Photos

• Photos are an ideal souvenir for a special dinner event. A photo is a reminder of what guests wore, who they were with and can serve as a visual memory of a special night. Take photos of guests as they arrive, either individually, as couples or in groups, or, at a large event, have a photographer go around to individual tables and take snapshots of the entire table. Present the printed photos at the end of the night in a commemorative frame engraved with the date of the event; for a less expensive option, place the photos in preprinted photo folders with the name and date of the event.
  
  

Music

• Music can also help dinner guests remember a special night. Before the event, burn CDs with songs you plan to play during the event. This souvenir is ideal for a wedding rehearsal dinner or engagement dinner; the happy couple can fill the CD with their wedding reception songs and other tunes that capture their relationship or story. If you're celebrating a birthday, fill the CD with songs from the year the guest of honor was born.
  
  

Recipe Book

• If you are hosting a potluck dinner with friends and family, ask everyone to bring multiple copies of the recipe they used for their dish. As a party favor from the dinner, give each guest a decorative recipe box or book for storing the recipes. Take photos of each guest with their dish and send a link to an online photo site from which they can print copies of the photos to add to their recipe books if they wish. Another alternative is to give guests a copy of the cookbook you used to make the meal. For example, if you are hosting a Mexican- or Italian-themed meal, give your guests a cookbook with recipes of that type of cuisine.
  
  

Cocktail Glass

• When planning your special dinner get-together, create a signature cocktail for the event; you can add a twist to a standard cocktail or give a traditional drink a fun name for the event. Serve the drink in custom glasses that guests can take home as a souvenir. If you're serving a large number of guests, you might have the glasses engraved or printed with your event's name and details; for a smaller event, hand paint or stencil a custom glass design. Alternatively, contact a local winery about purchasing wine with custom-designed labels; some wineries allow customers to choose the variety of wine and the label design to commemorate the event. Alternately, you can print your own labels to stick over existing wine labels.