I have to tell you the story about a wedding I was involved in, once upon a time... I was a bridesmaid for my college roommate. There were four of us total, including the Maid of Honor. And a matching number of groomsmen. It was the day before the wedding and the Bride had just ripped the Groom and his buddies a metaphorical "new one" for pretending they hadn't picked up their tuxedos. Never joke with the bride about such things the day before!

She was unhappy that the guys that they had promised to make the wedding favors, but they still weren't done yet. Within five minutes, the best man organized the entire wedding party into a favor-making assembly line. One man on the favor machine, one man on tulle circles and chocolates, one man on disks. The "re-load" guys each had beer in their free hands, and supplied tulle circles, plastic disks and exactly three Hershey Kisses when ordered to by the Best Man, who was manning the machine. The machine bunched the tulle just right so a plain ribbon could wrap the disk and chocolates into a bundle. The bride was adamant Jordan almonds would NOT be handed out, but Hershey's Kisses in warm spring California were a little too melt-y IMO.

The ribbon-tied, tulle bundles were tossed into a pile on the couch where the bridesmaid's tied on ribbons and curled them with scissors. Lastly a personalized satin ribbon with the wedding couple's names and the wedding date embossed on them was tied on. In about forty-five minutes we had 200 of them.

In the end, no one remembered to hand them out and they got brought back to the married couple's apartment whereby the entire wedding party hid them EVERYWHERE the next AM before they got back from their hotel. Really, how memorable is a ribbon tied on some chocolate? Another friend of mine gave out travel sewing kits at her wedding, saying she wanted to give out something useful. That sewing kits came into use five years later on a road trip, and did totally save the day at the time.

Seriously, thank all those folks that just got dressed up and gave you all that great stuff by giving them a great wedding favor to remember your special day.

Presently there's a trend in wedding favors for them to be more heart-felt and less flashy. Practical isn't seen as a bad quality and a quality consumable item is a popular choice. Being "green" and giving out a wedding favor that is eco-friendly is also very "in" right now.

Obviously one of the major considerations is how many favors you need. Having a small, intimate wedding with a few dozen guests most likely allow for a more elaborate favor than if you are expecting a a crowd of two hundred.

Here are some suggestions based on discussions I've had with friends about things they've done or received at weddings that really went over well with family and guests and popular wedding favor trends.

• Custom CD/mix of music played at the reception

• Handmade soaps or bath bombs

• Food - with a personalized wedding label (sauce, syrup, salsa, wine, dressing, etc)

• Tea, coffee or cocoa selections (can be wedding-theme or seasonal)

• Organic vegetable or flower seeds

• Beeswax or Soy Candles

• Small potted plants, seedlings or flower bulbs.

• Donations to "green" charities or organizations