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Destination Wedding- Welcome bags

adreamg04adreamg04 member
First Comment
in Wedding Etiquette Forum
I've seen many blogs and posts about providing welcome bags for out of town guests. I am having a destination wedding- therefore everyone is an out of town guest. The wedding is small- only close family and friends are invited, and all guests are staying at different hotels. Is a welcome bag something I should take into consideration? Is it rude not to have one? I guess I never really though about including this in the budget. Any feedback would be great. Thanks!
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Re: Destination Wedding- Welcome bags

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    prloveprlove member
    First Comment First Anniversary
    I personally don't feel that you HAVE to have them but they would be a nice touch to saying "thank you for coming".  One cost-effective thing you can do, and I will probably get bashed for this by the etiquette dictators, is you can contact the local dept. of tourism (or whatever it is called) where your wedding will be and ask if they can provide you some of the free stuff they normally give out in the visitors centers such as pins, maps, pens, coupons, etc.  A lot of times they will give this to you for free and in bulk so that they can help promote tourism.  Toss these in a bag with some extra goodies and voila, you got your bag. :)
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    LizzyRBLizzyRB member
    5 Love Its First Anniversary First Comment
    We got a welcome bag at an out of town wedding recently. It had water, tissues, and a few snacks in it. It was nice but certainly not expected. I don't think we even ate the snacks.

    If you DO have them, I would make the gift bags personal to you guys or the city (like in Cincinnati we are famous for chili so I would put in some cans of chili). Usually the hotel makes you pay a fee per bag for them to give out or deliver.

    If it's not in your budget and you decide not to, I don't think anyone will care. I wouldn't.
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    Queen JaneQueen Jane member
    First Anniversary First Comment
    We did not have welcome bags for our DW. I thought of it but it just wasn't in the budget. We did have other optional outings for guests to attend and made sure they all knew about it by word of mouth and on our website. We also included restaurant and activity suggestions on the website as well.
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    hoffsehoffse member
    First Anniversary 5 Love Its First Answer Name Dropper
    They're not necessary.  I've never gotten them, and I don't know that I would really use a welcome bag if I got one.
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    AdeleDazeemAdeleDazeem member
    First Anniversary 5 Love Its Name Dropper First Comment
    We had a destination wedding.  I did not do welcome bags.  No need.

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    MyUserName1MyUserName1 member
    First Anniversary 5 Love Its First Comment
    Not necessary and (IMO) a huge hassle with guests at several different hotels.
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    kmilon01kmilon01 member
    First Comment
    I'm doing a DW and I'm having welcome bags and they are costing me a small fortune.  I now don't think they're necessary but I've already spent an arm and a leg on them and their contents so my guest are getting them.  If you decide to do them, be ready for the cost. Guest may appreciate them if they're personalized properly but it's definitely not a must
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