Choosing the appetizers for your wedding can seem overwhelming because there are so many options. Thankfully, as with any wedding related item, you can express your wedding vision through your food choices. Whether that means that you crave cleverly presented comfort food, fresh or seasonal fruits and veggies for your summer wedding, chic sweets for your modern affair; or you just want all your favorite foods in mini form – whatever your motivation is, this is your inspiration.

Comfort food appetizers such as  sophisticated grilled cheese and tomato soup, mac and cheese bites, pizza cups, and colorful soups are perfect for a fall or winter wedding.

Having a summer wedding? What about simple veggie cups with ranch, grapecicles, adorable olive penguins, corn on the cob on a stick and caprese salad on a pick?

Looking for sweet ideas? Cinnamon twists, lime cups with watermelon sherbet and cheesecake in a cup!

Check out this gorgeous orzo salad served in a jar!

I don’t know about you, but I am salivating and debating starting a new diet craze in which I only eat appetizers.

What are some clever appetizer ideas you’ve thought of using for your wedding? Do you think you would make them yourself or hire caterers?

Photo One: withstyle.me; Photo Two: whatweareeating.com; Photo Three: Seasaltwithfood.com; Photo Four: MarthaStewartWeddings.com; Photo Five: simplebites.net; Photo Six: accidentalhostess.com; Photo Seven: IntimateWeddings.com/blog; Photo Eight: cookingwithmykid.com; Photo Nine: eatdrinkpretty.blogspot.com; Photo Ten: picky-palate.com; Photo: Eleven: valsocal.blogspot.com; Photo Twelve: mybakingaddiction.com; Photo Thirteen: foodformyfamily.com; Photos Fourteen and Fifteen: travelsinheels.blogspot.com; Photo Sixteen: kelseysappleaday.blogspot.com

Your guests will go bananas for these banana bread mini loaf favors!

I’ve tried numerous banana bread recipes over the years, and this is definitely one of my favorites. It has a slew of rave reviews over at allrecipes.com (where I found it). I used 4.5? x 2.5? loaf pans for this recipe. If you double the recipe, it will make 9 mini loaves. Simply place the loaves inside 1/2 lb. candy treat boxes (5-1/2″ X 2 -3/4″ ). Read on for instructions on how to make the cellophane window.

Ingredients for Banana Bread (Adapted from Allrecipes.com)

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup butter

3/4 cup brown sugar

2 eggs, beaten

2 1/3 cups mashed overripe bananas (about six bananas)

3/4 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

We’ve received heaps and heaps of email from brides about these DIY wedding programs. One of the common questions is: How do you make the puzzles? Well, dear readers, I have stumbled across a site that allows you to make custom word puzzles for FREE! The site lets you create and print customized word search, criss-cross, math puzzles, and more-using your own word lists.

Excited? Hop on over to the Discovery Education Puzzle Maker! Perfect for any kind of party!

Photos are the windows to the soul. Wait, that’s eyes, but in this digital world photos have become almost as important! Using photos at your wedding can show your guests important memories and beloved family members – and they go a long way in personalizing your wedding.

There are many ways you can incorporate photos into your wedding decor.

Clotheslines are a great way to show off pictures you want to display for your guests. They’re easy to see and have a fun rustic look with the line and clips.

Another fun rustic photo display is done by hanging wire horizontally in an old frame.

Polaroids hanging in a chain from a metal tree or framed favorites hanging from a real tree both add a touch of whimsy and element of fun.

Look at this awesome photo bout!

You can also use photos in fan wedding programs.

Photo displays are also great additions (or even alternatives) to floral centerpieces. Here, classic framed black and white wedding photos of the couples’ parents and grandparents add to a stylish centerpiece. Another photo centerpiece is using a mason jar filled with olive oil to make a photo appear sepia toned and aged. You could put family or couple pics in them.

I love this idea for a simple cake, having a small frame holding a photo of the couple. Very cute.

As for photos on paper products, we’ve seen invites and fans that display photos of the couple and here you see the favor packet (a donation to the couples favorite charity) this couple created for their guests.

Check out these chocolate bar favors wrapped with childhood photos of the bride and groom.

Photo One: greylikesweddings.com; Photo Two: stylemepretty.com; Photo Three: taliachristine.blogspot.com; Photo Four: stylemepretty.com; Photo Five: marthastewartweddings.com Photo Six: TheKnot.com; Photo Seven: OnceWed.com; Photo Seven: offbeatbride.com; Photo Eight: offbeatbride.com; Photo Nine: marthastewartweddings.com; Photo Ten: intimateweddings.com: Photo Eleven: marthastewartweddings.com

Rebekah is a DIY obsessed, wedding and event design wizard who loves hunting her bay area      homeland for clever craft ideas, vintage gems, bargain buys, new pieces for her vintage rental line  and blogging inspiration. She and her husband live and write in Oakland. Read her blog.

Love lemon loaf? You will LOVE this lemon loaf with zucchini – and so will your wedding guests! Mini-loaves make perfect wedding favors.

If you peel the zucchini for this recipe, no one will know there is zucchini in the loaf.  (I fed it to my kids, who scowl at me when I try to feed them anything with zucchini and they devoured it.)

This recipe comes from crafty Marj, my mother-in-law’s good friend.  She’s always busy making something crafty and fun, and she’s a follower of this blog (hi Marj!) so I just had to give credit where credit is due!

After last week’s kitchen disaster, I was so happy that these mini loaves turned out perfectly. I have about 8 million zucchini in my garden, and I’ve been looking for ways to take full advantage of their abundance.

When you’re done making these, why not make some Blueberry Zucchini Bread ? It’s just as delish!!

Lemon Loaf with Zucchini Recipe

Ingredients

4 cups flour

4 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

2 eggs

1 cup canola oil

1 cup milk

4 tbsp. lemon juice

zest of two lemons

1 1/4 cup white sugar

2 cups grated zucchini (I also peeled mine, but this is optional.)

In large bowl mix dry ingredients. Make a well.

Beat eggs in a separate bowl. Add oil, sugar, milk, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Mix well.

Add zucchini.

Stir into dry ingredients only until moist.

Pour into six 4.5″ x 2.5″ loaf pans and smooth top.

Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 35 mins. (You can also use two regular size loaf pans and bake at 350 degrees for approx. 1 hr. and 10 min.)

If you are giving these as favors, you can wrap the middle with parchment paper and cover parchment with paper of your choice. Wrap with jute, raffia or ribbon.