Having "goody bags" for hotel guests

[Deleted User]

I am getting married in about a month; I am not sure if I have to or not make bags filled with snacks, water ect. for our hotel guest. My mother says yes and my mother in law says no. My fiance is from Delware and his family is mostly staying in the hotel. I am torn between the two. I asked my fiance and he does mind either way.

banana468

It's certainly nice to do.   I always appreciate them when I'm an OOT guest but I don't think poorly of the B&G if they don't.

HockeyFan4

They are not mandatory.  If you have extra $$ and want to do it, I am sure they would be appreciated.

Avion22

Nice to do, but certainly not mandatory.  I think it's nice to provide at least a welcome packet with times, addresses, and directions for all wedding activities, stuff to do in the area, times of local church servces if you think they'd like that information, etc.  You might even be able to get some maps and brochures for free from your local Visitor's Bureau or Chamber of Commerce.   We did that, and added a few bottles of water, granola bars, etc.  

Loopyseven

Ditto - it's a nice extra touch if you have some extra money, but not necessary at all.  We didn't do them.

mica178

H wanted us to do them, so we did for guests staying in the hotels we blocked.  Just a couple bottles of water and some snacks and directions to the rehearsal dinner and ceremony site.  

raes19

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_having-goody-bags-for-hotel-guests?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:9Discussion:5fc9d4cf-3467-497b-908a-42698cfd12ddPost:bb84daa6-6f55-4c54-ac77-a6d885bb1d33">Re: Having "goody bags" for hotel guests</a>:
[QUOTE]Nice to do, but certainly not mandatory.  I think it's nice to provide at least a welcome packet with times, addresses, and directions for all wedding activities, stuff to do in the area, times of local church servces if you think they'd like that information, etc.  <strong>You might even be able to get some maps and brochures for free from your local Visitor's Bureau or Chamber of Commerce.</strong>   We did that, and added a few bottles of water, granola bars, etc.  
Posted by Avion22[/QUOTE]

Even if you don't do bags, I would at least do the bolded above. A visitor guide for the area can be really handy if the guests aren't familiar with the city and will give them ideas on what to do when there aren't any wedding activities going on.

augurey

FI and I went to his brother's wedding in TX where they had welcome bags at the hotel - there weren't anything like directions in them or any other information - just goodies. It was a nice gesture, but I don't really feel that a welcome bag or no welcome bag would have influenced my trip in a positive or negative way.

If you have the extra money and want to do it, then go for it, but they aren't necessary otherwise.

I do agree with the PP on maps/brochures/etc. I think that's one thing that would have been a little useful for us in TX since there were several hours between the ceremony and reception.

trixie549

It's a nice touch if you have extra money in your budget, but certainly not required. We went to an OOT wedding last weekend and didn't recieve a bag, and I didn't think anything of it.

somewheresublime

I have really enjoyed putting ours together - our wedding is on September 15th. I agree with everyone else. They're a nice thing to do, but if you don't do them, I don't think anyone will be upset. My Mom really liked the idea and offered to purchase all of the local items for them, because she wanted out of town friends and family members to feel welcome. We're doing 30 bags.

The containers are a reusable Oregon themed shopping bag (we went with a local theme), and they'll have mini bottles of champagne, bottled water, single dose packets of Tylenol, a shout wipe, granola bars and some hershey's miniatures and microwave popcorn, along with some local items - shortbread cookies, mini marionberry jam and a summer sausage. We also included a handwritten note (on an Oregon postcard) and a list of some of our favorite places, along with a map that my Dad drew that included details for the guests.

Like I said, my Mom was really excited about it. Asking her to help ended up being a great idea. She's really enjoyed it, and the bags are quite a bit fancier than we would have done on our own.