Special treat for our guests

I'm including sparkling water, cape cod chips, chocolate, cranberry juice, and a hangover kit (Advil, Alka-Seltzer) and the tiny Orbit packs. My food (minus the water) is all MA themed. Maybe you could find local treats to put in, like cookies from a local bakery or any food products from AL companies.

We did a locally brewed beer for those over 21 and a Sioux City brewed(?) soda for those under 21. DH is from here in Omaha and I'm from the Sioux City area so it was a fun nod towards that as well. We also did popcorn, k-cup pods for the brewer in the hotel, candy, protein bars, "do not disturb" signs I made with Vista Print and some chips. We also included a list of local breweries and their rates and tour times and were even able to get a discount code for a local brewery for our guests. Lastly we included a list of other activities to do in Omaha that included zoo and museum info. From what we heard our guests really appreciated it. We had a group of guests who first met at the wedding hit it off so well they went on a Lucky Bucket tour together the day after the wedding.

The list of stuff is all we would need.

We don't drink bottled water and don't need hangover kits. When we travel, we bring everything we need. The reason I say this is we got a welcome bag at a wedding before, and threw most of it in the trash, rather than pack it in our suitcase, to fly home.

We only stayed over 2 nights and didn't like the selection of snacks (nut allergies in our family). Low and behold, the hosting at the wedding was lousy - we went out for food afterward - and we sure wished they had put the welcome bag budget into the reception.

@ jaKlyn, that was a great idea!

I think these are so thoughtful. We are doing locally made salt water taffy (from a place I actually worked at as a teen).

We are doing salt water taffy too, @Caroline! I love the idea of things to do, maybe a hang tag for their room doors? That way they can also see where other guests are staying (if it is one hotel). Definitely water, it's the one thing I look for in a hotel gift bag.

Maybe a local magazine or newspaper?

These are great ideas I'm going to follow this thread cause I'll be having lots of out of town guest too.

I love welcome bags! I think they are such a little thing that really show people you appreciate that extra cost they are incurring by traveling to your wedding. We included 2 water bottles, travel advil, mini candy bars, a granola bar, pack of gum, snack-size chips (a Maryland company, one regular flavor and one crab chip flavor!), personalized door tag I got on etsy, shuttle schedule, and a list of local attractions/restaurants.

The local Chamber of Commerce or Tourism Bureau may provide bags with coupons, maps, menus, etc. -- for free.

I love welcome bags and always think they're such a great touch! I'm always a fan of including some local things, so any local treats would be awesome.

At a friend's wedding in Birmingham they had Alabama-shaped cookies in the welcome bag!

@beachbabe, you don't drink bottled water, really? What do you do when flying / road trips / going abroad?

I have re-useable water bottles. I will not fill the worlds' landfills with hundreds of empty plastic bottles a year. We have a large Britta pitcher, in our home and have a smaller one, for road trips. Most of our vacations are spent visiting family, including my family's beach house . We even took the small Britta on our honeymoon (Caribbean).

@Annakay- those are really cute!

We got married at the beach and only had a few people visiting who stayed at the beach house with us so we did actual canvas tote bags with a T shirt from my derby league that was printed with their names, bottled water, hangover kit, gum, pretzels, granola bars, gummy starfish candy, a map of the area and a couple of Folly and Charleston postcards. They loved them!

@WWlynnie totally off topic but do you still talk to the friend that got married in Birmingham? We are getting married there and I can not find a person to do our hair and makeup!!! I won't be moving to alabama until june so I don't want to wait that long to find someone to do it because most people are booked already

Amanda, that is one of the sweetest things someone can do for a traveler. No doubt it will be very much appreciated.

I don't see where much is necessary, if the guests are staying over one night. We got a heavily discounted room rate, for our guests, since our ceremony and reception, were held at a hotel. 52 rooms were booked. Only 2 rooms/3 guests were from out of the area, and stayed 2 nights. the rest wanted the convenience of using the open bar, and sleeping overnight, with a reception that ended at 11:30. Check-in was 3:00 with ceremony at 5:30, followed by cocktail hour. There was tons of food served, at the reception. Each room had stocked bathroom supplies and a stocked (guests paid) fridge. There was also a charge of $3, to deliver the bags to each room.

Many of the guests slept late, threw their stuff in a bag and drove home the next day; we didn't even have a good enough response, to have a possible brunch (hosted by us) the next day, to meet the hotel minimum.

From having attended a wedding , in the past, where we didn't use much in the welcome bag, we just skipped it, for ours.

I'm from Chicago so for my out of towners I'm making bags all Chicago themed. Likely doing Green River or Goose Island to drink, Jay's Potato chips, Tootsie Pops, Fannie May. Things along those lines.

I agree with @Beach Babe about the bottled water. I bring my own bottle everywhere. Honestly, tap water is more regulated than bottled water anyhow and the bottles are TERRIBLE for the planet.

Our wedding was in Charleston so we included some local goodies (Firefly Sweet Tea Vodka minis, Charleston Chews, Benne Seed Wafers, palmetto roses, visitors guides), a weekend itinerary/list of our fave restaurants and a bottle of water. They were a big hit!