Favors
Welcome Bags for Out of Town Guests
When we get married, the vast majority of our guests will be coming in from out of town. A couple of years ago I went to a wedding where it was the same way, and the couple did little gift bags that welcomed teh out of town guests to their area.
We are already doing favors AT the reception, obviously, and we are actually doing ones that are very specific to our reception and our city. They won't have our names or wedding date on them or anything. But I loved the idea of giving little gift bags to out of town guests as well!
Problem is...we're definitely on a budget. Even with only doing one gift bag per family/couple, we're still looking at having to put together probably 25 of them. Here is what our thoughts are so far, but PLEASE give input on whether any of these are bad ideas, or if you have any other inexpensive things we could add
-has anyone ever tried to get coupons from small local businesses, for something like this or otherwise? like, little gift shops or coffee shops? how easy is this and do you think including some coupons to some of our favorite places would be a good idea?
-we would throw in some candy and probably some peanuts/chips/pretzels for snacks
-we are HUGE animal lovers and were also thinking about making a donation to a local animal shelter/rescue group and putting a little card in the gift bags saying we did so...but for some reason this sounds a bit...self righteous, or something? is there a better way to go about this or should we avoid doing it at all costs?
Again...any other suggestions as to what we could add are certainly appreciated...
We are already doing favors AT the reception, obviously, and we are actually doing ones that are very specific to our reception and our city. They won't have our names or wedding date on them or anything. But I loved the idea of giving little gift bags to out of town guests as well!
Problem is...we're definitely on a budget. Even with only doing one gift bag per family/couple, we're still looking at having to put together probably 25 of them. Here is what our thoughts are so far, but PLEASE give input on whether any of these are bad ideas, or if you have any other inexpensive things we could add
-has anyone ever tried to get coupons from small local businesses, for something like this or otherwise? like, little gift shops or coffee shops? how easy is this and do you think including some coupons to some of our favorite places would be a good idea?
-we would throw in some candy and probably some peanuts/chips/pretzels for snacks
-we are HUGE animal lovers and were also thinking about making a donation to a local animal shelter/rescue group and putting a little card in the gift bags saying we did so...but for some reason this sounds a bit...self righteous, or something? is there a better way to go about this or should we avoid doing it at all costs?
Again...any other suggestions as to what we could add are certainly appreciated...
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Welcome Bags for Out of Town Guests
Not sure about the animal rescue idea. Sounds a bit odd.
Oh, I realize this is a special situation for me, but I am going to include a menu a food coupons to a restaurant I used to work at. Just something simple like $2 off.
[QUOTE] Fun places to check out in Chapel Hill if they have free time.
Posted by sgreen13[/QUOTE]
Oh yeah, forgot to mention that we were planning on putting together a packet of info on our favorite restaurants, bars, things to do in our city as well :)
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Snacks, maps, coupons=ok. I don't think you need trinkets and stuff for people to take home.
Some people put items people typically forget in the bags, though IMO it is wasteful because most hotels have these things.
Just skip it. Your wedding won't suck if people don't get a bag filled with coupons and brochures.
[QUOTE]I don't think they're necessary at all. And I think the donation thing just doesn't make any sense at all. It's like saying "Here's an OOT bag to tell you that we were going to give you and OOT bag, but we're donating the money to charity." Just skip it. Your wedding won't suck if people don't get a bag filled with coupons and brochures.
Posted by trix1223[/QUOTE]
Wellll...I don't think they're necessary...but I do think they are a good idea...at least if we can get some coupons to some local places, and like I said throw some candy and snacks in...as well as the itinerary for our wedding, which people need anyway...I know the wedding won't suck without them but if they won't cost much I'd like to give an extra bit to people who are paying hundreds of dollars in plane tickets/gas for their cars/hotel rooms to come down here. I did find a list online of things to add like advil/tylenol, tissues, and stuff like that...which also sound like decent, inexpensive additions.
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Keep it simple: some water, light snacks, and an itinerary for the wedding. No to the donation and coupons. Most people will stay at the hotel or close to it for their meals, etc. and won't be visiting other businesses anyway. I have PIB of mine.
You also need to check on the cost of getting them to the guests as many hotels charge for this. So you'll want to factor that in as well.
With All the Trimmings
[QUOTE]Keep it simple: some water, light snacks, and an itinerary for the wedding. No to the donation and coupons. Most people will stay at the hotel or close to it for their meals, etc. and won't be visiting other businesses anyway. I have PIB of mine. You also need to check on the cost of getting them to the guests as many hotels charge for this. So you'll want to factor that in as well.
Posted by stephiehall[/QUOTE]
Thanks for the input :) The reason we were thinking about coupons is because the hotel we are trying to block rooms at (hopefully I can get them to call me back tomorrow, ugh) is just on the edge of the park where our ceremony is. And our reception is just a short walk from the ceremony location. We live in a small city with a beautiful downtown that has lots of little coffee shops, boutiques, gift shops, restaurants and bars...so if we can block rooms at this specific hotel we would look at getting coupons to a couple places that are between the hotel/park where the ceremony location is/reception location :)
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There are a lot of different types of favor containers bags and other things that you can use if you want to dress up your welcome bags.
See these favor containers http://www.photoframesplus.com/wedding-favor-containers-and-supplies.html and bags so on...
The bags I'm putting together are going to have 2 water bottles, some granola bars, gum and/or mints, tylenol for the next morning, and maybe some other snacks. Plus we are putting directions to the church and reception directly from the hotel for them. OOT bags are definitely not necessary, but it is such a small token of apprectiation for these people who are spending the money to come to your wedding. I know many of our overnight guests will also just be our friends who want to enjoy the party without worrying about staying sober. I am also putting bags in their room though since I figure they are spending the money to stay and enjoy our party with us.
I'm putting this into sand pails I bought at the dollar store as well..
1. Tylenol
2. Sunblock
3. Mini pack of tissues
4 Hand sanitizer
5. Starbucks VIA readybrew (I work at Starbucks, sooo it makes sense for me to give instant coffee to my travelers)
6. Chapstick
7. Some type of snack (crackers or pretezels)
8. Gum
9. Individual Shout stain pads
10. Bottled water with personalized labels saying something funny about traveling to our wedding.
Also a welcome note and some brochures with things to do as well as the wedding day intinterary and a list of nearby ATMs
HTH!!
I think this is a great idea, if you can make it work in your budget I would say the guests would appreciate light snacks in the room and an incentive to venture to the local coffee shoe the day after.
I would not do the donation but keep the bag simple with water and snacks.
We are doing bags with a "Chicago Theme" We are including local spots to hit in town and are debating on picking up brunch on Sunday.