Favors with Monograms

These favors are decorated with elongated letters. Print monogram onto rectangular papers; trim with scalloping scissors. Wrap cardboard cylinders with layers of tissue paper; top with monogrammed paper, and secure with double-sided tape. Tie one end with rickrack. Fill with candy, and tie off.

This package is sealed with a personalized label made using a rubber stamp.

A single initial is featured on a pressed-sugar box; another is formed with silver dragees (almonds with a sugar coating).

Graphically printed bark (chocolate spread thin and then broken into irregular pieces) is too nice to cover up, so use a clear lid. Grosgrain ribbon, taped around the lid's sides, picks up hues inside. A monogram tag is kept small so as not to obstruct the view.

These whimsical dragee cones standing in a galvanized tray will delight even adults.

With a rubber stamp and some ribbon, simple boxes and tins become custom-made containers for favors like sugared almonds, petit fours, or a piece of groom's cake.

If you give charitable donations in guests' names, here's a beautiful way to let them know. Cut 7-by-4-inch pieces from patterned papers. Write or use your computer to print a message on the plain side of each sheet (if you're printing, do so before cutting the paper). Measure and mark papers at 1-inch intervals; fold where marked. Cut top panel into a point. For each, adjust folds to make a hexagon, overlapping top flap, and seal with a monogrammed sticker.

The monograms on these French patisserie-style charlottes, or molded sponge cakes, consist of piped chocolate batter baked into almond-flavored cake.

Ribbon sugar candy is wrapped in cellophane, tied with ombre ribbon, and labeled with a monogrammed sticker.

These monogrammed groom's cakes were given to all at the wedding of Francesca Andrews and Ross Goodwin in New York City. Made by caterer Glorious Food, the cakes were tucked into boxes and bound with bows, which tied them to Andrews's wedding theme: purple. Guests took them home to enjoy or to test tradition: It's said that if an unmarried woman sleeps with a piece of wedding cake under her pillow, she will dream of her own wedding.

For the reception, re-create the beauty of etching with ease. All you need is a rubber stamp, white ink, and glass candleholders -- frosted glass holds ink best. One stamp can form a single motif or an allover pattern. (For a custom design, such as your monogram, have a stamp made at an office-supply store.) To use a large stamp on a cylindrical container, carefully roll it from side to side. Allow a day or two for ink to fully dry.