Post # 1
Member
456 posts
Helper bee
How do I know how many out of town bags to make?
I have requests from my grandmother to make them for guests coming in from out of state which is resonable. But, we are having the wedding in New Orleans which is one hour from where most of the family lives and also some are coming from about 2 hours away. We have sent 175 invitations and have 300 people coming. I am not sure of exactly which hotels everyone is staying at and exactly how are staying in hotels there.
Question is, where do I draw the line? I will have people driving from 1 to 2 hours away and staying in hotels (including bridal party). Are they consider out of town? I could have the out of town bags at the hotel, but how would I know who to have them read for?
This is confusing to me and is starting to feel like its going to be costly since we have so many people. What do you think? Should I do out of state only? Only those who are staying in hotels that have notified me?
Or should I plan to possibly send out a newsletter to guests coming in from out of town? That was the other idea we had was to mail something to guests before the wedding. But then, what if they forget it at home? It will contain maps, wedding info, etc.
Post # 3
Member
3942 posts
Honey bee
@RoyalPurpleBride: Did you set up a room block at a hotel? We chose one hotel and they sent me a list of how many/who is staying in our block. So I made that many bags, and a few extra just incase.
Post # 4
Member
1361 posts
Bumble bee
I would say if they are staying at a hotel, they should get a bag. If they are not staying at a hotel, they don’t get a bag, regardless of how far they are travelling. The point of the bag is to provide snacks, water, and emergency stuff for people in hotels, but if they are staying with friends/family, they are covered (at least theoretically). We only did bags for people who booked in our hotel blocks. Otherwise, we figured, they were too hard to track down.
Post # 5
Member
456 posts
Helper bee
We set up a block at one hotel that got filled up and I dont think everyone was within the block. Also, we have guests staying at other hotels as well that are not under blocks.
Post # 6
Member
456 posts
Helper bee
@Beckster329: Thanks, thats a great way to look at it. I like that 🙂
I feel like I am going to end up making TONS of these things! How many did you end up making??
Post # 7
Member
570 posts
Busy bee
Do you have a wedding website? Did you include the website anywhere in your invitation suite? Did you have any hotel blocks set up? You could make a page for “out of town info” and then refer everyone to your website… it’ll be a disaster trying to get a count of hotel rooms and then dropping off all of those bags in the week before the wedding. At least getting something together for the bridal party would be nice, since they’re putting the most money and time out to be there for wedding events.
We have wedding blocks at two hotels, and about two weeks before will call to find out how many people are staying after the wedding. We’re going to get bags at the dollar store, bottles of water at BJs, single packs of Advil, packs of gum, little chocolate candies, other random stuff that we can get for low prices, and a printout with a note from us and the addresses/directions between events. If someone is staying elsewhere, that’s on them. I figure we are going to have a million things going on and can’t worry about every single person. Most hotels provide those amenities these days anyway, and most people have GPS or have navigation on their cell phones.
Post # 8
Member
456 posts
Helper bee
@MrsPeachMartini: A website would be a great idea. I never thought of that.
I definitely wanted to keep it cheap, like items from the dollar store. I dont want to go broke over this, but we have so many out of towners that I wanted them to feel included. Also, we are not doing favors so I think this might be a nice way to give something before the wedding
Post # 9
Member
3885 posts
Honey bee
I would draw the line at guests staying in the hotel where you have the block. Maybe (just maybe) include guests at a second hotel if there’s a good bunch of them in that second hotel. If you have a block, the hotel can give you a list of who has booked into it, and will hand out the bags for you, usually as guests check in but sometimes they have housekeeping leave the bag in the room before the guests arrive. Without a block list, it becomes a logistical nightmare to figure out who is staying where, and get the right number of bags to the hotel, identify whose name the booking is in (I’ve not changed my name post-marriage and most of our hotel stuff gets booked in my name, not DH’s, so for the wedding we’re attending this weekend, the hotel has never heard of him), etc etc plus the front desk won’t be as co-operative in handing them out if you didn’t set up the block because they would have to find every single guest reservation and edit it to show that they need to give out a bag.
Post # 10
Member
3942 posts
Honey bee
@RoyalPurpleBride: If it were me, I would just contact the hotel that you have a block through and leave enough for your guests there. Trying to track down where everyone is staying is going to be a huge pain.
Post # 11
Member
1548 posts
Bumble bee
I would make a gift bag for anyone staying at the hotel where you have a block. You will make yourseft crazy if you try to track down where everyone else is staying.
Post # 12
Member
672 posts
Busy bee
I am only making oot bags for guests staying at the hotel the wedding is at (the room block is here) 90% of our guests are staying at the hotel so we made one for everyone that booked a room. A lot of people are sharing rooms so we only have 38 bags. I feel like I should make 2 bags minimum for room but I dont feel like going through the extra hassle! lol
