Would you be ok with this homemade as opposed to purchased or professionally made? I'm leaning towards either chocolate truffles or chocolate covered caramels. They will be individual boxed.
I will be test making a batch of each this weekend. In theory the truffles will be easier, though I've never made them. I have made the caramels before though and they are awesome.
Would it seem cheap or strange if I make the favor. To be honest it's because of money but if I have the ability and time, why not?
Re: Homemade Chocolates
Cheap and strange....no.
Yummy and awesome...yes!
1. Candy making can be hard and really time consuming (my last single batch of truffles took me several hours because the chocolate and my hands would get too warm to roll them). It can be tempermental, if you live anywhere with any amount of humidity there's a decent chance your caramels won't turn out, chocolate is MESSY, unless you're planning to also dip your truffles in a harder coating (vs. rolled in cocoa or sugar) there's a good chance your truffles will not survive the summer heat unless you immediately take them from a refrigerator to a car already running AC and then take them to another refrigerator or air conditioned place. So also keep in mind that if you're making these several days in advance, you're likely going to need to store the truffles in the fridge, which can consume a lot of space.
2. DIY is not always cheaper. With the rising cost of groceries (dairy especially, in addition to buying liners and boxes, it may not always come out cheaper (especially when you factor in the amount of time it takes, stress, and aggravation). Just really price it out to see if the cost savings is that significant. I always see posts elsewhere around Christmas time where people are looking for "cheap" DIY gifts to make and they say they are going to make candy or knit scarves and then they usually come back posting after they bought their individual ingredients/yarn/etc. with sticker shock.
Honestly, if you're dead-set on doing a homemade edible, I'd go with something that you can make in a slab and break or cut (fudge, peanut brittle, toffee) rather than go through the tedium of individually dipping and wrapping caramels and handrolling truffles. But overall, unless you're a master chocolatier or candymaker, I just highly recommend not attempting this big of a project the week before your wedding.
I tried the truffles last weekend. They were amazing. I took them to work and everyone raved. I dipped them in chocolate to hold the shape. It worked well. Yes slightly messy but not actually that bad. I'm going to do those instead of the caramels.