Make M&M Favors For Wedding Guests

Our family celebrated a lovely wedding this past weekend. Our son and his beautiful bride both have names beginning with the letter M. Somewhere in the wedding process, it was decided to use M&M's as party favors. M&M tins were purchased for the containers. You can't get much more original than that. I will explain how we put the favors together.

It was my job to fill the containers for the dinner reception. How many M&M's do you buy for over a hundred people? How do you keep them fresh? How do you keep them from melting in summer temperatures? How many candies should go in each container? It seemed like a disaster waiting to happen. My worst nightmare was that the candies would be stale and melted. Ugh!

I am the type of person who does not like to wait until the last minute to finish big projects! My stress level goes up if I feel pressured at the last minute with too many tasks for the day. I was ready to fill the M&M containers two months before the wedding and let them sit in our air-conditioned house until the appointed hour. My husband wisely advised me that the candy could become stale if purchased way in advance. Two weeks before the wedding, I purchased my supply of candy.

Not knowing how many bags of M&M's to buy, I guesstimated. I purchased five of the largest bags of M&M's available in the local grocery store, after price shopping several different stores. In addition, I bought small snack-sized ziplock baggies. These were perfect for my tins.

To measure the amount of candy for each container, I used a 1/4 cup plastic measuring cup. I dipped the cup into the large bag, poured the candy into the baggie and closed the zipper on the bag. The containers were lined with confetti to add color and a soft bed for the M&M's. Holding the bag on one end, all of the candy went to the side of the closed bag and I folded it over to fit in the container. If there was too much air in the bag to fold properly, I unzipped the baggie, pressed out the air and resealed. The edges of the baggie were placed under the candy and the bright colored candy was on the top.

The bride wanted an additional favor in the tin. She created a small square paper with their names and added a couple of stickers on two corners. One sticker had their college emblem and the other advertised her passion - helping Autistic kids. The sticker fit nicely on top of the M&M's in the tin.

The snack baggies kept the candy fresh. In addition to keeping the candy fresh, we had hot temperatures to contend with. It was necessary to travel by car to the wedding on a hot day. Thank goodness, our drive took less than two hours. We kept the car cool and placed the candy on the floor behind the driver seat and out of the sun. As soon as we arrived, we took the tins to the motel room and turned the thermostat in the room to cold.

The favors arrived safe and sound. I noticed the guests munching on them during the reception after dinner. They appeared to be intact and edible. The tins were placed on the dinner tables, one per person. I thought they looked fantastic!

The M & M candies were a huge success. They looked wonderful on the tables and added a personal touch for the guests. As guests watched the events of the night, they were a welcome snack and easily available. In my book, you can't go wrong with M&Ms ever.