OOT Gift bag questions

[Mrs DMcD]

For anyone doing (or has done) out of town gift bags, I have a few questions.

*Are you providing them for anyone staying in the hotel, or just people truly "out of town"?
(We have a fair portion of people who technically aren''t out of towners, but are staying in the hotel. They probably all live within an hour driving distance of the hotel. It seems unfair to not give them a goodie bag)

*Are you providing them for each couple, or each individual?
(If doing them for couples, are you putting two of each item or only certain things?)
(What about a few friends who might be sharing a room, but are not a ''couple''?)

Just wanted to hear some other''s thoughts/opinions... TIA!

 

[zoebartlett]

* 1) We''ve wondered the same thing. We decided to give the welcome bags to anyone staying in the hotel, regardless of whether they''re truly out of towners or not. We''re planning on putting mainly locally made products in our bags, so I''m not sure they''ll appreciate the bag''s contents as much. I didn''t want these guests to feel left out though so we''re just going to give them a bag. However, I think we''re going to begin by making sure that all truly OOT guests (those coming from far, far away) get a bag first, then do a bag for closer out of town guests. After we do that round, we''ll make bags for others. I don''t know if it makes sense to do it this way but that''s probably how I''ll handle it.


* 2) We''re giving one bag per room. So if it''s a family of four, they''ll get the same things as everyone else (couples), plus a few extra little toys, etc., for the kids. One thing we''re giving is a little jar of Stonewall Kitchen Wild Maine blueberry jam. One jar will go into each bag. If we happen to have leftovers, we may add more than one jar per bag, but right now we''re not planning on having to do that. I don''t think we''ll have friends sharing a room but if that were to happen, each friend would get a bag. So I guess that would be one exception to what I mentioned above.

I hope this helps!

 

[Mrs DMcD]

Thanks Zoe! That''s pretty much what I was thinking as well... now my only other question is, if the front desk staff at the hotel would be willing to refer to a list when handing out bags. (Thats how we''ve always received bags, is we were given them when we checked) Not sure how keen they would be on having to look up what kind of bag each guest gets. Have to put some more thought into it - but thanks for your input!!

 

[CJ2008]

Mrs DMcD - We''re getting married in Los Cabos, Mexico, so all our guests will be OOT. But I was excited to see your post, I was hoping you''d have lots of feedback with ideas with what to PUT in the bag! haha

But, to answer your questions, I agree with Zoe. If you can afford it, put a bag in every room, that way you''re not wondering if anyone is feeling left out. I also agree with the one bag per room, as a way to keep it easier to manage. Maybe you can do the same bag for every room but with something extra for your OOT guests. Maybe a list of local attractions, ideas of things to do, etc. (that wouldn''t really cost you any $).

 

[Tacori E-ring]

We gave them to people staying at the hotel (they gave us a list of people who made reservations). I would give one bag per couple, two for families, but two for friends sharing a room.

 

[Mrs DMcD]

Thanks Claudinam and Tacori!

Claudinam - What I have liked in the bags I''ve gotten, and what I''d like to put in is: water bottle, some type of snack (cookie or cracker), little packs of advil have been lifesavers!, a wedding itinerary with addresses, and local attractions. And just fyi... I plan to buy solid color or brown paper gift bags from a craft store, and have some round/oval stickers made for the front. With our names (bride and groom) and the date. You can customize to any color or font type, and very reasonable! This place did stickers for my save the dates, and they came out fantastic! (http://savethedateoriginals.com/LabelsandStickers.html) Probably tie them up with a ribbon of from our color scheme.