When thinking of wedding favors, homemade jam is always a good option. The cost of jam is not too expensive and it can easily match theme colors of your wedding. A variety of fruits can be used to make jam and they are fast to make. The jam can be made in batches at a time, and does not require tedious work.

Fruits can be purchased at local markets, and jars can be bought at Wal-Mart or the local dollar store. Tedious work is not required and does not use too much money. The cost of a cup of jam per guest ends up being less than $1.50 per guest. Feel free to add a little ribbon or leave it plain.

Diy projects are good for matching themes of weddings. Since there are many fruits with different colors, jam can be almost any color. Jam is also suitable for every one of all ages. But be careful with the sugar, certain guests may have diabetes. Have fun Jamming!

If you’re having a wedding in the fall months, you might want to spice up the event with some items that coinside with the fall season. You can make centerpieces that are cornucopias made of gourds, squashes, cranberries, dried flowers or leaves. You could even fill a hurricane lamp with cranberries and place a candle on top.

Food can include fall ideas as well by including items like squash and potatoes along with salads for the greens.  Pumpkin pie is a great dessert choice…yum. Consider using pumpkin in your wedding cake as well.

Be sure to include fall wedding favors as well. You could include use place card holders in the shape of leaves or send guests home with a wreath or christmas tree ornament as the christmas will be just around the corner (Christmas Tree Shop anyone?)

There’s lots of ways to have a fall wedding that doesn’t break the bank. So have fun with it.

Not convinced that it’s worth it to try to cut costs for the most important day of your life? Consider this: what if you had a small private affair for your closest friends and relatives and didn’t buy an expensive engagement ring, spending around $13,000 for your wedding instead of the average price tag of $27,000?

What if you invested the $14,000 you saved in the stock market and left it there until you retired (assuming 40 years later), earning an average of 10% a year? What would you end up with? A whopping $634,000!

It’s hard to look so far ahead when you’re just starting out in your life together, but the world is full of people who find themselves quickly approaching retirement age without the financial means to retire. When all is said and done, I’ll bet many of them would have traded a bigger, fancier wedding for the $634,000 nest egg.

For more tips on saving costs, see the full article on About.com

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Saving money on favors is much easier to do than cutting back on something more important, such as photography. With a little creativity (and some help from your bridesmaids), you can make beautiful, thoughtful favors on any budget.

Shop Around: Candles are classic ingredients in any romantic setting. It pays to shop around, so check out those downtown discount stores, or look online — you may find candles for half the price.

Couple Up: Why not offer one favor per couple? Your favor budget was just cut in half. This might even free you up to choose something a little more expensive and still save.

Wrap It Up: Ask the bridesmaids to come over and help you tie up each favor with ribbon and tulle. Wrapping your own favors is a big money saver. Pre-wrapped favors can cost more than double the price.

In The Kitchen: Delight them all with homemade preserves or cookies in lovely boxes. Attach the recipe for a tasty treat that won’t break the bank.

Double Duty: How about favors as centerpieces? Arrange your favors creatively at the center of each table. You’ll spotlight your fabulous favors and save centerpiece costs. Lovely potted topiaries work particularly well for this purpose.

A Special Note: Make unique scrolls by printing a meaningful poem or note to your guests on seed paper. This special, relatively inexpensive paper has flower seeds imbedded in each sheet. And here’s the best part: Guests can plant the paper and flowers will grow.

Eye Candy: Recruit your guests to make your favors. Fill glass jars or bowls with a colorful assortment of candy or traditional Jordan almonds purchased in bulk. Place a scoop in each container and provide little pre-cut ribbon bags. Display everything on a table near the reception entrance, along with an invitation for guests to help themselves.

Less Is More: Consider a single chocolate truffle or candy on each plate. It’ll be like a tiny personal, elegant, and simple thought from you to each of your guests. Match the candy to your wedding colors for an eye-catching, economical favor.

Bulbs: Flower bulbs are an ideal favor, filled with hope and potential. Though they may be less than beautiful at first, these bulbs will bring forth gorgeous blooms in no time. Paperwhite or hyacinth bulbs in small glass pots (called bulb forcers) make great favors. Or simply wrap the bulbs of your choice in ribbon-tied tulle bags.