Tote bags for hotel guests

andra loves andre

I'm not sure if this is in the right section since it's technically a gift to guests, but here goes. 

We're trying to figure the costs of all the small things that we haven't yet included in our budget, and tote bags for guests staying at the hotel was brought up. We will be having lots of different types of guests staying at hotels for the wedding weekend, and we'd love to give them a gift bag stuffed with all sorts of goodies. The problem is, we're not sure if it'll a one-gift-fits-all type of situation, or if we should personalize it more. We'll have lots of families, married (young) couples, couples that have just started dating. 

We were thinking for everyone it would be nice to include a bottle of wine, and some water and snacks. I'd also like to make it more personal, perhaps for families include some juices for the kids and something else? Or for the couples something like strawberries dipped in chocolate? or just a box of chocolates? 

What do you think we should include in the tote bags (doesn't matter how big or small, all suggestions are very welcome!).

Thanks in advance!

[Deleted User]

I would just do a "one size fits all" bag, some hotels will charge you what I've heard can be a very high fee if they have to deliver certain bags to certain guests.  Honestly I was going to do welcom bags and nixed 'em earlier this week when I sat down to go over everything, FI and I have been to 7 weddings in the last 2 years and ZERO have provided welcome bags, so screw it, I need the extra leg room in my budget anyway!

I think wine is extremely generous but definitely not necessary -- how do you know what type people like?  Plus you're payingfor their drinks at your wedding! For snacks you should do something salty, something sweet.  Water is definitely a good idea.  My friend included menu's for local restaurants in her welcome bags and some of the places even gave us coupons!  I'd suggest a sample size Advil pack too, just in case!  But some people say that's a terible idea because what if kids getinto them thinking they're candy...
What about crrayons and coloring books for th kiddies?

andra loves andre

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_registering-gifts_tote-bags-for-hotel-guests?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:34Discussion:2a3e1f64-960c-4724-b84d-dc8fc60d1da6Post:59feeb3d-4156-4b0f-804e-6c96ea6d00b9">Re: Tote bags for hotel guests</a>:
[QUOTE]I would just do a "one size fits all" bag, some hotels will charge you what I've heard can be a very high fee if they have to deliver certain bags to certain guests.  Honestly I was going to do welcom bags and nixed 'em earlier this week when I sat down to go over everything, FI and I have been to 7 weddings in the last 2 years and ZERO have provided welcome bags, so screw it, I need the extra leg room in my budget anyway! I think wine is extremely generous but definitely not necessary -- how do you know what type people like?  Plus you're payingfor their drinks at your wedding! For snacks you should do something salty, something sweet.  Water is definitely a good idea.  My friend included menu's for local restaurants in her welcome bags and some of the places even gave us coupons!  I'd suggest a sample size Advil pack too, just in case!  But some people say that's a terible idea because what if kids getinto them thinking they're candy... What about crrayons and coloring books for th kiddies?
Posted by Jinxed329[/QUOTE]

<div>Great ideas in there, thanks! I just jotted everything down on a post it to take home after work :)</div><div>
</div><div>We won't have anyone staying with very young kids, so the advil thing might be a good idea too. I think the youngest kid of an out of town family is 10 (maybe 12?) years old. I hope they've learned the difference between medicine and candy by then lol!</div><div>
</div><div>The hotel is super gracious and is not charging us anything for the totes. They are letting us put the totes directly in the guests' room to await their arrival, so that should be pretty easy! </div>

andra loves andre

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_registering-gifts_tote-bags-for-hotel-guests?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:34Discussion:2a3e1f64-960c-4724-b84d-dc8fc60d1da6Post:d2f35618-4be1-42bd-bc3c-805292d113c8">Re: Tote bags for hotel guests</a>:
[QUOTE]I wouldn't go overboard on these things.  We did pretzels and chocolate, etc.  The one thing that was a big hit were perogie (sp?) key chains. Apparently they're big in Pittsburgh.  My mom did include Panera gift cards for certain relatives.
Posted by edielaura[/QUOTE]

<div>Oh I like the idea of a gift card to a cafe or something! There isnt a panera around the venue, but there should be a cafe! Thanks for the idea, it's awesome!</div>

jessicabessica

We got brown paper gift bags from Oriental Trading and stamped them with our names, wedding date and a floral design.  We filled the bags with: bottles of water, chips, crackers, trail mix, a map of the area, 4th of July Tootsie Rolls (we got married 7/3), mints, and a welcome letter thanking the guests for coming and reminding them of the schedule of events and directions.  We gave 1 bag per 2 people, so if a couple was coming with 1 kid, we had the hotel put 2 bags in their room.

If you want to have something specific to your area, I've also seen locally-made soap, a postcard from a local museum, and locally-brewed rootbeer in welcome bags.  

andra loves andre

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_registering-gifts_tote-bags-for-hotel-guests?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:34Discussion:2a3e1f64-960c-4724-b84d-dc8fc60d1da6Post:c69bc16b-a8de-4fe2-8271-e6c8ed354998">Re: Tote bags for hotel guests</a>:
[QUOTE]We got brown paper gift bags from Oriental Trading and stamped them with our names, wedding date and a floral design.  We filled the bags with: bottles of water, chips, crackers, trail mix, a map of the area, 4th of July Tootsie Rolls (we got married 7/3), mints, and a welcome letter thanking the guests for coming and reminding them of the schedule of events and directions.  We gave 1 bag per 2 people, so if a couple was coming with 1 kid, we had the hotel put 2 bags in their room. If you want to have something specific to your area, I've also seen locally-made soap, a postcard from a local museum, and locally-brewed rootbeer in welcome bags.  
Posted by jessicabessica[/QUOTE]

<div>great ideas! thanks so much! I'll have to look into local stuff, as that would definitely be a great addition! Sounds like you had a ton of goodies in your bag, yumm!!!</div>

Avion22

We used gift bags from Party City, and filled them with:

1.  Weekend itinerary, including directions to the venues, a list of things to do in the area, and a list of churches/services for Sunday morning.

2.  Bottled water 

3.  Microwave popcorn (all of the hotel rooms had microwaves)

4.  Granola bars

5.  A few individual pieces of chocolate (Hershey Kisses and Minis)

A lot of people flew in, so we wanted it all to be stuff they would use/consume on the weekend and not take back with them (people often have limmited baggage space).   The bags were like 50 cents each, and the water/snacks were cheap in bulk at Sam's Club.   

mcskatcat

We went to Sam's Club and bought a lot of snacky items plus a bottle of water.  You can do fruit, granola bars, something sweet and something salty.  I wouldn't overthink it.

KrystalG528

You could create little packages of mints with your initials on them or candy engraved for one of the items in the bag! 

LeiselEB

We did a one size fits all thing:

M&M's

Chex Mix

Hand sanitizer

Kleenex

Advil

Two water bottles

Directions to wedding events

List of local attractions, shopping and dining options

$5 Starbucks gift card per guest

sparkles776

From a guests standpoint, I would much rather have bottled water over wine.

brittanycurtisjohnson

I would love love love if someone placed like menus and fast food delivary #'s that deliver to that hotel so that they don't have to google/search for them.

Definately gateraid or bottled water so they don't have to pay 2+ $ at the hotel.

Wine is very generous, but like PP said, you won't know thier tastes. Unless you do then cool.

Maybe local magazines for reading. A map of the area with places highlighted (food/movies and such.)

Popcorn would be awesome. Even a card for a free movie rental or something if you think they would use it, if not they might be able to ta it back home if they have one there.

And a timeline of events is a must. Very helpfull.