Wedding Welcome Bags

Wedding welcome bags are a must-have if you are planning a wedding with a lot of out-of-town guests. After a long day of traveling, your guests will appreciate receiving a token of your appreciation upon check-in at the hotel. Design the wedding hospitality bags yourself or work with a party planner to put it together. Put some thought into the design of the bags, items to include and personalized wedding welcome bags.

Wedding gift bag ideas include:

• Design: Integrate the color scheme of the wedding into the wedding party bags. Print personalized labels for the bags, cut the labels in whatever shape you'd like and stick them to the front of the bags. Tie colorful curly ribbon to the handles or use takeout boxes and colored treat boxes instead of a bag.

• Items: Fill the wedding hospitality bags with items to help out-of-town guests feel at home. Include things like bottled water, non-perishable snacks (crackers, rice krispy treats, chocolate chip cookies), packs of gum, breath mints, lip balm, hand sanitizer, a bag of gourmet coffee, hand cream, a packet of tissues or a small box of chocolates. Personalize the bottled water with a label that, for example, says, “Lisa and Mike’s Wedding 3-20-12.”

• Personalize: Consider personalized wedding guest bags that are specific to the likings of particular guests. For example, if children will attend the wedding, create a bag for the kids. Be sure to select age-appropriate gifts for the children like an Etch-A-Sketch, magnetic game of chess, checkers or tic-tac-toe or a small set of Legos. Personalize wedding party bags for bridesmaids and groomsmen with extra special items like wine, a CD of songs from the wedding or personalized shirts that say, “Hopkin’s Wedding Party 3-20-12.” For destination wedding welcome bags, include destination-specific gifts in addition to standard welcome bag items.

Leave the wedding welcome bags with the front desk of the hotel with instructions to hand out to guests when they check in. Be sure to create wedding welcome bags that are gender neutral, unless you plan to label bags for specific guests with their names on the outside.