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Welcome bags?

novella1186novella1186 member
5000 Comments 500 Love Its Second Anniversary First Answer
in Chit Chat
We don't have a single guest who lives in the town we're getting married in (but I wouldn't call it a destination wedding because it's within an hour or two of us and our parents and siblings) so a lot of people are just driving in for the day, but a lot of people are staying in a hotel.

I decided to make welcome bags for the guests that are staying in a hotel. So far, I have:
  •  welcome letter from FI and I (thanking them for being there and whatnot)
  • a "schedule of events"-- kind of just repeat of the information on the invite in case they didn't bring it with them
  • a list of local restaurants, golf courses, bars, wineries, museums, art galleries, and beaches
  • a map of the area
  • a postcard from that city
  • little packets of dried cherries that are a local thing
  • mini packs of chocolate chip cookies (FI's favorite snack)
  • mini packs of pretzels (my favorite snack) 
  • mini packets of aspirin
  • and bottled water

I'm trying to figure out if I left something out? I thought about throwing in a few pieces of beach glass (cuz we used to spend hours walking around the shore collecting it, and it's something local to the area) but what would people honestly do with a few random pieces of beach glass? Would that just be weird? I can't think of any other local things to throw in besides the cherries and postcard which doesn't seem too exciting (it's in Michigan). Is there something else fun I could put in there? For some reason I just keep feeling like these bags are going to be so boring. I don't want to spend a ton more money on them but I want the guests to feel special and appreciated so... I don't know? 

For you Michiganers, what local thing am I missing? (I know there's so many amazing local things about Michigan, but I'd like something not expensive cuz I'll have to buy about 50 of them)

For those of you who have done welcome bags, what did you include?

For those of you that have gotten a welcome bag, what was in it that you loved? Didn't love?

For anyone who's never gotten one, what would you like to have in a welcome bag? 

TIA! :)

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Re: Welcome bags?

  • falsarafalsara member
    1000 Comments 500 Love Its Third Anniversary First Answer
    Faygo!!!!!!!!

                                               

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  • theartistformerlyknownastheartistformerlyknownas member
    10000 Comments 500 Love Its 5 Answers First Anniversary
    edited January 2015
    OMG are you getting married in Traverse City?! I'm coming.

    Second the Faygo. Plus Better Made potato chips and Kellogg's cereal.

    ETA I've never gotten a welcome bag. My friend made me one for the wedding I was in in Denver but I never got it. I think it had M&Ms. I was going to do welcome bags but it got nixed during my "give zero fucks" stage.
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  • larrygagalarrygaga member
    2500 Comments 500 Love Its First Anniversary First Answer
    edited January 2015
    A bottle of two buck chuck from trader joe's. 

    It's a tradition in my circle!!

    Where in MI?
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  • Chipmunk415Chipmunk415 member
    1000 Comments 500 Love Its Second Anniversary Name Dropper
    Here's what I put in mine....

    Candy Bars
    Aspirin
    Pepto Bismol tabs
    Shout wipes
    maps of the area, with the route from hotel to wedding venue highlighted
    water bottles
    trail mix packets
    mini wine bottles
    note welcoming them, re-inviting to breakfast morning after
    tissues
    sunscreen (it's FL)

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  • novella1186novella1186 member
    5000 Comments 500 Love Its Second Anniversary First Answer
    lolo883 no Traverse City, it was a little too far away for me to be so neurotic and plan everything, but I wish I'd had it there.

    larrygaga The St Joe area (southern MI, but you probably know that) :P
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  • jenna8984jenna8984 member
    5000 Comments Fifth Anniversary 500 Love Its First Answer
    Do you know if the hotel rooms have microwaves? If so, maybe a bag of microwave popcorn. I'd totally eat that after the reception. (sorry I know nothing of Michigan I just love popcorn)

                                                                     

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  • tcnobletcnoble member
    1000 Comments 500 Love Its First Anniversary First Answer
    Food. Food is always appreciated! We are doing welcome bags and including.. Bottled water, gourmet popcorn from a local place, chocolate covered pretzels, a city guide from the convention center, and a welcome letter. We had to keep cost in mind, 80 bags gets expensive, and didn't want to "fluff" our bags with useless things. I'm also worried about our bags seeming "boring" but as a guest I'm always appreciative of anything so I like to think ours will be too.
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  • sarahuflsarahufl member
    Tenth Anniversary 2500 Comments 500 Love Its First Answer
    I only did them because my MIL wouldn't STFU about them. But she also wouldn't make or pay for them....so, that happened....

    I think water and snacks are fine, but other stuff ALWAYS gets left behind in the hotel room. If I can't eat it, it doesn't come home with me.
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  • novella1186novella1186 member
    5000 Comments 500 Love Its Second Anniversary First Answer
    sarahufl said:
    I only did them because my MIL wouldn't STFU about them. But she also wouldn't make or pay for them....so, that happened....

    I think water and snacks are fine, but other stuff ALWAYS gets left behind in the hotel room. If I can't eat it, it doesn't come home with me.
    That is a really good point. As a guest, I'd probably just want the food :)
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  • theartistformerlyknownastheartistformerlyknownas member
    10000 Comments 500 Love Its 5 Answers First Anniversary
    novella1186 said:

    lolo883 no Traverse City, it was a little too far away for me to be so neurotic and plan everything, but I wish I'd had it there.

    larrygaga The St Joe area (southern MI, but you probably know that) :P

    Oh St Joe is super cute! And closer to me. I'll still come.
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  • JennyColadaJennyColada member
    2500 Comments 500 Love Its Third Anniversary First Answer
    Chipmunk415 said:

    Here's what I put in mine....


    Candy Bars
    Aspirin
    Pepto Bismol tabs
    Shout wipes
    maps of the area, with the route from hotel to wedding venue highlighted
    water bottles
    trail mix packets
    mini wine bottles
    note welcoming them, re-inviting to breakfast morning after
    tissues
    sunscreen (it's FL)

    That just seems like a lot of waste to me. Most of it seems like it would be left behind (/thrown away by housekeeping). I mean, appreciated sure, but if anyone is doing major travel then they probably plan to bring that stuff themselves.

    In my opinion, the smaller the better. Just keep it to a few meaningful things. No need to put in every necessity. What you have planned sounds perfect to me.
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  • mikenbergermikenberger member
    1000 Comments 500 Love Its First Anniversary First Answer
    We are also putting in ours little business cards for a local (read:only) taxi service. We're not offering transportation for various reasons so I figured this would be a good way for people to know where they can get a safe ride.

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  • FutureMrsN3312FutureMrsN3312 member
    500 Love Its 500 Comments Third Anniversary Name Dropper
    We just bought variety boxes of chips cookies candy and granola bars from Costco. 2 of each item in the bag along with 2 bottles of water and some asprin. Our guests were really appreciative. And excited that spouses/SOs didn't have to fight over the goodies lol
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  • novella1186novella1186 member
    5000 Comments 500 Love Its Second Anniversary First Answer
    mikenberger said:
    We are also putting in ours little business cards for a local (read:only) taxi service. We're not offering transportation for various reasons so I figured this would be a good way for people to know where they can get a safe ride.
    that's a really great idea!
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  • lyndausvilyndausvi mod
    Moderator Knottie Warrior 10000 Comments 500 Love Its
    We didn't put a lot of local stuff in the way of maps or lists of attractions.  Everything else on the list was pretty much the same as what we put in ours.






    What differentiates an average host and a great host is anticipating unexpressed needs and wants of their guests.  Just because the want/need is not expressed, doesn't mean it wouldn't be appreciated. 
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  • theartistformerlyknownastheartistformerlyknownas member
    10000 Comments 500 Love Its 5 Answers First Anniversary
    I just realized my H/MUA would totally travel to St. Joe. I don't know what the travel fee would be, but I'd totally recommend her.
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  • AprilH81AprilH81 member
    2500 Comments 500 Love Its Third Anniversary 5 Answers
    My mom wanted me to do guest bags and while it is a nice gesture it also popped up in the "give zero fucks" stage and I told her that I didn't have the time, energy or budget to do them.  She did so she ran with it.

    I know we had Cheryl's Cookies (individually wrapped), a small candle from Bath & Body Works, some area attraction info and maybe some water and other food items.  Everyone loved them, Mom was happy that they were done and I was happy I didn't have to mess with them.
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  • novella1186novella1186 member
    5000 Comments 500 Love Its Second Anniversary First Answer
    lolo883 said:
    I just realized my H/MUA would totally travel to St. Joe. I don't know what the travel fee would be, but I'd totally recommend her.
    Thank you!!! I will check her out! :) 
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  • InkdancerInkdancer member
    2500 Comments 500 Love Its First Anniversary First Answer
    MIL made our welcome bags, because she insisted that we had to have them. I believe she filled them with bottled water, some local seasoned peanuts, Swedish Fish (DH's favorite), and M&Ms (because those are our initials).
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  • theartistformerlyknownastheartistformerlyknownas member
    10000 Comments 500 Love Its 5 Answers First Anniversary
    Inkdancer said:
    MIL made our welcome bags, because she insisted that we had to have them. I believe she filled them with bottled water, some local seasoned peanuts, Swedish Fish (DH's favorite), and M&Ms (because those are our initials).
    Nuh-uh. Your name is Ink.
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  • thisismynickname2thisismynickname2 member
    5000 Comments Sixth Anniversary 500 Love Its First Answer
    Actually OP I think your bags have the perfect amount of stuff. Useful and edible, not too much, not too little. 
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  • princessleia22princessleia22 member
    Sixth Anniversary 500 Love Its 1000 Comments First Answer

    We made little "Hangover Kits" to include in ours.  It included aspirin, a hangover/electrolyte drink mix, and ginger candy (to help settle stomach/nausea).  Several people used the electrolyte mix and thought it was a great idea. Although, in Michigan, if doing anything to settle nausea, you totally have to go with Vernor's. I thought about buying cheap $1 sunglasses to include in the hangover kit also, but ended up not doing that.  

    I agree with others about keeping it simple. I like the idea about phone numbers for taxi.  On my last trip I took a photo of the local taxi numbers from the hotel and having that in my phone came in handy. Any non-edible trinkets will likely end up in trash and just be wasted money. Overall, I think you have a pretty good bag put together.

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  • FMIL12FMIL12 member
    Fourth Anniversary 10 Comments 5 Love Its
    Maple sugar candy :)
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