice of hot chocolate powder, coffee grounds or even loose tea, and embellish them with ribbon, paint them with stencils, or even glue on beads/rhinestones. Put it together to make it look like a gift wrapped box. Just make sure that the container you choose has a secure lid or has no chance of leaking out the substance inside. If you choose to put together your own favor, make sure you have the appropriate amount of powder, grounds or tea to make at least one full cup, and choose a flavor that is either special to you and your soon-to-be spouse, or something that is a favorite for the both of you. This gives your guests a little bit more of your personal touch. If you do choose something special, make sure it is noted somewhere on the favor card so your guests know why you may have chosen a specific flavor.

When making your own favors, always look for the bargains. Buy things when they are on sale, use the craft store coupons from the weekly ads and buy in increments, or recruit your friends and family to come with you to purchase the items so they can use coupons as well. Make the most out of your money - weddings can get very expensive if you don't plan carefully and save wherever you can.