To my slight dismay, it is apparently still expected that guests be given a favor as a thank-you for coming to your wedding. It seems a little strange to me because you are, after all, throwing a giant free party with abundant food, booze, and entertainment to thank them for coming to your wedding. Still, I love to share meaningful events with people, and I love to give little things to people I love, so I'm willing to jump on board the favor train.

That doesn't mean, though, that we savvy ladies and gents have to break our banks on knick-knacks that no one will remember. Instead, we can focus our efforts on saving money while giving our guests something that will have a lasting impression. How, you ask? Read on for my five suggestions.

1. Combine entertainment and favors.
If you plan to have entertainment or activities for guests at your reception, consider getting something that doubles as a favor, such as a photo booth or a caricaturist. Photo booths can provide gifts to you as well as your guest, too, by saving a digital copy when it prints out the pictures of your guests. Then you can see how much fun all your guests had! Caricaturists usually charge by the hour and give their drawings to guests for free.

2. Combine escort cards and favors.
Knock out two birds with one stone by making the favors escort cards. I've seen apples with name-tag 'leaves' attached, caramel apples and other candy, soap, stones with inspirational sayings on one side, and more.

3. If you buy, buy in bulk.
There's a certain charm to picking out an eclectic mix of gifts, like vintagey thrift-store teacups, to create a lovely visual arrangement for your guests. But I promise you it will almost always be cheaper to buy a ton of the same thing online or at a wholesale store and just put it in a pretty package. Same goes for parts if you're DIYing.

4. DIY is often the answer.
Honestly, there's nothing your guests would prefer to receive than something homemade and meaningful to you. I love the idea of making mix CDs; it costs almost nothing and you can include an insert explaining why each song means something to the two of you. Another idea is picture frames with sheets of paper inside with the guest's name, the name's origin, meaning, and famous namesakes. The personalization will really touch your guests. Or you can do something edible, because...

5. Food is always a good bet.
Especially homemade food. Honey, caramel apples, cotton candy, cheesecake in a jar, cookies, s'mores, hot cocoa pops, popcorn balls...people love food. It's tasty, it's attractive, and if you make it yourself, it's very thoughtful. Win-win-win.

Ultimately, you don't have to give favors, but if you do, give them a purpose. How does it fit your theme? How does it reflect you as a couple? How can you make it unique?

What other tips do you have?