Candies in a box, souvenir trinkets, compact discs. These items are among the mementos distributed to guests at bridal showers and weddings.

For many brides, finding these items can prove difficult — especially with demands on time and budget. Still, their guests often walk away with sentimental gifts that mesh with the wedding's colors or theme.

For Tawnie Kile of Butler, finding wedding favors was as easy as the click of a pen — or at least a few clicks of her computer keyboard.

In Kile's case, writing pens, when clicked, rotated through a series of wedding vow statements that included "Today I marry my best friend," the theme of Tawnie's marriage to her husband, Zachary, which occurred in August at Calvary Baptist Church in Jefferson Township.

With cost among her concerns, Kile said the pens found online were a suitable choice. "I looked through tons and tons of favors," she said. "My dad is a youth pastor, and we were limited as far as our budget."

An added benefit was their lasting usefulness: Kile later saw her guests using the pens for taking notes at church.

Instead of long-term function, many brides stick with the gift of food.

Katie Sowa of Prospect, whose wedding is set for Oct. 20, will reinforce her pink and black color scheme by giving pink and black m&m's in boxes that look like tuxedos and gowns. Sowa is marrying Craig Harry of Slippery Rock.

April King of Parker, to be married next month to Mike Dickey Jr. of Butler, will give rose buds fashioned out of chocolate kisses in blue foil, representing her blue color scheme and the couple's song, "The Rose," made popular in the 1970s by Bette Midler.

Cat Loeffler, a wedding coordinator in Butler, said food items are always popular, and many of her events have featured wrapped or boxed chocolate or fudge.

Another popular item is a CD containing music or photos. In one of Loeffler's recent weddings, the couple's engagement photo was scanned and used to label the box, which contained a CD with many of the couple's favorite songs, some played at the wedding.

"CDs are done quite often," Loeffler said, "since they are relatively inexpensive and can convey something unique to the bride and groom."

Although economical and personal, Loeffler warns that wedding guests may not like the musical selections.

"Remember, it's their music," she warned. "(Guests) might play it once and say 'I really don't like this.'

"If you're using fudge or candy, at least (the guests) can be eating them."

Loeffler said in some cases favors are not given, since they can be eliminated due to budget constraints without affecting a wedding's success.

Stephanie Graham of Clearfield Township is one bride who is opting out of wedding favors, but her reasons stem from a different sense of economy.

"It's kind of a waste, because most of the time people leave them behind and don't use them," Graham explained.

"(We're going to) pick something that's more meaningful to us — something that won't be wasted. In lieu of favors, we each picked a place we wanted to donate to," she said.

For her October marriage to Michael Taylor of Fenelton, Graham's favor budget will be given to a to-be-determined animal rescue society. Taylor will give to a health organization like the American Cancer Society or American Medical Association.

But Graham still gave something to guests. For favors at the wedding shower, she gave flowerpots that contained seeds embedded in velum and a poem that read, "Plant these seeds and they will bloom, and think of the love shared by the bride and groom."

Although Graham and her sister originally saw the favors in a magazine for $5 each, some research helped them find the components and assemble the gifts for about $1.

"The most expensive part was the little flowerpots, but my mom got them for 25 cents," Graham said.

"It was so reasonable, and still really nice."

For her wedding shower, Sharon Noto of Evans City also did some assembly work.

She was able to utilize her double heart wedding theme by giving heart cookie cutters along with a recipe for love, which called for "two hearts full of love, two arms full of gentleness, two cups of friendship, one lifetime of togetherness, two big hearts full of forgiveness and a heaping of cuddles."

The ingredients were to be "stirred daily with happiness, humor and patience and served with warmth, compassion, respect and loyalty."

To further utilize her theme, Noto found gift bags containing double hearts, which she lined with tulle and filled with mints at her wedding last June to her husband Jason.

For her unity candle, Noto's godmother also showed her how to sear heart-shaped tissue paper onto the wax.

Butler High School graduate Colby Kearns, who now lives in Hawaii, also will use her crafty nature by using origami cranes as part of her favors.

Kearns is planning an August 2008 wedding to Blake McNaughton of Hawaii.

Being of Japanese descent, Kearns also is using the cranes as a way to reflect her heritage, since exhibiting 1,000 cranes is traditional at Japanese weddings.

Although many brides use the cranes together in a display, often using the individual birds to make a larger, framed image, Kearns is incorporating individual cranes into the favors.

"Each person that attends will get one set of chopsticks, and the crane will be attached to the chopsticks," she said, adding favors will also include cup cozies, also decorated with cranes.

Kearns said she learned to do origami as an eighth grader while on a trip to Japan with her late grandmother.

As a result, she will make many of the cranes herself, with help from her fiance and their friends.

Although it takes Kearns two to three minutes to make each crane, her time — in theory — will be well-spent.

"It symbolizes good luck and longevity in the couple's marriage," Kearns said.