shape
carat
color
clarity

UNIQUE welcome bag items

RebeccaLynn

Rough_Rock
Joined
Apr 14, 2010
Messages
34
I haven't been here since the week after I got engaged-- but theknot.com message boards just weren't cutting it for me! SO - I'm back, and desperately seeking suggestions for items to include in our welcome bags. I'm not looking for ideas like water, granola bars and Advil-- what is the cutest/most creative/unique/awesome item you've ever received in a welcome bag??

RL
 

antelope1

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Jul 5, 2010
Messages
648
Depends on the theme of your wedding?

I love bubbles. Get them at michael's for 50 for $20 -- or less with the coupon. =D
 

meresal

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Nov 13, 2007
Messages
5,720
We put mine and DH's favorite cookies in the bags. (So there were two cookies in each bag, one of each)

We wrapped each of them separately in little celophane bags, tied ribbon around the top, and looped a little tag thru each ribbon that read either, "Meresal's Favorite Cookie" or "DH's Favorite Cookie".

Everyone LOVED them!
 
Joined
Jan 29, 2010
Messages
401
I have never received a welcome bag, but I think it would be really neat to receive some sort of local food and/or drink. For example, I'm in Wisconsin and planning to make a welcome kit with a couple bottles of local beer, koozies, and something to do with cheese.
 

RebeccaLynn

Rough_Rock
Joined
Apr 14, 2010
Messages
34
Yes, I would love to do something local-- but our wedding is in Northern New Jersey! Not sure I could fit a Snooki in each bag...? The area isn't really known for anything in particular.
 

vc10um

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Aug 22, 2009
Messages
6,006
While Northern NJ isn't "known" for anything, per se, is there a favorite candy shop (chocolates?)/bakery (breakfast pastries?)/microbrewery (a bottle per person)/restaurant (a famous sauce?) in the area that you could take a signature item from and put that in the welcome bags? Maybe even a local coffee shop that can do small batches of beans?
 

sillyberry

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Jul 28, 2009
Messages
1,792
vc has a lot of great ideas and piggybacking on what she (and meresal) said, a tag that says "here are cookies from our favorite bakery" or "we went to this microbrewery on our third date" can make an ordinary item meaningful and special. If you make something homemade, include the recipe!

This isn't really about being unique, but I'll say it anyway: I think the best things are stuff that can be eaten/used while in the hotel, and that don't contain a lot of extraneous packaging. I was at a wedding with a GORGEOUS gift basket waiting in our room, but it was a giant wicker basket and lots of glass jars and containers. I didn't have a lot of room in my suitcase and I felt so wasteful leaving nice heavy jars as trash.

So to me, snacks I can nosh on in the afternoon while I'm getting ready are better than something I have to cart home, and baggies tied with ribbon are better than heavy jars I either have to pack or throw out.
 
Joined
Jan 29, 2010
Messages
401
RebeccaLynn|1296853287|2843208 said:
Yes, I would love to do something local-- but our wedding is in Northern New Jersey! Not sure I could fit a Snooki in each bag...? The area isn't really known for anything in particular.

lmao :twirl:

You do have the ocean... something beachy???
 

RebeccaLynn

Rough_Rock
Joined
Apr 14, 2010
Messages
34
beach would be so much easier! but we're going to be more in the mountains, so the beach stuff doesn't really make senes.
 

Guilty Pleasure

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
May 16, 2008
Messages
1,114
I attended a wedding in Maui, and they put a mini bottle of champagne and two plastic champagne glasses, a Vitamin-C package, two luggage tags, some beach themed tea lite candles, a little booklet of activities and helpful information about when and where to go for the week, some macadamia nuts (which come from Hawaii) and other local types of candies.

So the bag was a mix of local food stuffs and travel themed goodies.
 

pinki

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Nov 17, 2009
Messages
240
Future Mrs. Sterling|1296843953|2843029 said:
I have never received a welcome bag, but I think it would be really neat to receive some sort of local food and/or drink. For example, I'm in Wisconsin and planning to make a welcome kit with a couple bottles of local beer, koozies, and something to do with cheese.

Haha, Sarah - no wonder why we're friends :tongue:

I did the following for my welcome bags:

- I bought craft paper bags
- I went to Freecycle.com and asked for free old maps - turns out my neighbor is also a freecycler and dropped off a huge box!
- I used pinking shears and cut the maps into 4" squares
- I bought ribbon on sale at Michaels, cut it into strips and glue'd it on to the center of the map cut out in a loop (think the shape of those ribbon magnets on cars??)
- I printed out a 2" diameter circle off my computer that said welcome in a fun font
- Punched out the circles with a 2" circle punch and then glued it over the ribbon

For the fillings, as the Future Ms. Sterling mentioned, we're from Wisconsin...Milwaukee, Wisconsin which is pretty much and amazing city if you've never been. The weekend of our wedding is the biggest tourist weekend in our city due to a huge music festival called Summerfest. Sooo.....

in the bags:

- I went to our City's tourism board and requested their tourism booklets. They were able to give me 50 of them for free! They are filled with calendars, lists of restaurants, attractions, maps, advertisements and coupons. They are actually quite substantial books and I got a lot of comments from guests on how helpful they were!
- I contacted a friend in the hotel industry and got free info brochures/coupons for Summerfest, along with the music schedules.
- I put 2 local craft beers in the bag
- I put 2 snack-packs of cheese and sausage from a local sausage maker
- I put in some chocolates from a local chocolate/candy store
- I went to Sam's Club and got bottles of water and some other snacks

I really wanted to highlight how awesome our city is because I think Milwaukee has a bad reputation from media, so if you've never been here before you don't realize how fun it is here. I'm originally from Phoenix so when I moved here I know exactly how my perceptions changed! So many of my guests commented on how they never new how much culture and fun things there were to do here and they want to plan a trip back for a vacation! A lot of people took advantage of local attractions while they were here too which made me feel like my own little PSA was a success!
 

pinki

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Nov 17, 2009
Messages
240
vc10um|1296858640|2843318 said:
While Northern NJ isn't "known" for anything, per se, is there a favorite candy shop (chocolates?)/bakery (breakfast pastries?)/microbrewery (a bottle per person)/restaurant (a famous sauce?) in the area that you could take a signature item from and put that in the welcome bags? Maybe even a local coffee shop that can do small batches of beans?

Even if the local coffee shops can't do small batches, buy big bags of beans and get cellophane bags from Uline or other supply stores and package them in portions that are enough for one or two pots of coffee...I considered this as well, with a tag that reads "Kyle and CJ, a Perfect Blend" but ran out of time.

Cj
 

OUpearlgirl

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Jun 26, 2007
Messages
3,081
I'm not familiar with northern NJ... But, when we went to a wedding in San Antonio, TX the welcome bag had

-Alamo themed animal crackers
-Wine from a vineyard in San Antonio
-Salsa made locally
-A map for the area marked with the couple's favorite restaurants and activities


It doesn't have to be anything the town is KNOWN for, per se. San Antonio isn't famous for having great wine, and I can get animal crackers everywhere. But the creativity was great and it was nice to have a few restaurant recommendations.
 
Be a part of the community Get 3 HCA Results
Top