When it comes to wedding favors, you have a million different options, from chocolates to candles, picture frames to mint tins.  Even though you can usually buy any of these items in bulk for a discounted price, it can still be a pricey commitment.  Because of that, we’ve come up with a few clever and creative ideas for DIY favors that guests are sure to love.

-Give your guests a gift that might really pay off!  For my wedding (260 guests!), I bought 260 $1 scratch-off lottery tickets.  I also purchased small envelopes in bulk that fit the tickets perfectly.  Using my home printer, I printed each person’s name on an envelope, and then stuck one lottery ticket and a shiny new penny in each.  When complete, these favors doubled as place cards, and they gave everyone something to talk about.  Hoots and hollers could be heard around the room as people won anywhere from $2 to $200!

-Share a piece of your personality with your guests.  Blank CDs are easy to come by these days.  Make a list of you and your honey’s favorite songs and burn them on to blank CDs.  Give each guest (or couple) a CD with a custom-made sleeve describing the meaning behind each song.

-Go to a bulk candy store and get a large quantity of your favorite sweet.  Next, head to the fabric store and buy some tulle and ribbon in your wedding colors.  Simply wrap the candy up in the little tulle “bags” and tie them with a ribbon.  You can even make small tags on your home printer with your wedding date, initials, or wedding location on it.

Whatever you choose to do, remember that any small token of appreciation will impress and please your guests.  What do you think? Do you have any other creative DIY ideas for wedding favors?

Getting married on or near Halloween? Then you’ll love this week’s inspiration board chock full of spooky, eerie and surprisingly elegant designs for a unique wedding or bridal shower. Check them out for a chic and creepy holiday treat.

Pumpkin lanterns, tin can pumpkin lanterns and chandelier Shades, all from Martha Stewart, will light the way to a ghastly good time on your wedding day! Guests will be spooked and surprised by these creative lights.

Who says you can’t wear black on your wedding day? This gorgeous satin gown by BCBG Maxazria (from Nordstrom) would make any bride feel like a queen and this orange number by J. Crew (photo from Brides.com) is a perfect fall shade of orange. Bridal bouquet filled with calla lilies from The Knot.

This beautiful Fancy Flour cupcake wrappers from Brides.com is festive and fun! And lastly, choose our Oval Monogram Wedding Invitations to make your Halloween themed wedding day complete!

Finding the perfect hairstyle for your wedding day can be just as daunting as finding your dream dress.  Up-dos, waves, braids, curls–it’s hard to keep track of all the possibilities.  That’s why we’ve gathered together some great resources to help you find your ideal do:

-Find hair to fit any style, from bohemian to romantic, beach casual to glamorous with Brides.com.

-Follow these guidelines from Wedding Bells to make sure your hair is ready for the big day.  Among the many tips, the site advises that you make sure your hair compliments your dress and that you make any drastic changes to cut or color well before the wedding so you have time to repair any mistakes!

-See a hairstyle you love but can’t quite envision it on yourself?  No problem!  Visit The Hairstyler, upload an image of yourself, select your hair color, and try on any of 8,000+ available hair styles!

-If you’re feeling star struck, take the advice of celebrity hairstylist Ken Paves.  Oprah.com has his tips for gorgeous wedding hair and celebrity bridal secrets.

-If you’re looking to add some sparkle to your already glowing hair, look no further than Hair Comes the Bride.  With everything from hair pins to hair extensions, you’re bound to find what you’re looking for.

I am obsessed with anything miniature.  If a “mini” version exists, you know I have to have it.  When I was little, all I wanted in the world was a dollhouse.  Mini furniture, mini people…and all so realistic!  As we speak, I have a set of miniature glass animals on my desk that never fail to amuse me.

That’s why, when I saw these mini wedding cake pans on Amazon, I could not stop thinking about them.  I can’t wait to host a bridal shower or engagement party and make a tiny cake for each guest with these adorable tins.  Better yet–gather the bridal party together and make a night of baking and decorating the cakes to surprise the bride with.  Who wouldn’t love such a sweet treat?!

Birds are all the rage this year for everything from holiday cards to clothing, jewelry and more. In particular, people seem to find wedding inspiration in these winged little friends of ours. Maybe it’s because of the old tradition of releasing doves or throwing birdseed at the end of a ceremony, or maybe it’s just because the idea of flying away with the person you love is so utterly romantic. Whatever the reason, we love all things feathered for weddings this winter and beyond.

If you need a little inspiration for your own bird-themed celebration, check out these charming ideas for a wedding that will truly take flight!

This charming little bird’s nest place card came from our friends at Beau-coup, and the sterling silver bird necklace is sold at Kaboodle. The Love Bird Embrace cake topper is from That’s My Topper, the bird wedding cake inspiration ideas can be found on Flickr, the handmade bird topper is sold on Etsy and the delightful bird mobile is from Social Design. Last but certainly not least, all of the gorgeous cards pictured here are sold at Wedding Paper Divas.

Getting through those big stack of thank yous may not be your way of having a good time, however it simply must be done and I’d say the sooner the better. So to help you through the process, here are a few tips on ways to make writing those wedding thank you cards pain free!

1. Writing a thank you card actually begins when you start sending out your invitations. Make sure you keep everyone’s contact information in a spreadsheet. Google has a documents program that allows you to share files with others. This way you and your significant other can keep track of your information in the same place.

2. Either mail out all of your thank you cards at the same time or do it by family. If not, you’ll run into the same issues as me and have some people calling to find out what happened to their thank you card since they heard someone else already got theirs.

3. Clarify any questions early! As you receive each gift, look for a card or gift tag. If there are presents without any name attached to it or the card says from: The Smiths and you have two relatives with the same name, clarify things with the gift givers right away.

4. Order extra thank you cards. I’ve made so many mistakes on my thank yous and had to throw them away. Having 25 extra ones really made a difference especially since I didn’t account for cards to our vendors.

5. Do a little at a time. So that the task seems less daunting commit to doing say 5 or 10 cards a day. Then just push through the process. What I told my husband was that these people deserved a nice card for all of their efforts getting to our wedding and for their generous gifts. It was worth the bit of discomfort to get them a well worth the wait thank you card!

Beautiful and relatively inexpensive this Kissing Hearts necklace from Fossil make a charming gift for you or your bridesmaids.

Show off pictures from your honeymoon and wedding in these designer frames by Umbra.

Bobbi flats from Kate Spade are stylish and comfortable and will take you from your wedding day to the honeymoon and beyond.

This salad server set from Designer Things is modern and chic. It’ll make even the most mundane activity, serving salad, an act of style.

Invite guests with Letterpress for a look of luxury! Vintage Swirls Wedding Invitation.

If you’re looking for fun and yet elegance, think bright yellow and subdued gray. It’s a winning combination that though started in spring will take you all the way into fall. Here are some ways to add this color theme throughout your wedding!

Yelllow and gray look fabulous together especially on our Two Birds Wedding Invitations in Mustard. It’s a beautiful way to introduce guests to your color theme. Martha Stewart’s Carnival Stand and Sweet Little Daisies Cake are all about bright colors and sweets.

Petal Chandelier earrings, swirl ring and Autumn necklace from Banana Republic.

Beautiful in yellow and gray, photos from Brides.

One of the most exciting parts of planning a wedding is sharing the festivities with all of the closest people in your life, especially your bridal party. While celebrating and picking out dresses can be a blast, being a part of the wedding party is also a big job. Because most people will consider being selected a great honor, it’s important that you ask your closest friends and family to be a part of your bridal party in a special and memorable way.

I’ve compiled some of the best links to help you ask your bridal party to…well, be your bridal party!

-About.com Weddings has a great list of creative and fun ways to ask your bridesmaids.

-Wedaholic has compiled a huge list of unique ideas for asking your friends to be a part of your wedding.

-This bride from New York shares her tips for popping the big bridesmaid question. Although many of the suggestions are specific to New York, each of them can be adjusted to fit your situation, no matter where you live.

-How about an edible delight to make any of your sweet-tooth friends smile?  Aisledash suggests these adorable custom-printed cookies.

-Check out this cute thank you note on Wedding Paper Divas.  Because all of our cards are easily customizable, you can feel free to change the wording on the front to “Will you…?” or even “Be my Bridesmaid.”  A personal note inside will make this a special keepsake for any of your maids.

Another great idea is to purchase a set of customized personal stationary as a small token of your appreciation.  Instead of a couple’s name, use your friends name and initials to customize this great monogrammed note card or this sweet bouquet card.  Any of our thank you notes can be personalized to fit your bridesmaids, and they’ll receive a thoughtful stationary set they can use again and again!

Getting married means getting organized! Think of all your to-do lists and wedding magazine cut-outs strewn across the floor in a big pile of mess. Not knowing where anything is or losing a vital contract or receipt, can cause major stress when planning a wedding. You’ll breathe a big sigh of relief after you see these cool, simple and fun ways to get everything organized!

These Day of the Week clips from Paper Source make staying on top of things easy and fun. Just clip your to dos for every day of the week and have the satisfaction of taking them off when you’re done.

Keep all of your records, receipts and pictures of your dream dress in this stylish Poppy Linen File Folder Holder by Paper Source.

This simple and clean white greeting card organizer from The Container Store is fitting for your wedding stationery. Just add your Save the Date Announcements and Wedding Invitations in alphabetical order. It’ll help you keep track of who you’ve sent them to and those you still need to send.

Keep everything together with the Origami Lane File Tote from Galison/Mudpuppy. The handle makes it easy to carry around wherever you go and stylish designs make it oh so fun.