I'm planning a wedding where everyone is basically an out of towner. We are inviting over 150 ppl. and doing the whole hotel block thing. Is it necessary for me to make welcome baskets for all staying in the hotel? (Thats a lot of baskets!!!!) And if you think it is can you give me some ideas of how to do them cheap...
No, I don't think they're necessary. Many of our older guests had never heard of them before and were pleasantly surprised to receive them. If you have the time and a little money in the budget, I think it's a nice way to show your guests that you appreciate them travelling to come to your wedding.
We had a similar situation to you (about 180 guests attended, most had a 3 to 6 hour drive to get there, bride and groom included), and we did make welcome bags. Our guests really loved and appreciated them. We went with plastic bags with a rope handle (kind of like a gift bag - baskets would be far too expensive for our budget and the number we needed) from papermart.com for less than 75 cents each, printed a little monogram/thanks for coming thing on clear shipping labels, and filled them with inexpensive snacks, drinks, mints, etc (mostly stuff bought at BJ's Wholesale), a little pen/notepad souvenir from the area, and some brochures for things to do in the area (free!). Nothing too expensive, but it was a nice little surprise for our guests when they arrived.
Im also doing a destination wedding and Ive been struggling with the bag idea too. It seems like such a nice gesture but you know what, financially, it just doesnt make sense unless we really had the money to do it. I just cant ask my parents to spend the money on it when we have already done favors for the guests. I say, if you have the money to blow, go for it! But they certainly arent necessary.
You definitely don't need to have baskets, but having SOMETHING to show your appreciation of them traveling for you is definitely the "trend" now that the younger brides follow. BucknellBride hit it on the head with the BJ's or Sam's stuff - that's where we'll be getting our goodies from. Mostly local goods - philly pretzels, tastycakes, etc. We're going to get brochures from the CVB which is a great free resource. Basically, it's just a little something extra to say thanks for coming that doesn't need to be $$$ if you don't have it in your budget.
What about a bottle of water and a bag of homemade cookies, along with brochures for area attractions and a welcome letter from the two of you? That's about...$1 a room? With something like this, it really is the thought that counts.
You definitely don't need them. Most of our guests had never heard of them, but they were most gracious. My one suggestion is 2 bottles of water/room. If you go to Costco or Target, they are only $5/case. Turns out, the hotels we booked had no beverages and soda was "expensive" I heard. After a long trip and hauling their luggage in, I think they would really appreciate some bottles of water.
They aren't nessesary, but they are a super great way to say to your guests "Thanks for driving all the way to my wedding - here's some snacks to tide you over till the wedding and maybe a granola bar for the morning after". Our bags are working out to be less than $2 each - got the bags from papermart.com, got bottled water when it was on sale, got brochures from the visitor's center (FREE!!), a huge bag of hershey kisses and mints from BJs, and granola bars in bulk from BJs. We'll write a note, make some copies, and put those in as well. Its really just a little something extra that no one expects, but really says thank you for traveling and paying to stay over night just to be at our wedding.
not necessary, but i'm so glad we did them. everyone loved them and we heard over and over how welcomed people felt. for these, a little bit goes a very long way. a bottle or two of water, a welcome note (ours was brief and included a weekend timeline and list of local things to do), a tasty snack and you're done. you can print up labels to dress up even a paper lunch bag. they don't need to be at all fancy, but it is a lovely guesture. the other thing to remember is that you may have 150 guests, but that's probably 75 bags (typically, one bag per family/couple).
You can get alot of free informational brochures about your town from the visitors center. We got a huge box of all kinds of stuff. It included maps and lists of things to do in our downtown as well as magazines for our state. And it's all FREE! I would put together a visitors packet with a couple bottles of water and a letter from you and leave it at that. If you find you have more in your budget than you expected, you can add more.
Agree with all of the above...nice, but not necessary. We went to a wedding where they had a single, inexpensively copied sheet of paper welcoming us, along with a single boxed cupcake from a local bakery (one per room). It was lovely, just a small gesture of appreciation. No need to be extravagant.
What about a destination wedding? I have rented a villa in Cabo for my stay, my wedding, and my honeymoon but my guests are staying all along the Mexico corridor. Making baskets (in Mexico) and delivering them to everyone is logistically insane. Any ideas on other fun welcome things I could do?
I think when you are asking people to travel to your wedding welcome bags are always a great and greatly appreciated idea. My sister got married on Martha's Vineyard and gave everyone little trinkets from the island as well as water, fudge, grapes things to nibble on over the weekend. She kind of tied them in with the wedding favors to save money. She made each one special by labeling everything with the cute labels she got at PlumDrama.com I think that is all you need a few trinkets and then just one thing that has you name & date on it so your guests like your grandmother will have a memento to show her friends.
I'm planning a wedding where everyone is basically an out of towner. We are inviting over 150 ppl. and doing the whole hotel block thing. Is it necessary for me to make welcome baskets for all staying in the hotel? (Thats a lot of baskets!!!!) And if you think it is can you give me some ideas of how to do them cheap...
posted by emilybrooke 43 posts 1 month agoNo, I don't think they're necessary. Many of our older guests had never heard of them before and were pleasantly surprised to receive them. If you have the time and a little money in the budget, I think it's a nice way to show your guests that you appreciate them travelling to come to your wedding.
We had a similar situation to you (about 180 guests attended, most had a 3 to 6 hour drive to get there, bride and groom included), and we did make welcome bags. Our guests really loved and appreciated them. We went with plastic bags with a rope handle (kind of like a gift bag - baskets would be far too expensive for our budget and the number we needed) from papermart.com for less than 75 cents each, printed a little monogram/thanks for coming thing on clear shipping labels, and filled them with inexpensive snacks, drinks, mints, etc (mostly stuff bought at BJ's Wholesale), a little pen/notepad souvenir from the area, and some brochures for things to do in the area (free!). Nothing too expensive, but it was a nice little surprise for our guests when they arrived.
posted by BucknellBride 3 posts 1 month agoIm also doing a destination wedding and Ive been struggling with the bag idea too. It seems like such a nice gesture but you know what, financially, it just doesnt make sense unless we really had the money to do it. I just cant ask my parents to spend the money on it when we have already done favors for the guests. I say, if you have the money to blow, go for it! But they certainly arent necessary.
posted by CaptainJacksMom 13 posts 1 month agoYou definitely don't need to have baskets, but having SOMETHING to show your appreciation of them traveling for you is definitely the "trend" now that the younger brides follow. BucknellBride hit it on the head with the BJ's or Sam's stuff - that's where we'll be getting our goodies from. Mostly local goods - philly pretzels, tastycakes, etc. We're going to get brochures from the CVB which is a great free resource. Basically, it's just a little something extra to say thanks for coming that doesn't need to be $$$ if you don't have it in your budget.
posted by futuregrado 35 posts 1 month agowe are spending a smidge less on favors so that we can splurge (still inexpensive) on OOT bags...we might use the small bags from cheap totes.com
posted by cannotwait 214 posts 1 month agoWhat about a bottle of water and a bag of homemade cookies, along with brochures for area attractions and a welcome letter from the two of you? That's about...$1 a room? With something like this, it really is the thought that counts.
posted by rebecca 986 posts 1 month agoYou definitely don't need them. Most of our guests had never heard of them, but they were most gracious. My one suggestion is 2 bottles of water/room. If you go to Costco or Target, they are only $5/case. Turns out, the hotels we booked had no beverages and soda was "expensive" I heard. After a long trip and hauling their luggage in, I think they would really appreciate some bottles of water.
posted by snowpea 144 posts 1 month agoThey aren't nessesary, but they are a super great way to say to your guests "Thanks for driving all the way to my wedding - here's some snacks to tide you over till the wedding and maybe a granola bar for the morning after". Our bags are working out to be less than $2 each - got the bags from papermart.com, got bottled water when it was on sale, got brochures from the visitor's center (FREE!!), a huge bag of hershey kisses and mints from BJs, and granola bars in bulk from BJs. We'll write a note, make some copies, and put those in as well. Its really just a little something extra that no one expects, but really says thank you for traveling and paying to stay over night just to be at our wedding.
posted by ktdid23 105 posts 1 month agonot necessary, but i'm so glad we did them. everyone loved them and we heard over and over how welcomed people felt. for these, a little bit goes a very long way. a bottle or two of water, a welcome note (ours was brief and included a weekend timeline and list of local things to do), a tasty snack and you're done. you can print up labels to dress up even a paper lunch bag. they don't need to be at all fancy, but it is a lovely guesture. the other thing to remember is that you may have 150 guests, but that's probably 75 bags (typically, one bag per family/couple).
posted by missm 483 posts 1 month agoYou can get alot of free informational brochures about your town from the visitors center. We got a huge box of all kinds of stuff. It included maps and lists of things to do in our downtown as well as magazines for our state. And it's all FREE! I would put together a visitors packet with a couple bottles of water and a letter from you and leave it at that. If you find you have more in your budget than you expected, you can add more.
posted by jeeyol 87 posts 1 month agoAgree with all of the above...nice, but not necessary. We went to a wedding where they had a single, inexpensively copied sheet of paper welcoming us, along with a single boxed cupcake from a local bakery (one per room). It was lovely, just a small gesture of appreciation. No need to be extravagant.
posted by AC 23 posts 1 month agoWhat about a destination wedding? I have rented a villa in Cabo for my stay, my wedding, and my honeymoon but my guests are staying all along the Mexico corridor. Making baskets (in Mexico) and delivering them to everyone is logistically insane. Any ideas on other fun welcome things I could do?
posted by Jorxa 15 posts 1 month agoI think when you are asking people to travel to your wedding welcome bags are always a great and greatly appreciated idea. My sister got married on Martha's Vineyard and gave everyone little trinkets from the island as well as water, fudge, grapes things to nibble on over the weekend. She kind of tied them in with the wedding favors to save money. She made each one special by labeling everything with the cute labels she got at PlumDrama.com I think that is all you need a few trinkets and then just one thing that has you name & date on it so your guests like your grandmother will have a memento to show her friends.
posted by bdaly28 4 posts 1 month ago