What to Include in Wedding “Welcome Bags” for Out-of-Town Guests

Whether you are having a wedding that is large or small, you will often have out of town guests. They spend a lot of time and money to get to your wedding and be a part of your big day, so when they arrive it’s nice to have something to welcome them that is also useful.

You don’t want to give your guests just anything though. You want to give them something that is both memorable and useful, and that will also help them prepare for the big day. Here are a few suggestions that also won’t break your wedding budget.

Cool Bag, Bro

While you could hand your guests the great gifts you have for them in just about anything, they’ll be thankful you didn’t go with a single-use plastic grocery bag. The environment will thank you too because making your wedding as green as possible is always a great idea.

That doesn’t mean you have to do something dull though. Here are some more creative bag options:

• A Reusable Tote: Personalized tote bags not only hold all of your wedding swag, but they can also be useful on trips to Trader Joe’s.

• Personalized Paper Bags: Turns out plastic, not paper, is much worse for the environment. Show you care by offering personalized paper bags that can be recycled easily and are made from a sustainable and renewable resource.

• Dry Bags: Having a tropical cruise wedding or another destination wedding that involves the outdoors? Offering your swag in a dry bag protects not only your wedding items but can even be useful for guests to store things like their cell phones and the money card they’re going to give you from inclement weather.

• Fanny Packs: Like big hair, belly shirts, bell-bottoms, and alternative music, personalized fanny packs are making a comeback. Not only are they fashionable, but they’re useful and sure to be an item your out of town guests won’t soon forget.

• Customized Pouches: Want to keep it simple? Customized pouches of various types will hold all of your wedding items, and be something your guests can easily take with them wherever they go.

The point is before you decide what to give your out of town wedding guests, you’ll want to determine what you’re going to put it in. When someone else sees them carrying it around, you’ll want them to stop and say, “Hey, cool bag bro!”

Knowing Where the Party Is

For most wedding weekends, there are more events than just the wedding itself. From the rehearsal dinner to bachelor and bachelorette parties, from the reception to the wedding schedule, there are all kinds of things going on.

To avoid a barrage of text messages and more than a few “New phone, who dis?” responses from your long lost cousins, It’s a good idea to include a schedule of events in your bag. But you want more than just a list of events. You’ll want to include:

• Dates, times, and addresses.

• A map of the local area.

• Things to do besides the wedding, and a map to those locations.

• Points of contact in case someone gets lost or needs additional information. Ideally, this should be a best man, maid of honor, or another wedding guest not the bride or groom.

A modern alternative is to include a QR code that leads to a wedding website, something you can often set up for free, and where you can include additional information on events, links to digital maps and directions, and more.

Let Them Eat Snacks

Other great things to include in your bag of wedding goodies are snacks. Little things often make all the difference, and a little snack can often help avoid that hangry guest who can’t wait for the toast to be over to dive into the appetizers.

But there’s also some strategy to your decision of what snacks to include. Drop in some personalized mints to help avoid “reception bad breath” or just to remind your Uncle who is a writer that when actually out of the house and interacting with people, a breath mint is a welcome idea.

Some customized candies for guests to eat in their hotel rooms is another sweet idea. Just remember to remind your wedding party that chocolate will melt in the pocket of that tux you spent all the money on renting, and no one wants to pay any extra dry-cleaning fees.

Local souvenirs are also great. Things like a jar of local honey, a growler from a local brewery, or even a coupon or token for a drink at one of your favorite local hangouts will dazzle your out of town guests, and also offer them a chance to visit somewhere new in your area.

Remember the A La Mode

While that ice cream will melt like the snows of winter, you can still leave your guests with keepsakes of your wedding they can take home with them. The key is to keep it simple and stick with things that are useful and as memorable as that bridesmaid who nearly broke her ankle walking down the aisle.

Leave customized shot glasses on reception tables, and encourage guests to take one. The glass that is. Put personalized koozies next to canned beverages, and send them home with your guests to keep their beverages cool for a long time to come.

You could also send your guests home with unique photo frames that will give them a place to store their memories of your special day.

Recovery from the Reception

As much fun as your wedding will be, there will come a time when your out of town guests must recover and head home. In your gift bags, include things like Advil, Emergen-C to boost their immunity pre-airport experience, and even customized hand sanitizer to further protect them during the travel process.

You’ll want to send your guests home with the feeling that their visit was worthwhile, and that you appreciate them coming and supporting you and your new spouse. So when you are ready for the big day and planning your welcome bags for out of town guests, turn to us here at PromoLeaf for all of your wedding day needs. We’ll make sure your ready, at least when it comes to customized ceremony swag. The rest is up to you.