Wedding favours are a long standing tradition and the upmarket version of the children's party bags and started out under the name Italian name of bonbonniere and were popular amongst the aristocracy. Bonbonniere started as porcelain pots filled with sweets before becoming five sugar-coated almonds that symbolised long life, fertility, wealth, health and happiness. Sugared almonds are still very popular but as with all things traditional, twists are inevitable and all sorts of things appear in front on guests these days.

The great thing about wedding favours is that they're an easy way to thank the guests for attending the wedding, a way to make them feel special and a real part of your special day. The other great thing is that they can be super cheap if you're on a tight budget and incredibly elaborate if you've got the cash to splash. The most important thing about whatever you put in front of each guest on your wedding day is that it must reflect your personality and the mood of the day. If you're having an ultra modern wedding then a plastic bag of sugared almonds probably isn't the most imaginative or fitting wedding favour.

Think about your colour scheme, your cake, your personality, the time of year, the season and the setting of your wedding reception and scour the internet for things that other people have done to get inspiration for what you could do. If your wedding is a 1950s throwback then why not look into what was fashionable back then, whether it's just for the style or the colours or the popular sweets, chocolates or cakes of the day. If your wedding isn't themed in such a way, write a list of some of the things you love, whether it's sport, types of food, colours, films or music; whatever you write down will help you to start thinking about what's realistic for your budget.

There are obviously plenty of companies who will gladly create your wedding favours for you and deliver them to the venue or your home at a time to suit you but you're paying a middle man so if you're on a budget, DIY wedding favours are the way forward and you could reduce your wedding costs significantly by getting creative. This could involve baking cakes, flapjacks or brownies or making fudge or chocolates and this can be a great way of getting all the ‘hens' together to have some girly and creative fun. You can even create the packaging from tissue paper, plain cardboard, clear plastic and ribbon, all of which can be bought in bulk for next to nothing online.

If you're looking at ways to reduce wedding costs , making your own wedding favours is just one of the ways. Check out more ways to help with the wedding plans by searching online.