• Favors are an essential, not something to be skipped for a budget-saver, since it's a gracious offering to give a little something to guests who have traveled to attend your wedding and given you several gifts by now. Not providing a favor of some kind is a big mistake. Guests do notice.
• A big trend is donating to your favorite charity, but then still giving guests a little something related to the charity (which you can often get for $1 to $5 each), such as the Lance Armstrong Foundation yellow bracelet or the breast cancer pink ribbon.
• For less than $2 each, you can bag up little packets of your favorite candies ­ like M&Ms or Hershey Kisses that you have bought in bulk at a warehouse store. Get baggies and ribbon from the craft store for just a few cents each. As a personalization factor, include a note that you both enjoyed M&Ms as your first shared snack on your first movie date.
• Get single-stem flowers (like daisies, roses, tulips) from a floral wholesaler or at a bulk warehouse store, and wrap each one yourself in clear or colored cellophane from the craft store, for a pretty take-home at under $3 each.
• Provide "Do-It-Yourself" edibles, such as brownies or cookies that you have made yourself, bagged and ribbon-tied along with your recipe printed on a card if it's a favorite family recipe or your own creation.
• Give out wallet-sized cards printed with your favorite quote or inspirational saying as something that guests will use again and again in the future. Visit www.brainyquotes.com for ideas on the perfect saying, and use thicker card stock for your home computer print-out. If you have access to a friend's laminating machine, even better.
• Check at a nursery or even a grocery store for mini-potted flowers, which you can often find for $2 each.
• Give out mini potted herbs, such as rosemary, sage, lavender and others that you can also get from the nursery, floral wholesaler or grocery store for $2 each. Get colored foil papers from the craft store and wrap the pots yourselves.
• Don't bother ordering boxes or labels with your photo, names or monogram on them. You can print up your own personalized cards on your home computer.
• Don't forget that dollar stores have some great stuff! More couples are reporting that they found candles and votives at the dollar store along with fun kids' items for the kids' favors.
• Check the craft store or bulk warehouse store for cases of votive candles and candleholders.
• Use the theme of your wedding, such as giving out a single ornament to each guest at your winter wedding (shop during the post-holiday sales the year before your wedding!), or pretty seashells or starfish from the craft store ($5 for a bag of 20) for your summer or beach wedding.
• Use store coupons! Some craft store chains are known for their 40% off coupons in the Sunday paper, so call all of your friends and family to get their coupons, too. You can then buy those cases of candles, baggies, ribbons, labels and other accents for almost half the price!
• If you'll have a destination wedding or a big-city wedding, check with the city department of tourism to see if you can get discounted location-theme items like keychains, visors, glasses, golf balls, and more. Visit www.towd.com to find the tourism department at your location and see what they have for group saleseven freebies!

Sharon Naylor is the author of over 30 wedding planning books and is the Q&A specialist at NJWedding.com. Sharon will answer any wedding-related questions at www.njwedding.com/expertadvice. She is a resident of Morristown, New Jersey. To view and purchase any of Sharon's helpful books, click here to visit the NJWedding.com WedStore!