What are you putting in your welcome bags?

Here are some of the standard contents of an Out-of-Town bag:

•Itinerary outlining all wedding-related activities

•Contact name and phone number in case anyone has questions (Assign a good friend or family member to be the primary contact, so you don't have to field the calls - but also include the engaged couple's cell numbers for emergencies)

•Bottles of water & snacks. Wedding guests that are staying at hotels will appreciate not having to pay the high prices at the mini bar.

•Maps or tourist info for the local area. Visit your local chamber of commerce or visitors bureau; they can provide plenty of handouts.

•Local coupons (to outlet stops, tourist attrations, etc.)

•A CD and self-addressed mailer for guests to return the pictures that they took of their event to you when they return home

•Copy of the local newspaper (hotels usually only provide USAToday)

•Stamped postcard (although you may want to draw attention to this elsewhere to people realize it is already stamped)

We will be doing all stated above (besides the CD & newspaper). We will also be adding sunscreen and a souvenir since we are having a DW.

If I were attending a wedding in my hometown, and I decided to book a hotel room for the night, I wouldn't expect a welcome bag. I don't think it's necessary for your local guests, unless you just want to. They're already getting free dinner/drinks entertainment from you.

I didn't do welcome bags for our guests - most live close enough to know the area and were only coming in for the wedding & those that stayed longer were in the wedding party who already got a gift from us. But, I traveled to Pittsburgh for a wedding and got a welcome box (decorated w/ post cards from that city) that had some bottled water, snacks, a local map and a note from the bride/groom welcoming us and thanking us for making the trip.

I am guessing I will be in the same situation. I will do an OOT box for everyone staying the night. I don't think I'll put a lot into it, but a little something is a thoughtful gesture! I think it is a nice touch that they will get because it is your wedding, not because they are staying in a hotel. We are going to do bottled waters, snacks, wedding itinerary- including a day after itinerary, brochures of our favorite spots, and contact information.

I attended a wedding 2 years ago that was 8 hours away. The little town the couple was getting married in was out in the middle of no where and litereally had nothing. The one restaurant they had closed at 9pm. I was so thankful and happy they did out of town bags for us. It was nothing really huge or special - just a cheap little bag (probably from the dollar store) with 2 small waters, 2 bags of chips, cookies and 2 sodas. I was starving ... and thrilled I had something small to eat.

I really like the itinerary idea because it will inform everyone exactly whats going on. You could also do little taxi cards on vista print (200 free) to stick in the bags so your guests know who to call if they're interested in a cab.

Thanks chickies! I think there's too many darn details to a wedding! LOL

Way too many darn details

I'm going to get some small totes off VP and put all the stuff Kimi/Ashley/Rebecca mentioned plus some little airplane size bottles of liquor and perhaps a deck of cards of some sort (although i hope no one spends much time in the hotel room in Vegas!).

I'm only doing bags for people who are staying at the hotel we've booked...not going to chase down people all over. I think if I was going to an in town wedding and chose to stay at the hotel, I would not expect a welcome gift - although I wouldn't turn it down either lol

Kimi pretty much hit it on the head.

We're also having local tourist pamphlets of tourist attractions in the area and a Metro map for those who want to sightsee.

We're going cheap…

- I'm putting together a list of restaurants and shops that are walking distance from the hotel.

- notification of the wedding shuttle to get them to the wedding and back

- bottled water

- cookies / snacks (whatever I can find at Costco)

I didn't think of Welcome bags. UGH. Poof. the sound of my budget exploding. lol

We did really simple bags with a roster of activities, a list of restaurants and things to do in DC, and some candy and mints. We also did a "Wacky DC" list of things like climbing the Exorcist Stairs, checking out the Temperance Monument (conveniently located next to a bar) and the Sonny Bono Memorial Park. You don't have to go too crazy - I think we spent less than a dollar per bag.

Okay

Madge - that's hilarious. Poof there goes my budget LMAO!

I bought a box of crap for my Wedding Consignment store and in one of the boxes was a dozen Welcome to My Wedding bags. I just found the exact ones on Ebay for $4 bucks for 6 of them. I'm thinking about getting another 3 doz but keeping it very simple with the contents. My OOT guests are all from the area where we're having the wedding - they just moved away after HS/College so I don't need to do all of the Points of Interest and map kind of things. So based on the suggestions it will probably just be H2O, some snacks and hangover concoctions w/ a thank you note. We're leaving the following afternoon for our honeymoon so there's no agenda for the weekend.