Say goodbye to the days of wedding favors that consist of tiny organza bags filled with pastel-colored candy-coated almonds.  And thank goodness for that.  These days, wedding favors are fun, whimsical, useful, and personal.  While that makes them better, obviously, it also makes choosing what they should be a bit more of a challenge.

Well, no worries.  Here are some ideas for memorable wedding favors that your guests will adore.

MINI PHOTOS – With many engagement/wedding photo packages, wallet size photos of the engagement shoot are included, which make this a natural gift to include as a wedding favor.  If you want the favors to be a little more extensive than that, you can always include personalized frames of miniature photo albums which can be purchased at craft stores or online.

WEDDING MUSIC CD – If your ceremony included a lot of music, a great idea can be to give your guests a CD of music that was featured in your wedding.  If possible, you can even have the people who performed it in your ceremony record it.  With labels that can be purchased at an office supply store, a color printer, and a little creativity, you can create a great favor that is full of both visual and audio appeal.

CANDLES OR SOAP– There are a lot of pre-made candle and soap favors that can be purchased from wedding specialty shops or online, but a great idea is to have them custom-made by a local craftsperson to match your wedding theme.  You can look in the yellow pages for someone that fits the bill, or even place an ad in the local classifieds or on craigslist.

PERSONALIZED CANDY BARS – One positive thing about the pastel-colored candy-coated almonds was that they were edible.  People always love a snack, that’s something you can count on.  So, to take that old idea and modernize it, why not have custom printed labels made up that commemorate your wedding day and give each of your guests a personalized candy bar?  Their hearts will love it and so will their taste buds.

PERSONALIZED MUGS – Mugs are something that people use every day, whether to drink coffee or tea from, or to hold trinkets or pens.  You can have personalized mugs created at a printing shop or ordered online, which have your photos or a message and the details of your wedding printed on the mug.  The great thing about this, is that you can also choose to fill the mug with anything you want if you want to take the idea a little farther.

BOOKS OF POETRY AND QUOTES – Collect some of your favorite romantic poetry and quotes and have it bound into a lovely small volume.  Printing shops can do this for you, and even copy shops such as Kinko’s should be able to help you out.  Your guests will appreciate the personalization – you chose all of the quotations, so it’s coming straight from your heart.

Remember, don’t be limited by what you’ve seen other people do in the past.  Your wedding day is a special celebration of love between you, your spouse, and all the people that you love the most –and your favors should express that unique relationship.