Hotel Gift Bags-Yes or No?

We did it and guests really seemed to appreciate it, but we had guests coming from a lot further (across the country) and really weren't as familiar with the area, so a stash of water bottles, snacks, and Tylenol was probably helpful. We also had special bags made up for the kids that had mini coloring book kits (coloring books, crayons, and stickers) and Wikki Stix, and made bags with gluten free snacks for a couple of guests. Our hotel passed them out for free, and I just provided a list of all the guests who were to receive bags, if they required a kid or GF bag, and told them the name their reservation was under.

Absolutely no one will side-eye you. Honestly, I find them totally unnecessary. I think back in the day (pre smart phones) they contained a lot of info on directions, stuff to do in the area, nearby restaurants, etc. Then...I think brides started tossing more and more stuff in there. I'm an adult. If I want/need bottled water, chapstick, Advil, tums, sunglasses, etc., I'm capable of finding and buying them. I'd honestly save the money and allocate somewhere else.

I did them and my guests LOVED them. We did m&m's (regular and peanut), chips, cookies, cracker jacks, fruit snacks, gum, granola bars, waters, Advil packets, and a welcome letter. It was so well received by everyone! Go for it!

Question (probably a stupid one): When you reserve hotel room block, how do you know how many guests (and who) got a room? Do you just call the hotel up until the wedding day to see who reserved a room? I guess my question is, how far in advance will you know who booked a room under your block?

Also, most hotels in my area require a 10-room block minimum. How many rooms did you all block off?

@Mmbrake, my hotel gave us a 15 room minimum we needed to fill before they would give us more rooms. We needed about 30 rooms. We asked our immediate family and bridal party to book early so we could get the extra rooms. They did so now we don't have to watch it. I have just emailed our hotel contact and she sends me an updated list of who has booked. Our rates are only good until September 10th so after that, I will get the list and make bags for those people.

Following

@Mrs. Sullivan - Okay, thank you!! Very helpful!

An alternative might be to organize a yoga class or golf game or macrame workshop for the day of the wedding...that way you're not providing every guest with a bunch of stuff they might just throw out but still letting them know you have their happiness and comfort in mind :-)

Unless it's something that you really want to do, I'd skip them. Especially because you said most of your guests are travelling less than 4 hours.

We are doing them. Some bottled water, snacks and a thank you brunch for the next day detail card will be in my bag.

I originally wanted to. It's a nice touch but if you don't have the time/money to do it then just skip it.

We did them and our guests appreciated it. We did the usual water, sweet/salty snacks, advil, etc. and then we added in a craft beer from a local brewery and coffee from a local cafe. We got a lot of compliments on how personalized they were.

@mmbrake my hotel has an online portal that we can log in to and see who has booked in our block. I plan on making welcome bags and I'm going off that to account for how many I need.

Nope. I've never received one that I actually found useful.

We're skipping it. Our guests are spread out at a ton of different hotels in the area so it would be a logistical nightmare to find out all of their travel plans. I've never been to a wedding that had them so I don't think they're necessary at all.

Since yours are all in one hotel, I'd ask the hotel how much they charge for distributing them. Most hotels charge $2-5 per bag, which is often more than the value in the bag itself. If your hotel charges for it, I'd skip it. If they don't, you might as well do it since you can DIY these very cheap. Most people won't use them, but it can't hurt.

We skipped them

Nope. We have blocks at 2 different hotels but most guests I've heard from are doing AirBnBs anyway.

ETA: clarity

Just got a gift bag from a wedding a few weeks ago and honestly all the items were throw away type (except the chocolate- YUM!). Don't spend the money on clutter items that guests don't need.

We are having wedding baskets and including water, a his and her favorite food snack, Advil, info card and not 100% on anything else yet

Skipping them.