The Ultimate Guide to Wedding Welcome Gifts

October 23, 2019 Ashleigh Robinson

A welcome gift is great way to welcome your out-of-town / traveling guests! It’s the perfect surprise when they walk into their hotel room and is a great way to thank them for coming to celebrate you. Read below to find out all the fun things you can include!

The Bag (Or Box!)

There are no rules here! It could be a paper gift bag, a canvas bag, an embroidered tote, or a reusable gift bag. Printed or plain, it doesn’t even have to be a bag! Some couples opt for a box instead. Whatever best suits you and your budget.

Pro Tip: If you do opt for a printed canvas or reusable bag, our recommendation is to print something more generic so that your guests will actually want to use the bag again, post wedding. Sorry to say, not everyone will be as excited about showing off your personal monogram as you are. Need ideas?! Some cool things we’ve done for our clients are city skylines with the location and year or some other custom illustration that becomes artwork on the bag - makes it custom and fun, but not too personal.

The Welcome Note

The welcome note let’s your guests know all the important details. The best part is you can even hand them out at your first event so everyone–not just the out of town guests–can get one.

A Sweet Message
Write a heartfelt note to let your friends and family know how much you appreciate them being a part of your special day.

Weekend Itinerary
If you have a whole weekend of events planned, remind your guests of when and where they take place so they’re right on time to all your events.

Recommendations
Let your guests experience your favorite restaurants, bars, museums, and/or local haunts in their free time.

A Map or Transportation Advice
Maybe your guests can walk to the ceremony from the hotel or maybe they need to Uber. Jessica & Raj arranged golf cart transportation from their hotel to the ceremony site and Robb & Matt provided a miniature metro map.

Emergency Wedding Contact
We know at least one person is going to have questions, so giving your guests the number of your wedding planner, your maid of honor, a trusted friend or relative will give you and your significant other one less thing to worry about the day of your wedding.

The Gifts

A Few of Your Favorite Things
This can be any variety of things: your favorite candy that you shared at the movies on your first date, or just something little that represents you as a couple. One of our couples, Leigh & Carey, gave guests a mini cocktail kit that had everything to make their favorite cocktail, a Moscow mule.

Feel like a Local
Local can mean local to the venue, or local to you! Where you grew up, went to college, met for the first time, etc. This can be exclusive local foods or beverages–honey, utz potato chips, old bay seasoning, hot sauce, locally made beer–or even state/country themed items–magnets, pins, stickers, etc.

In Case of Emergency
Especially if your wedding is an outdoor, destination wedding, it’s a great idea to give your guests a mini first aid kit: band-aids, chapstick, tissues, sunscreen, aloe vera, poncho, earplugs–anything they could have forgotten to pack!

Hangover Kit
If you expect your guests will have too much of a good time at your reception, provide some Advil, Emergen-C, and/or Tums for the morning after.

In the end, it’s all about you as a couple and no matter you do, your guests are going to love it! 💕

Don’t have time to make an awesome welcome gift yourself? No worries! Here are two great small businesses that curate custom gift bags and boxes for you:

Our personal favorite, Memento & Muse based out of Raleigh, NC. You can see more of their beautiful work on their Instagram.
Local favorite, Marigold & Grey based out of Washington, D.C. You can see more of their beautiful work on their Instagram.

SEE SOME OF THE WEDDINGS FEATURED IN THIS BLOG: