You might be able to find wedding favor inspiration simply by opening your closet.

Are you on the hunt for that perfect wedding favor idea? Here are some tips for where to look for wedding favor inspiration. Sometimes, the perfect favor idea is right in front of you!

It’s so important to never underestimate the power of a great wedding favor idea, and even more important to know where to look for wedding favor inspiration when you begin shopping. Wedding favors have the ability to transform the look of your reception tables and can even alter the entire mood of your event. Most importantly, though, they provide the medium you’ll use to thank your guests for attending your special day.

With all of that weight resting on your wedding favors, you want to be darn sure you know where to look for wedding favor inspiration to ensure you choose the very best gift ideas for your guests. Here are some suggestions for where to look for wedding favor inspiration:

•    Your closet—That’s right, open your closet. What is the first thing you see? What does your wardrobe and that box of junk in the corner say about your personality? Take a look around the house and determine what makes you “you.” Then, start shopping for wedding favors that express your personality.

•    Your favorite bridal magazine—Whether you already have a stack of bridal magazines sitting on the coffee table or you’ve just begun sifting through magazines to look at dresses, consider searching your favorite bridal publications for wedding favor inspiration, too. You’ll not only find product-specific suggestions, but you’ll also find creative, DIY wedding favor ideas.

•    Wedding favor websites—Searching websites that specialize in wedding favors seems like the most obvious place to search for wedding favor inspiration, right? Well, the great thing about searching these sites for wedding favor inspiration is that you can end up stumbling across favor ideas you never would have thought of on your own. You might even find wedding favor ideas that you never knew existed.

Try these tips when looking for wedding favor inspiration and you’ll locate the perfect wedding favor gift ideas for your guests in no time.

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Have you picked out your wedding favors yet? Where have you looked for favor inspiration? Tell us in the comment section below.

By Damien Hutchins, Flicker Stage

You are a techno-savvy groom-to-be. You planned your wedding in the cloud. You had a spreadsheet in Google Docs outlining every detail of every one of your vendors. A shared Evernote notebook so that you and your bride-to-be could stay on the same page with your guest list. You have a website that acts as the wedding hub for friends, family and even your planner.

You wouldn’t dream of an “unplugged” wedding, forcing your guests to silence their phones, and stop updating their statuses. Let us help you cover the walls with LCD displays, and make your wedding the envy of every software engineer on your guestlist!

Guest Entertainment
Interaction is key when it comes to the latest high tech entertainment offerings. A new style of guest entertainment like Flicker Stage photo booths, deliver with a twist on the traditional booth. With image quality you would expect from a fully equipped studio, and a sleek look more reminiscent of a six foot tall iPod, the images taken on the free standing photo tower will be beamed to monitors throughout your venue, or projected instantly on a wall. It doesn’t stop there, all the pictures taken can be shared from any mobile device at the wedding and posted instantly to social media networks.

Interactive Surfaces
Continuing the theme of “twists on the traditional” why not liven up the dance floor or bar counter with a little interactive projected show? Companies like GestureTek offer some amazing surface computing technology that will turn a horizontal surface into an interactive game, menu, reactive visual display, or maybe even just a slideshow of when you and your blushing bride to be were just sprouts! A quick game of Angry Birds while you wait for your eighth round of Jager Bombs? Yes please! Check out this video for some inspiration on what can be done with this tech!

Live Event Streaming
With all of your guests tweeting away about how geek-a-licious your reception is, there will no-doubt be some invitees that could not make it to your wedding. They don’t have to go ignored, nearly any place you hold your reception will have wifi, and that bandwidth can be put to work streaming the party right to your Meemaw’s laptop! There are numerous options ranging from Marry Me Live’s roaming videographer, to just setting up a webcam and using a free Ustream account. Now during your Uncle’s inappropriately slow dance with his latest girlfriend, you can know that the whole world is watching in horror right along with you!

Photo Aggregation
Remember back in the 90’s when you would go to a wedding and there would be a pile of disposable cameras at each table? Well, now most of your guests will have a camera on their smartphone that can take some very decent shots. Encourage the picture taking! Your guests just install a simple app like PictureClique or Wedding Snap and it will save each photo to a common gallery that you control!

These are just a few ideas, and with the rate of ever-improving technology, there are more ideas coming to market every day!

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Why types of gadgets will you be utilizing on your wedding day? Leave a comment below and tell us how technology will help make your wedding day great.

Q – We love the idea of a groom’s cake. The only problem is that the groom doesn’t actually like cake. Any tips on dessert alternatives for the rehearsal dinner?

EARL ANDERSON (Certified Cake Pimp, Fantasy Frostings)

I’m not sure why anyone would marry a man that didn’t like cake, but stipulating that someone would, there are other sweet options. Traditionally, the grooms cake is served at the rehearsal dinner. Usually, it’s designed around a hobby or interest of the groom’s. We have done a wild boar for a hunter, a Transformer for a fan, Superheroes galore and even a golf cart for a groom that was given a DUI driving his cart on the street after a very liquid round on the course. Groom cakes are all about a sense of humor. My first suggestion for an alternative would be a dessert bar themed to the tastes and interests of the groom. Colors, designs and tastes can be incorporated into many different desserts. Fresh fruits dipped in white, milk and dark chocolates. Cookies, fudge, pies and candies can be put together into a beautiful display.

LAUREN GROVE (Founder, Every Last Detail)

I always tell couples that their wedding should 100% reflect them, so why should the “groom’s cake” be anything less than that? Think of what kinds of desserts you LOVE, and have that as your “groom’s dessert”! I’ve seen “cakes” made of donuts, giant cookie cakes, and of course cupcakes. Pie is always an excellent option (pie pops are a new favorite) or you could even do mini-desserts, like creme brûlée or bananas foster. The options are endless!

GRETCHEN VILES (Editor & Social Media, WindWishes)

Don’t like cake?  No problem!  Here are some alternatives to satisfy that sweet tooth after a delicious rehearsal dinner:

- Donut tower: Stack up the grooms favorite donuts on a cake plate and next to that, platters of donuts for your guests taking.

- Cookies:  Serve the groom’s choice cookies alongside a shot glass of cold milk.

- Ice cream sundae bar:  This one sounds a bit more involved…but, really it’s just about setting up the basics and any personal fave toppings, of course; vanilla icecream, chocolate fudge, nuts, sprinkles, whipped cream and a bowl of cherries!

- Chocolate fountain:  Who can resist a waterfall flow of chocolate?  Add dippers like: bananas, strawberries, rice crispy treats, wafer cookies…and you are all set!

Now, don’t forget to personalize your presentation identifying it as the “Groom’s Dessert.”  I say add in some pictures of the groom as a kiddo with maybe icecream all over his face…or chocolate in his teeth!  This is a sure way of adding lots of personality to it and making it all your own!

BRIAN LEAHY (Founder, The Groom Says)

You’re in luck, cake hater. Rehearsal dinners and desserts are the two wedding elements where breaking the rules is not only okay — it’s encouraged. First look to new dessert alternatives like COOLHAUS for inspiration (they engineered some kickass ice cream sammies for our wedding … cause wedding cake is so 1990). And there’s nothing wrong with incorporating the groom’s favorite desserts, no matter how lowbrow they may be. If a classic Wendy’s Chocolate Frosty (with french fries to dip) is your Achilles’ heel, then go for it. Finally, if you’re having a destination wedding, an assortment of goodies from local bakeries might be a good way to tie in the locale. Whatever you do, don’t make the safe choice. Bold and unique will always leave a lasting impression.

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What are you serving for dessert at the rehearsal dinner or reception? Will there be a cake alternative? Share your story in the comment section below.

A New York based production company is looking for charismatic toastmasters to feature in its new series, PODIUM. The series celebrates the art of oration in all its myriad forms. One category we are excited to feature is wedding toasts, with several episodes exploring what makes a toast truly unforgettable. If you know someone who will be giving a wedding toast in the coming months — be it best man, maid of honor, or parent of the bride/groom — and you think it has the potential to be great, nominate them now.

One of our favorite non-wedding blogs to follow is Uni-Watch on ESPN.com. While they normally cover news & trends in the world of sports uniforms, today they featured an NFL themed wedding that gives new meaning to the term “mixed marriage.”

Pinterest boards of the week: Wedding WTF, Proposal Ideas & Man Cave.

Planning a couples shower? These type of events can be difficult to cater to both sexes. A new post on OneWed takes a look at several shower themes that are sure to pique the groom’s interest.

In search of some budget grooming before the wedding? AskMen has tracked down 8 grooming products that you can buy for cheap at your local drugstore.

Our friends over at Hitched are experts on everything marriage. So when they publish a post called “The 10 Qualities of Great Marriage” we stop everything and read it immediately. You should too.

Video of the week: a guy attached a camera to his dog and it loose at his brother’s wedding:

Going to a wedding this summer? In a wedding this summer? Maybe even it’s your wedding this summer? Well, you’re going to have to learn to dance! From grooms breaking out the Thriller dance to the classic bride and groom first dance, dancing is popular and you need to know how to join in the fun.

The popularity of some of these dances will vary depending on the crowd you hang with, but you can’t go wrong if you learn them.

Couple Dance steps/moves

The Waltz – Simple, 4 beat step, fancier than the sway in place slow dance, but not so fancy that a dancing challenged guy can’t do it. One note of warning, if you’re the groom, make sure that your first dance song is in fact a waltz (not a foxtrot or other tempo) before you try to waltz to it. It’s worth taking a few private dance lessons with your fiancée and letting the instructor teach you how to dance to your song.

The Fast Step- The refuge of bad dancers everywhere for generations – repeat after me – step touch, step touch. That’s all you need to do. Shake your hips a little bit and throw in some arms and you’re good to go for almost any faster tempo song. If you really can’t dance, throw in some stupid faces and make fun of yourself.

Cha Cha – The great thing about the Cha Cha is that it’s simpler than the tango, rumba, or salsa. If you can do two slow steps followed by three fast ones you can dance to almost any Latin-influenced beat.

Two Step – The Two Step is a good dance to learn because it works for both Country-Western dances and a lot of Ethnic dance forms such as the Polka. It can also be used for the unexplainably popular “Cotton Eye Joe” dance.

Group Dances

The Wobble The modern day version of The Electric Slide, although, the Electric Slide is still pretty darn popular.

The Dougie – If Michelle Obama can do it, so can you!

Cupid Shuffle – Some DJs and bands say this is losing popularity, but others report it being frequently requested.

The Chair Dance – No, not a lap dance. Raising the bride and groom up on a chair used to only be part of the Jewish dance, the Hora. But today, all sorts of couples are doing it. If you’re the groom, your only job is to not fall off and look like you’re having fun. If you’re a guest your job is to make sure the bride and groom do not fall.

If you’re looking for more great wedding entertainment info, check out the GigMasters Wedding Blog.

What are your go-to dance moves for wedding receptions? Do you go with proven classics or improvise as you go? Leave a comment below.