Weddings can be very expensive, but there are ways to cut back on the cost. Most guests will expect you to have centerpieces and to give wedding favors as a way of showing you, the soon to be newlyweds, care about them. So why not take care of both with only one bill to pay? Here are some ideas for how to incorporate favors as center pieces.

1) Floating items in water.

Not every venue will allow you to have candles, though if they do, I suggest you go with floating candles above. For my roommate’s wedding we deconstructed silk flowers, added a light, and reconstructed the flower around them then floated the flowers with beads at the bottom of each one with one of the wedding colors. I have found some soap flowers that could do the trick as well if you would prefer to not spend the 20+ minutes per flower.

These beautiful orchids can be used in 2 ways. The first is that you could just take the confetti and place it in the water and leave the orchids surrounding the bottom or you could reverse. You could also place both inside the water. HotRef has a few different varieties of the flowers and also just plain confetti.

2) Beach themed

Beach themed weddings open up a lot of options for the combining of centerpieces. First thing you can do is use sand and favor bags that look like beach bag. Fill them with some M&Ms and you have a cute center piece and favors in two easy steps.

You can also find sand in many colors to fit your theme.

You can find sea shells and small candles; place them in the sand with some driftwood (or just sticks) to give a being on the beach feel. Below are some wonderful seaside inspired tea light candles that are inexpensive. Sailboats placed strategically in blue sand will give the feeling of being on or next to the ocean! Adding a candle behind the sails that can give the feel of being at the beach and watching the stars.

Get creative, make your own or just combine items to get the centerpiece and favors that your guests can take home. You don’t need one item for every person because you will have couples, families, and people who don’t want to take anything home. This is your special day, so don’t forget to have fun!

All items listed shown above can be found at www.hotref.com, click on the images to be taken to the item pages.

For those who are ardent travelers at heart, a backpack is a must-have. Particularly most good backpacks come with a wide range of features which make traveling much easier, such as compartments for smelly shoes/clothes; bungee cords; zip on day packs and more. They are so convenient and flexible that even kids can carry a backpack with ease.

There are different variants of backpacks. A wide variety of styles, designs and colors to suit your personal tastes are offered by OGIO. The Ogio backpack is designed with compartments and storage sections that allow easy access to gear. They are sturdy and dirt resistant and can accommodate laptops too!

The OGIO 711112 Flux Backpack is structured to carry and protect executive essentials. It has flat surfaces to create three options for logo placement and features suspended interior padded laptop sleeve, single-entry pack, weatherproof fleece-lined audio pocket with headphone exit port, dual side pockets and deluxe organizer panel.

The OGIO 711105 Metro Backpack offers a padded side-entry laptop sleeve, dedicated accessory storage and a fleece-lined, drop-in audio pocket with headphone exit port. Behind its distinctive quilted half-moon pocket is additional fleece-lined storage for a mouse, power cord and other tech gear.

The OGIO 108091 Mastermind Backpack has an athletic style with a huge center compartment and plenty of well-placed pockets keep active executives ready for anything. Made of 450-denier poly/400-denier pindot nylon, the Mastermind features: back panel side-entry padded laptop sleeve, front vertical file organizer, airline ticket sleeve, power cord and mouse storage, four large exterior pockets, neoprene top grab handle, weatherproof fleece-lined audio pocket with headphone exit port, sliding sternum strap, deluxe organizer panel and heavy-duty reinforcements.

If you get a decent size backpack, even when heavy, once you throw it on your back and clip all the adjustable straps, it feels pretty light and comfortable…but you do have to invest on a good reliable backpack.

Have you ever been in a fix trying to decide what birthday gift would be suitable for someone who only enjoys playing golf? A golf bag is just the right for people who eat, sleep and drink golf. Golf bags and golf travel bags are designed to protect golf clubs and the rest of the golfing equipment during transit.

There are a number of brands and styles to choose from. The best looking golf bag around are the ones from OGIO and they have the most innovative golfer friendly features to keep everything organized and comfortable for an afternoon on the links. They have a great finish and superb construction.

The OGIO 712501 Grom Stand Golf Bag is a nine-pocket engineering wonder, outfitted with OGIO’s patent-pending anti-twist TORQ Strap, its popular, walking-accessible water bottle holster and the patented ZBP zipperless ball pocket.

The OGIO 712301 Straight Jacket Golf Travel Bag delivers exceptional travel protection, stability and security to gear during transport. Built from 600-denier poly/400-denier nylon diamond ripstop/textured PVC, it has cinch straps which adjust to hold most cart and stand bags. It features: a large main compartment, durable, quiet urethane wheels and internal framing to create a sturdy, smooth rolling base, easy-entry opening with internal cinch-down straps, twin outer pockets for accessories and a fully padded top compartment.

The OGIO 712504 Vaporlite Stand Golf Bag is a sidekick that performs. The 9′ Woodelite top has full-length, three-way dividers, while the comfortable Crossbow Lite mesh shoulder strap system makes carrying a breeze. With a user-friendly, walking-accessible water bottle holster and five zippered pockets, the Vaporlite is heavy on features but light on weight.

So go ahead and gift a stylish golf bag to your loved one for his/her next birthday