Getting wedding favors on a budget may require a little bit of creativity. However, with a little thought and planning you can find fun mementos to give to your wedding guests.

Traditionally, many couples choose to have napkins or matchbooks printed up as a part of a wedding printing package that includes the invitations and response cards. Other favors include small packets of candy or tiny bars of soap that are placed at each seat where a guest will be seated at the reception. Fortunately, today’s couples have a much larger choice of options, especially if they are looking to provide something that is more environmentally responsible.

One choice for a fairly low cost wedding favor is to have pens or pencils in one or more of the wedding colors printed with the bride and groom’s names and wedding date. These writing implements will prove to be useful long after the wedding. They can either be included with each place setting at the reception dinner, or perhaps placed in little baskets located on the table near where the guest book is signed.

Another choice is to have tiny bottles of bubble solution printed up that the guests use to salute the bride and groom, rather than throwing rice as they finish the ceremony. After the solution is gone, the tiny bottle can be kept as a reminder of the wedding. This also saves the need to clean up the rice that may have been tossed at the ceremony’s conclusion, since it is inedible to birds and will not easily biodegrade. Most places simply have to pay someone to sweep it up, and this can lead to a savings in the cost of the site rental if such a cleaning person is not needed.

Another possibility is to have water bottles printed up for distribution to the wedding guests. Again, this is a useful item, and once emptied, the bottle can be kept as a memento. As an alternative to this, you might have a stamp made up with the pertinent details, and print out small cards that can be attached to the water bottles by a ribbon in one of the colors of the wedding.

If you are looking for a “green” solution to wedding favors on a budget, there are several avenues that you can take. One is to purchase packets of flower or herb seeds and attach a label that contains the information of the wedding. Once the flowers or herbs are planted, the packaging from the seeds, as well as the plants can provide a memorable favor from the nuptials. Yet another “green” solution is to make an announcement that a donation will be made to a favored charity or cause containing the names of all who sign the guest book from the wedding. When the acknowledgment for the donation comes in, a photocopy of it may be sent to each guest who signed the guestbook. Oftentimes the cost of copies and postage will be smaller than other forms of wedding favors.

One last consideration about wedding favors is to provide tiny drawstring bags that you can make yourself at home and that contain a tag with the wedding particulars attached. The cost of the materials can be small when divided up among each item. Just be sure to give yourself ample time to construct them before the big day so they can be handed out to each guest at the appropriate time.

To your beautiful wedding!