I am having a destination wedding with fifty guests and want to do welcome bags for our guests, who will be staying at two hotels in the same resort complex.
The resort will let us provide them with a guest list for each hotel and will let guests know that they have a bag waiting for them at the bell desk that they can pick up. The resort will not keep welcome bags at reception (requiring the extra step for guests having to go to the bell desk) nor will they deliver them to the guest rooms or pre-deliver them. Bell desk seems to be the only choice.
Is this standard for those out there also doing welcome bags? It seems out of the way for guests. We are having a welcome reception the night before the wedding and could give out bags then, but only half our guests will be in town at that point, and the last thing I want to do in my wedding day is run around delivering bags at two different hotels.
What gave you all done or prepared for? Any good ideas for making things go more smoothly?
Re: Delivering welcome bags
It seems to me like your options are to work out a different notification method - maybe letting guests who are staying at the hotel know ahead of time that they should stop at both the bell desk and front desk as part of check in - or give out those bags that you can at the welcome reception, and perhaps pay a family member or friend to distribute the rest the next day.
Thanks for your reply. Guest would be notified when they check in that they need to go to the bell desk to pick up a welcome bag. I dislike the extra step that our guests would need to take -- standing in line at a bell desk to get the bag after standing in line to check in with all their luggage.
I am just curious if this is customary for some -- every wedding I have been to that was out of town either had a bag handed to me when I checked in or had one waiting in my hotel room, so it is a bit new to me to have it done any other way.
I want to make the arrival smooth and easy for my guests, so appreciate any idea on how to make the delivery of welcome bags maybe aid that more than what the resort is prescribing we do.
Thanks!
Meanwhile, I would probably be more annoyed by having to carry it back with me from the welcome dinner depending on the logistics of it all and then you still have to keep track of who has gotten them and track people down later.