If you don’t have your heart set on a very extravagent or elaborately decorated wedding cake, you might consider decorating your own cake to save some money. You can create a truly unique and personalized cake that matches your wedding theme with just a little bit of effort. Find a picture of a cake that you like for inspiration, and start with a plain white iced or fondant covered tiered cake from your local bakery. From there you have many creative options to decorate your cake.

Ribbon
Colorful, satin ribbon is an easy and neat way to create a very simple and elegant looking wedding cake. Wrap the ribbon at the base of each tier for a classic look. You can even layer ribbons of different sizes and colors, or add a few fresh flowers for a romantic effect.

Flowers
Have your florist bring extra flowers for you to use that will coordinate with the rest of your wedding flowers. Simply cut the stems short and tuck the flowers in a neat row in between the tiers and have your florist make a small arrangement for the cake topper.

Cake Stencils
For the artsy bride, these damask cake stencils are a great idea. You can mix and match and be creative with the patterns to create a very designer effect.

I love making homemade gifts, but now that our little company has grown to include more than 200 people, making holiday treats for everyone in the office is a daunting task. This year, I stayed away from homemade fudge, brownies and cookies in favor of something more scalable—homemade hot chocolate spoons!

As I was melting chocolate and tying sweet little bows on my gift bags, I couldn’t help but think what an easy DIY favor they would be for a bridal shower, Valentine’s Day party or even as accessories at your candy bar. Here’s a few ideas to help you get started!

1. Find Quality Materials for Less: I picked up these charming little wooden spoons online for only $9.99 for a pack of 100. Coupled with grocery store chocolate chips, simple cellophane bags, ribbon and Wedding Paper Divas gift tags, making them was as inexpensive as it was fun!

2. The Plan: Simply melt the chocolate of your choice over a double broiler or in the microwave, dip the spoons in the melted chocolate to coat them up to the neck and then lay them out on wax paper to dry.

3. Get Creative: Plain chocolate is delicious, but there are a variety of extra little touches you can add to liven them up. From peppermint to swirls of dark chocolate, colorful sprinkles and mini-marshmallows, your favorite candies offer a fun way to add your unique style to this simple recipe.

You can get some ideas (or even order samples!) from expert chocolatiers like Chocolate Company. Delish!

Few things cause as much angst during the wedding planning process as shopping for wedding favors. Most couples run into problems as they try to find something affordable, high quality, gender neutral and unique—a combination of traits that can seem impossible to achieve at times.

The solution to this dilemma, however, is to keep things simple. Over the next few days we’ll be featuring charming wedding favor ideas that are stylish, creative and easy to replicate. Today, we’re starting with our favorite type of  treat—edible wedding favors!

Personalized Mint Tins

Wedding Paper Divas offers a wide selection of personalized mint tin wedding favors designed to match your invitations, thank you cards and more.

DIY Personalized Popcorn, Candy, Honey Jars & More

Our charming selection of matching gift tags opens up a whole new world of edible wedding favor options as well. Add your customized labels to bags of popcorn or candy, attach them to honey jars or other packaged treats and you’ve instantly got personalized wedding favors that perfectly match your unique ceremony.

Tea Wedding Favors

Who wouldn’t appreciate a great cup of tea courtesy of their favorite newlyweds? You can find these charming favors and many, many more at Beau-Coup, our partner for gorgeous wedding favors.

Hot Sauce & Barbecue Sauce Favors

If you’re a couple with zesty personalities, you can swap out traditionally sweet favors for the fiery fun of hot sauce or barbecue sauce favors!

Unique Boxed Truffles & Sweets

Looking for something special to satisfy a sweet tooth? These charming custom boxed truffles offer the perfect blend of sweet style and refined elegance.