Welcome Bags

We found a great T-shirt place called STEVE AND BARRY`S. All shirts, nice ones, too, are just under nine bucks. Because we are getting married in NY we are adding in an I Love New York tee. You know, the kind that say I "heart" NY in a block form. We also thought we`d put in some local attraction information, and a visitor`s map, just in case anyone wants to explore. The info and map could be gotten free from the city. I am still thinking of ideas. I`ll let you know if I see anything unique.

The t-shirt idea is awesome! They`ll love that :)

Hello,
I think the welcome bags are a great idea..:) One out of town wedding I attended had a welcome bag for each of the guest that checked into the hotel. She had a card welcoming us, a few cotten balls, q-tips, a couple bandaids, and a few munches and homemade goodies. I thought it was very nice to think about something like that.. :)
Ang

I too am doing that. In the bags I am putting local attractions booklets inside, candles, and eng. Photos of us. Also the ren. Fare is going on so we may put tickets inside also for those who we know would want to go. And just a simple card stating We Are Glad you are here!! Dollar Store is the best place I found bags and candles. I also went to the info. Quide center in the town to get booklets all for free. Congrats and good luck!

Put in plenty of snacks. Great for downtime at the hotel over the weekend or for those travelling long distances on their way home. From my own experience, a couple pieces of fresh fruit and granola bars are always appreciated along with the cookies and and candies and chocolates and chips things. Also some gum or lifesaver mints come in handy.

Don`t forget a nice welcome note, thanking your guests for coming and providing an itinerary of times and places for each event (with directions).

I would leave out cotton balls and bandaids and things like that. All hotels provide these things at no charge, so don`t bother yourself with trying to put everything but the kitchen sink into these bags.

I`m doing it too. I live in FL so I`m doing a beach bag filled with flamingo, fish, and beach goodies. Also putting in stamped postcards so they can mail them out from here...oranges, orange juice, etc. For the note, I`m buying empty bottles and i`m filling w/ sand & shells, and sticking a nice "thanks for coming" note in it, like a message in a bottle. It`s been a little expense for the whole thing, but I think it really says a lot when you consider the expense it is coming from out of town. It`s the least I could do.

How clever! I really like the beach bag idea for the Florida wedding. While most people take the goodies and throw away the bag, your guests can continue to make good use the beach bag long after your wedding and be reminded of you!

MD

What kind of bottles are you using? I`m having "a message in a bottle invitations" and would love to purchase bottles for my welcome bags. They will include two special invitations for the opening (present opening) brunch the day after the wedding & the rehearsal dinner, Ca. T-shirts, thongs (the slippers not the underwear), crayons & coloring books in the ones with small children, maps & attraction information for local amusement parks, and maybe some of the goodies I’ve seen posted on here, I’m still working on it . Oh yeah….the beach bag will work great for California too thanks.

I offered welcome bags to all my out of town guests. I included a welcome letter, snacks, bottled water, and a local events magazine. I placed it all in these awesome bags I received fairly cheap custom labels and ribbon I chose to match the wedding colors. It made a huge impression on our guests!

I`m getting beautiful gift bags at (of all places!) the Dollar Tree for, yes, $1, and each one will include a personal, hand-written welcom note, a bottle of champagne (I have a friend who works at a local winery that can get me rock bottom prices of $3/bottle!), 2 glasses, and a variety of munchies. Each one will be less than $10 - I have had to be a frugal bride but am making sure to take care of the guests!