Ideas for welcome bags?

carrieoz_76

I'm a long ways away from needing to actually pull these together, but I'd like to try to budget them properly.  So, we'd like to do a welcome bag for our guests, and I was hoping you all might have some brilliant ideas on what to provide our guests with.We'd like to keep things as affordable as possible (so we probably won't be ordering personalized water bottles... but we might make our own?).  Also, I'd like to add in items with local flavor - local goodies (more than just chocolate-covered mac nuts - not that there's anything wrong with them!), trinkets, and stuff they will actually need/use.Any and all ideas are appreciated.  Thanks!Carrie

M&M's_Maui

I didn't put anything "brilliant" in our welcome bags but I've got the list of what we did put in my bio.  I thought we filled it with some pretty useful stuff and I did notice everyone using the stuff we got them in their pics they gave us (i.e. the beach mats).  Our Maui Mike's chapstick were a huge hit!A good place to get inexpensive Hawaiian trinkets is Walmart (what island are you getting married on?  We went to the Walmart in Maui).  I know that many of the older knotties (off the top of my head I know plumeriapal did) used a printable/waterproof wrapaound label to place on the bottles as an inexpensive option.  (here's a place you get pre-printed ones (for ideas???): http://www.myownlabels.com/ML119.asp?fnColumns=2&AreaID=27 and I think thiis is where they ordered the blank paper/sheets: http://www.labelsbythesheet.com/items/Water-Bottle-Labels/list.htm)Cookies from the Honolulu Cookie Company, Maui Chips, Kuaui cookies, & Li Hing candies (though ppl either love these or hate these) are some local goodies that come to mind.

lelekay

I started by going to Target (my local one) and getting all kind of stuff from the travel bins. Most things in there are about a dollar each. Examples: a little tissue packs (3 for $1), lint rollers, tiny sewing kits, sunblock, aloe gel, antibacterial gel, bandaids, little tylenol packets. Then, I put all that stuff in little cellophane bags tied with a ribbon, and shipped them to HI with the rest of my decorations. Once I got to Maui, I bought water bottles (didn't personalize...didn't really see the point), and some other snacks at Costco, as well as more Hawaiian snacks at ABC stores. We also added decks of Hawaii cards and a few postcards (stamped) in each bag. I put the little cellophane bags from home, the water, snack, etc, in a decorated bags I had shipped from home, along with a folder containing wedding details, maps, etc. I would say each bag ended up costing about $16-18, but you could do it for a lot cheaper, I think, if you wanted to. (I only needed 8 bags, so this was easy for me).

kaesha

We're mostly doing food related stuff.Water bottles (again not personalized - they're just going in the recycle)Maui Brewing Company Beer or WineMacnutsHonolulu Cookie Company cookiesfresh pineapplemap of the island

MrsIH

Hi, I have some photos in my bio if you'd like to see what we used for ours.  Costco is great, they have more than enough selection/ideas.  Also, mini sunscreens could be useful, this website has a lot of ides too - http://www.minimus.biz/

BoBride28

I really love the Honolulu Cookie Company cookies. They are delish! Where do I get those from to add to the OOT bags?

peachmango

One of the most useful items in our OOT was the after sun aloe   We did that instead of sunblock since most ppl already know to get sunblock but often forget about after sun care.We also included asprin.. for the potential hang overs :pJuice (got them from costco)snacks (got them from costco)mac nut hersheys (everyone loved these)There was also a little welcome brochure in each bag with info about wedding events and shuttles.

lgarcia08

Honolulu Cookie Company is great!  I ordered mine online at http://www.honolulucookie.com/.

MauiWedding08

we didn't do welcome bags, but I did do personalized water bottles (labels bought at labelsbythesheet.com).  They didn't fit perfectly on the cheapest water bottles at costco, but we didn't mind.  My husband and I just bought a case of water and it took about 15 mins to take off the labels and put ours on.  We used them at our day before the wedding BBQ.Honolulu Cookie Company - they were great to work with - we used them as favors in the woven boxes.  We ordered 2 flavors in bulk (100ish of each) and prepaid over the phone.  We picked them up once we arrived on Maui - no shipping charges.  They included quite a few extra (yay for snacking while assembling the favors!) in case any broke during shipment from Oahu to Maui.One other DIY idea - we did luggage tags (but mailed them out before everyone left).  I just used the heat seal laminate kit you can buy at any office supply store.  They come in the size where you can laminate a business card to make a luggage tag.  It worked pefectly.

BoBride28

Thanks for the info on the cookies! Also good to know that there is no shipping charge from Oahu to Maui. I'm definitely adding it to the list.

carrieoz_76

Can I just say - you all are awesome.  I have buckets of great ideas now.  Thank you!Carrie

MauiWedding08

Re: Honolulu Cookie Co.I guess I should clarify - no shipping if you are picking it up at a Maui retail location.  (So even though the bulk order must come from Oahu you are technically buying it from the Maui store...)