Welcome Bags-What Would You Like in Them?

chloe97 · July 2015

Before anyone suggests forgoing Welcome Bags and upgrading the bar, buying more apps, etc, my FMIL (who is contributing financially) is insistent that we have Welcome Bags and strangely not that many other things. Though our wedding isn't a DW, about 80% of our guests will have a hotel room. So my question to you is what have you gotten in a welcome bag that you thought was super handy, cute, fun, etc? Right now we have water, candy, a local beer, and Kleenex packs. Blah.

KatWAG · July 2015

Advil for my hangover.

PamBeesly524 · July 2015

I second advil... I also put mints in mine.

AddieCake · July 2015

JD Salinger's autograph.

lovemesomemonster · July 2015

A granola bar for my hangover. If that many people are coming from far enough away that they need a hotel room would some brochures/maps of the area and what there is to do the next day be appropriate? Not sure how far they care coming if you are saying they need a hotel?

beachyone15 · July 2015

The sword of Gryffindor.

redheadbride15 · July 2015

Food, lots of food. Advil is a good idea too.

The beer probably wouldn't stay cold, right? Personally, I would not want warm beer, even if it is local.

kvruns · July 2015

painkiller

granola bar or similar snack item (especially if hotel doesn't have free breakfast)

mints/gum

local food idea - is your area known for something like a specialty popcorn place, pralines, maple syrup, etc.

brochure or list of things to do/see in the area

Just make sure whatever is given is easy to take back on the plane if unused

lyndausvi · July 2015

Ours had:

Water for each person in the room

can koozies (1 for each person)

Tastykakes (local snack)

Local pretzels and crackers

Salt Water Taffy

Advil

Wedding day timeline and shuttle pick-up information

Invitation to our open house

Our wedding was at a beach location. Most people were there for a few days. The koozies were much appreciated for drinking beer at the beach or by the hotel pool. The snacks were appreciated too.

Maggie0829 · July 2015

Snacks, like junk food snacks. So candy, chips, pretzels, donuts, tastykakes, etc so that when I get back to the room after a night of drinking I have some great drunk food to indulge in. Also include some water and/or soda.

Headache medicine would be nice, but I typically always bring a huge supply with me when I go places (plus tums and immodium), so include it if you want.

sarahufl · July 2015

My MIL also insisted on them, I find them a stupid waste of money. But I let her force me into both paying for and assembling/delivering them. No, I'm not bitter about it a whole year later....

We put maps and brochures in ours as well, there is a local farmers market/craft market in my town that we sent people to. You should check with the Chamber of Commerce to see what they may have.

I just went to Walmart and got snacks/water bottles.

julieanne912 · July 2015

Ditto the koozies and the non-sweet snacks.... pretzels, granola bars, trail mix.

labro · July 2015

The beer is a nice touch, but if anyone is flying in they may find it difficult to travel with (if they did carry on anyway), plus I wouldn't want to drink it right away cause it would be warm. And finally, some people are weird about their beers. They may not drink light beer, or only drink light beer, or can't stand any bitter flavor, etc. I like the idea because I always like trying something new, but I'd skip it TBH.

Definitely check with your Chamber of Commerce or Convention and Visitor's Bureau. Ours gave us free bags (one per hotel room booked) pre-stuffed with all sorts of brochures and local "what to do" information.

We added -

2 bottles of water per bag

Granola bars

Chocolate chip cookies

A welcome letter with schedule of events and other pertinent info.

novella1186 · July 2015

Our wedding was in Michigan and pretty much 100% of our guests were OOT, so in our welcome bags we had:

A map of the area
a postcard from that city
A list of good places to go for breakfast, and places for lunch & dinner, as well as bars, wineries, coffee shops, and a few fun things to do/see in the area
The wedding info in case they forgot to bring their invite or whatever, and the trolley schedule
individual packets of Aspirin (you can buy in bulk on Amazon super cheap)
a mini bag of chocolate chip cookies (H's favorite)
a couple mini bags of pretzels
a mini bag of local dried cherries
a welcome note from H and I

I think that was it? We got a ton of compliments and thank-yous for the snacks and painkillers.

chloe97 · July 2015

Yes! I forgot to mention Advil and gum too. We aren't wedded to the beer idea, a friend of ours had mini champagne in hers, which we loved. But you guys are right, our hotel doesn't have many mini-fridges available, so most people would have to take it home or drink it warm- not very appealing. I love the granola and pretzel ideas and the notes about where to eat and timeline activities!

peachy13 · July 2015

What PPs have said,also I personally love a little note card or something with some reminders about the wedding ceremony start time and location (I also love forgetting to bring the invitation to most weddings I attend).

sarahufl · July 2015

oh, I forgot- this was fun. I made a little map in Adobe Illustrator showing where all the weekend events were and outlined them (including times and street addresses).

I know people had the invitations, but I always forget that kind of stuff, so I like it when it is in the welcome bag. Especially if you are having multiple events

loveislouder · July 2015

novella1186 said:

Our wedding was in Michigan and pretty much 100% of our guests were OOT, so in our welcome bags we had:

A map of the area
a postcard from that city
A list of good places to go for breakfast, and places for lunch & dinner, as well as bars, wineries, coffee shops, and a few fun things to do/see in the area
The wedding info in case they forgot to bring their invite or whatever, and the trolley schedule
individual packets of Aspirin (you can buy in bulk on Amazon super cheap)
a mini bag of chocolate chip cookies (H's favorite)
a couple mini bags of pretzels
a mini bag of local dried cherries
a welcome note from H and I
I think that was it? We got a ton of compliments and thank-yous for the snacks and painkillers.

Boxboxboxboxbox

I love the postcard idea!

STARMOON44 · July 2015

Advil. Junk food. Water.

List of wedding events with times and addresses. Map/transit instructions if applicable.

Giant cookie shaped like a whale.

The room number of your FI's hot single friend.

novella1186 · July 2015

loveislouder said:

novella1186 said:

Our wedding was in Michigan and pretty much 100% of our guests were OOT, so in our welcome bags we had:

A map of the area
a postcard from that city
A list of good places to go for breakfast, and places for lunch & dinner, as well as bars, wineries, coffee shops, and a few fun things to do/see in the area
The wedding info in case they forgot to bring their invite or whatever, and the trolley schedule
individual packets of Aspirin (you can buy in bulk on Amazon super cheap)
a mini bag of chocolate chip cookies (H's favorite)
a couple mini bags of pretzels
a mini bag of local dried cherries
a welcome note from H and I
I think that was it? We got a ton of compliments and thank-yous for the snacks and painkillers.

Boxboxboxboxbox

I love the postcard idea!

ETF trapped in a random conundrum of boxes --------------------
Thanks! You can get some really cute vintage-looking postcards printed pretty cheap at Zazzle

PandaNikki · July 2015

We went to BJs/Costco (I think we had our BJs membership then) and got some pretzels, cookies, and some other snack along with 2 bottles of water. I feel like there was something else but I don't remember right now.

We also made a little brochure that had things in the area (food, shopping, etc) and the timeline of events for the day. We had an extra panel so we put 5 things about each of us on the panel so that way people on my side could get to know him better and the reverse. My FIL incorporated those facts into a little speech he gave at the rehearsal dinner, so I thought that was cute. We also put on the back the phone numbers of the best man and my mom in case someone needed to ask a question/get in touch with one of us for whatever reason, they offered to field questions while we got ready.

We got the bags themselves from the dollar store- our colors were red and silver so we got red gift bags (3/$1!) and I wrote "Thank You" on one side and something else on the other side of each of them in a silver sharpie.

chloe97 · July 2015

I love these ideas! I'm graphic design challenged, but I bet FI could put together a map!

novella1186 · July 2015

chloe97 said:

I love these ideas! I'm graphic design challenged, but I bet FI could put together a map!

I actually found a really cute (and easy to read) map by going on my city's website. There was a pdf of it, and I was able to print them at my office for free. You could always edit the file to mark important locations.

thisismynickname2 · July 2015

I hate to sound like Debbie Downer but I think all that's really useful is water, munchies, and an event schedule. Bottled water is not always free in the room, and I always eat the munchies when I show up at the hotel, lol. I always find the shuttle information in my welcome bag which is hugely helpful.

Everything else is a nice-to-have that must fit in a suitcase if not used right away.

WinstonsGirl · July 2015

We put everything in a beach bag, so people could use it for the beach. We had welcome cards, event schedule, map, those free coupon/event books for tourists, a sample pack from Honolulu Cookie Company, different macadamia nuts and those ABC beach mats for everyone. We also added sand pail/shovel for the super young kids and air mattresses for the teens. Anything not edible was the stuff you buy at the ABC in Hawaii and leave when you go home. It was more to save people from having to make the trip themselves.

ETA - I would like munchies, personally

chloe97 · July 2015

thisismynickname said:

I hate to sound like Debbie Downer but I think all that's really useful is water, munchies, and an event schedule. Bottled water is not always free in the room, and I always eat the munchies when I show up at the hotel, lol. I always find the shuttle information in my welcome bag which is hugely helpful.

Everything else is a nice-to-have that must fit in a suitcase if not used right away.

Totally agree about the water. While it's fun to showcase local drinks, really at 4 am when I wake up dehydrated, the last thing I want is to down the locally-made soda I've never heard of.

mj8215 · July 2015

I'm so glad I saw this thread because I'm currently working on welcome bags also! Wedding is 8/2/15 so I may be mildly pressed for time...especially since it's in Germany and we are leaving in a few days

All those ideas are great, I actually copy-pasted @novella1186 's list into my notes just now

I am wondering - what do you guys do with out of town guests not staying at a hotel? we have a couple people staying at air-bnb, or with local relatives ... can we still give them a bag, and if so when?

chloe97 · July 2015

I was at a wedding in April that gave them out at the welcome dinner. Otherwise, I would say skip it. People know if they aren't at the wedding hotel they don't get the bags. I actually booked our hotel on Hotwire, not the room block, and missed out on the gift bag at a different wedding.

novella1186 · July 2015

mj8215 said:

I'm so glad I saw this thread because I'm currently working on welcome bags also! Wedding is 8/2/15 so I may be mildly pressed for time...especially since it's in Germany and we are leaving in a few days All those ideas are great, I actually copy-pasted @novella1186 's list into my notes just now
I am wondering - what do you guys do with out of town guests not staying at a hotel? we have a couple people staying at air-bnb, or with local relatives ... can we still give them a bag, and if so when?

We gave a couple extra bags to both sets of parents because they were going to meet up with people on Friday and hang out for a bit. So if those people weren't staying at the hotel, the parents could just give them a bag. Will you see them at any point? Will they be at the rehearsal dinner? Will someone else be seeing them?

princessleia22 · July 2015

Some of the things ours had:

Local snacks (wedding was in NOLA, so we did pralines)... we also included some pretzels for a more substantial snack.

map & ideas of things to do/see in the area

We did a "hangover kit" with aspirin, tums, an electrolyte drink mix (RecoverORS Rehydration Powder) & bottle of water. I thought it was a cute idea, but over half of our guests (we only had 25 guests) said they really appreciated it and the items.

Viczaesar · July 2015

Condoms.

Welcome Bags-What Would You Like in Them?

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