To Favor or not Favor

Favors...
They are a conundrum.
The ones in the magazines look awesome and you feel compelled to do something just like the Martha Stewart Magazine. Which as great. especially if you have the 12-50 dollars a person some of those favors cost.
The reality is that most favors get left behind at weddings.
Here are a few favors that I have never seen get left behind and are hence probably worth the money and worth getting.

1. Food-
Food be it chocolate, cookies, eclairs, small cakes, they always get either eaten on the spot or taken home for later consumption. People love candy! You can do the popular candy bar, an assortment of candy each guest packages themselves, the sees candy box (at 1.25- 1.50 each in the box and all, these are a no brainer available in red, white, black, and gold, other colors available seasonally)
M & M's is highly marketing their customized M & M's which are adorable and well loved, be careful they are about $4.00 per person and up depending on packaging, and many people don't realize that.
The cheapest option is the much beloved Hershey's bar which you place a custom paper wrapper over, which you print yourself. These can be made as cheaply as 50 cents per person.

2. Wine-
If the budget allows people always take wine. Beware that you are going to spend at least $4 a bottle, and you probably want to spend more. You can give 1 bottle per family which cuts down the number required substantially.

The gift if it is a personal item should be small and it should be neutral enough to appeal to everyone. Wine glasses don't get picked up even if personalized, and burning custom Cd's is plain old copyright infringement and illegal. Not to mention no one really wants to listen to the sappy songs you put together. Give them to each other instead of all your guests.

The most popular growing trend and one I think is fabulous is to give the guests a bookmark that states a donation has been made in the name of the wedding to a charity in lieu of favors. No one misses the favors, and giving a donation to charity in whatever amount saves wasted cash on things people leave behind, saves the world by reducing useless consumer production, waste and transportation, and is great for other people in the world.

Think about donating instead of favors...