When you're planning your wedding, one of the decisions you'll need to make is in the selection of wedding favors for your guests. These small gifts are a wonderful way to show your guests that you appreciate them coming to celebrate your special day and to say a small, personal "thank you" in advance for their attendance, their friendship, and their wedding gifts to you.

Wedding favors have come a long way from the days of your parents' or grandparents' weddings. No longer just a staple of weddings for the wealthy or well-to-do, wedding favors can now be ordered from a number of sources, including online companies, for a fraction of what they once cost. Even a modest or small wedding can be made that much more special by providing quaint and thoughtful wedding favors for the guests.

Wedding favors are typically small but thoughtful items that are meant to serve as a memento of your beautiful day. Traditional items include things like ornate bottle-stoppers, cake servers, and serving spoons. Such items are intended to be a keepsake for the wedding guests rather than something they will actually use in everyday life. Some couples, however, will choose favors that serve double duty as a reminder of the event as well as a useful item. Small picture frames, decorated place card holders, lovely candy dishes, pen and pencil sets, and other such favors fall into this category. Edible wedding favors such as mints or candies in an attractive tin are also available. The choices are truly limited only by your imagination.

Typical wedding favors come with traditional wedding theme designs including bells, doves, hearts, flowers, and flowing ribbons, but can also include more modern motifs like dolphins. With the more costly but far more personalized option of custom ordering, virtually anything is possible.

The most important consideration is selecting wedding favors is to remember that these are items meant simply to say "thank you." You're not going to find the perfect item that will please each and every guest at your wedding, but a little thoughtfulness will result in favors that will at least let your guests know that you're thinking of them. The guests at your wedding are primarily your family and your friends; all of them will appreciate a small souvenir of the event.

Wedding favors should not be confused with the traditional gifts provided by the bride and groom to members of their wedding party. It is proper to provide the bridesmaids and groomsmen with a more personal and separate gift. Anything that says you appreciate their friendship and participation in your special day is appropriate for these close friends or family members.

Your wedding is undoubtedly one of the most important days in your life and all of the planning that goes into this momentous event reflects that importance, helping to make your special day a beautiful experience for all involved. Selecting the perfect wedding favors can help make that dream of beauty and perfection into a reality.