Wedding favors are nice, whether it’s some candy, a candle, or some other trinket, but they will probably collect dust on some forgotten shelf until it’s time for you to move. Now consider this alternative: make a donation to a worthy cause instead of buying wedding favors. Let’s say you have 200 guests, if you would’ve spent about $5 per guest on wedding favors, consider donating a thousand dollars to the [insert name of a worthy charity here].
When everyone gets to their table, you could leave a note saying a donation was made to the charity or just mention it in a toast. Some people may be upset they didn’t get a candle or some candy but they’ll probably get over it. 
I read a tip about putting disposable cameras, around two, on each of the dinner tables in lieu of hiring a professional photographer and I have to say that’s a ridiculous way to save money. Putting disposable cameras on each of the tables and having your guests take action shots is a great way to augment professionally taken photographs but it certainly isn’t a replacement, unless you really don’t care about photos at the reception (then it’s a perfectly good idea!).
Here are several reasons why a disposable camera is a bad idea (when used to replace a professional photographer):
- Camera Use Will Be Low – It’s likely no one has done any studies but the number of photos actually taken with the disposable camera probably won’t be particularly high. It certainly won’t be 100% and if photos of the reception are important to you then it certainly would be too big of a risk to take, don’t you think?
- Photo Quality Will Be Low – Unless you discover super high quality digital disposable cameras (at which point you’re no longer really saving much money anyway), the photo quality will be low.
- You Won’t Have Digital Copies Too – Chances are a professional photographer will take the photos digitally and your disposable cameras won’t.
Now, disposable cameras as a means of augmenting a professional photographer is a great idea because you can get so many more candid shots. A professional photographer can only take one photo at a time but an army of your closest friends, after they’ve been drinking heavily, can take a whole slew of photos!
Where should you go to buy disposable cameras? I personally would recommend eBay if you’re looking to save some money and willing to sacrifice on film quality.