Post # 1
Member
1083 posts
Bumble bee
Our wedding is being held a little over an hour north of where we live. This requires all of the bridal party and immediate family members to stay in the hotel next door. . . as well as some out of town guests.
I’ve seen welcome bags on Pinterest and thought it was a cute idea, but wondering if it’s necessary? Will it go appreciated or unnoticed? I’m not entirely sure what to put in the bags. . . I was thinking door hangers saying “shh, we were partying all night with the new Mr. and Mrs.”, water, snacks, a thank you letter, hangover remedy kit, etc.
I figured I’d come get the Hive’s opinion on this!
What are your thoughts on welcome bags? Unnecessary or a must-do? What would you put into a welcome bag?
Post # 3
Member
8434 posts
Bumble Beekeeper
@madteaparty: I made welcome bags because most of my guests are flying in. We put granola bars, cheezits, emergency kits (advils, hand wipes, etc), tissues, a map/directory of the area, and a personalized note with the itinerary.
Post # 4
Member
3942 posts
Honey bee
We made them, because we had about 75% of our guests staying at the hotel. Most people didnt mention, but I know a couple of people did appreciate the advil we put in there.
Ours were all created from the dollar store. we included:
- welcome note
- personalized door hanger
- chips
- cookies
- 2 bottles of water
- advil
- blistex
- toothbrush
- map of area/things to do/local restaurants
Post # 5
Member
3176 posts
Sugar bee
They aren’t necessary but we did them and got a lot of positive feedback – people thought it was a nice touch and it was an inexpensive thing for us to do.
Post # 6
Member
2295 posts
Buzzing bee
We did them, they cost about $3 each. Nice, but totally not necessary at ALL. I didn’t get many comments on them unless I happened to see people as they were checking in.
I did have extras though (since ordered stuff in bulk), and we put those out as “For the Road” bags with a cute sign at the reception on a table near the door. THOSE were a hit!!!
We had:
2 bottles of water
2 cereal bars (like Nutrigrain)
a bag of baked chips
an individual pack of Planter’s nuts
packs of ibuprofen
a map & schedule of events/things to do locally
a brochure from the visitors’ bureau with information on the area
All in a purple bag with gray tissue paper and a thank you sticker on the outside.
They were nice, but if I had to do it over again… I probably would skip them. Not as high of an impact as I expected, although I know people appreciated them.
They were also HEAVY and took up tons of room transporting them. You don’t realize how much space those are going to take up in your car, even in boxes…
Also, even though we had hotel blocks at 2 hotels, people were CRAZY with their hotel bookings – they would book at our hotel but not in the block, other hotels (and for key people I still wanted them to get the bags so we ended up dropping at 5 hotels), under weird names, blah blah blah – it was a pain tracking down where people were staying, even though we had blocks.
Post # 7
Member
13561 posts
Honey Beekeeper
We ended up not doing welcome bags because we didn’t really have many guests staying in the hotels (most of our Out of Town guests stayed with friends or family). However, they’ve always been a nice touch when I’ve been an Out of Town guest myself. Snacks, a couple of bottles of water, a nice note, an itinerary (and maybe map) and some aspirin can go a long way toward your guests’ comfort!
Post # 8
Member
906 posts
Busy bee
The bottles of water are always noticed and appreciated (at least when I’m a guest). We also tend to enjoy the inclusion of a few sweet things (like candy bars or locally made snacks) and perhaps salty snacks. I like food. You can tell. If your guests are mostly from way out of the area information about restaurants and things to do when not at your wedding goes a long way as well.
A solid 90% or more of our guests are out of towners, so we’re definitely trying to think through the best way to execute these without breaking the bank. Best of luck!
Post # 9
Member
1966 posts
Buzzing bee
My sister had them, it was super appreciated. Little bag with really cute tags & a cute message and wedding info (what time everything was etc.) The bags contained snacks (fun size chocolates, small bag of chips, cookies, twizzlers, etc), small bottled water, ibuprofen, alka seltzer, a little ziploc with bobby pins, safety pins and double sided tape). We seriously used everything in the bag!
Post # 10
Member
1597 posts
Bumble bee
I personally had never heard of welcome bags until I started planning my wedding. I guess they aren’t too popular in my region.
It’s probably a nice touch if you have the budget and don’t have a lot of Out of Town guests, but we are probably going to have 100+ Out of Town guests so …. it’s pretty much an impossibility.
I guess it’d be cool for people if they’ve never visited your city before, but most people coming to our wedding from Out of Town used to live here so …. it would be kind of pointless IMO.
So overall I think it’s uneccessary, but it you have the budget and your guests have never visited your region before …. go for it.
Post # 11
Member
1423 posts
Bumble bee
It can be a nice touch, but not necessary. It depends on so many factors — if you have the extra funds, if said funds might be better used elsewhere, if it is yet another thing to stress you out, or if it is time you might happily spend making yet another thing for your wedding.
I skipped them and invited everyone to the rehersal dinner to welcome them. The hotel concierge was far better equipped to give recommendations, anyway.
Post # 12
Member
291 posts
Helper bee
I am doing out of town bags. I feel like if I was a guest who traveled across the state or country, just a simple out of town bag would be much appreciated. As far as it being necessary, it’s totally not. I feel it adds that little something extra for guests.
In our out of town bags we are going to include:
snacks- cheezits, chocolate, granola bars
personalized water bottles
emergency kit- pepto, advil, mouthwash, etc.
newsletter- including our favorite places to go eat and visit in the area, as well as brochures and coupons for local places
schedule for the weekend
custom door hanger
Post # 13
Member
725 posts
Busy bee
We had them and they were a HIT!! People were really surprised and appreciative. We added mini Bailey’s bottles and people loved them in the morning coffee. I say it was worth the expense.
Post # 14
Member
9541 posts
Buzzing Beekeeper
I feel like I often see Out of Town bags on lists of “things I could have skipped”. I’ve liked the the few times I recieved one as a guest, but I never missed one when it wasn’t given. I’m happy getting water from a tap. I will be checking out in the morning, so I don’t really need a “do not disturb sign”. I might eat snacks.
Post # 15
Member
514 posts
Busy bee
@madteaparty: I am having a Destination Wedding so we are doing welcome bags they will be like $30 bucks each (maybe more that’s just an estimate), but if its only an hour away, idk if I would waste a bunch of money. Maybe a little kit with hangover cures (tums, tylenol, etc.) and some local information.