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In a variety of my wedding books, I’ve read about the “complimentary toiletry basket” to be put in the guest bathrooms at the venue. While I think this is a very sweet idea, I don’t know if I want to do that.
Ideally, I’d love to spend money buying lotions, soaps, feminine products, brushes and all that, but we’re po’. Is that really something that needs to be bought? I’d have to buy more things that are personalized so we can put it in the baskets, saying thank you and all that. I know, it would only be two baskets, but it seems like an unnecessary expense.
In the weddings I’ve been to, there hasn’t been a courtesy basket. Heck, one wedding had no room in the port-a-potty for the basket! So I wonder if this is just another one of those things the books/magazines tell you to need, like a garter.
Another concern of mine: our ballroom is in a hotel, on the second floor. They are essentially public restrooms for the ballrooms on that floor and people who are waiting in the lobby. So I’d basically be providing baskets for anyone who uses those restrooms. I don’t know if I like that idea.
What do you think? Basket or no? What would you like to see in one if there WAS one?
Say no to toiletry baskets! I wouldn’t be doing them either if my mom wasn’t so obsessed with them, so it’s her project now! I never take things from those baskets anyways! I have my own personal toiletry preferences!
From another po’ brides perspective, I also think it’s basically a magazine ploy. I mean, there are a million things to spend your money on without even getting into a toiletry basket. We did go to an outdoor wedding last year where they had traditional blue port-o-potties and I loved how they did them up in high fashion. Inside the johns they had strung up white christmas lights and posted fun facts about the bride and groom on the door for reading. They had arranged baskets with mini purell hand sanitizers and a few women’s emergency products. This was a nice touch that classed up an other wise unclassy toilet option. Since the ball room will most likely have nice facilities complete with running water and since non guests may be using the bathrooms, I vote no way! Sink your money into something important, like more personalized ribbon!!!
JUST SAY NO! Its just more “stuff”!
No one will miss it!
I think it might be nice if you had the money, and I’d do it if I had the money, but really, if someone needed a feminine product, I’m pretty sure they’d plan ahead. Or if they wanted their breaths to be minty-fresh after the meal, they’d bring their own.
I’ve seen it done at venues where the location was solely used for them, so the bathrooms aren’t so public. It’s a cute idea, and if you have the money, great, but if you don’t, it’s not necessary.
I think it’s a nice-to-have, but it was the first thing I tossed when I got crunched for time. I did not want to spend the time wandering the aisles in Duane Reade. I think my guests would have thought it was nice, but I don’t think it was a huge horror not to have one!
Toss it!!!
Totally not necessary. Most public restrooms will have a machine for tampons/pads anyway and if they’re really desperate and it’s a hotel, I bet the concierge at the front desk could help them out. So not your concern.
Nope - get it out of your head!
It’s one of those things where “it would be nice to have” and your guests will notice it in passing, but no one will malign you for NOT including one.
Since it’s a hotel restroom, the restroom will be plenty nice and they might not even want you putting in a basket of tampons and other stuff!
You don’t need it. It’s nice if you want to do it, but there are so many things that magazines and books tell us to do. But you really don’t NEED to do any of it. Yes, many of it is really nice but you should just do what you want. I try not to get caught up with all the stuff i should do and just do what i want to. hope that helps.
hi miss kiwi! my plight is similar… i don’t want to spend money and put thought into the baskets, only to have them plundered by other people at the hotel who aren’t wedding guests. i was toying with the idea of putting the basket in the ladie’s room, knowing they might enjoy it, and attaching a tag that says “for the guests of Mr. and Mrs. Plumeria” but didn’t know if that was tacky… what do you think? at any rate it’s really an unimportant detail, but i’ve been thinking about it too!
Not at all necessary. BUT if you’d like to do it, there are tons of FREE beauty-type products available online. Just go to Google and type (in quotes) “free samples” and a manker name (like Dove or Maybelline).
I agree with everyone else…waste of time. Anne Chertoff that writes the blog “From I will to I do” recently blogged about this and said:
“I hate the idea of a toiletry basket in the bathroom at a wedding. There is no reason a bride and groom need to supply a mini-drugstore for guests. All of the items usually included - tissues, nail files, hairspray, mints, and sewing kits - are a complete waste of money.” (and that’s from a bridal mag insider)
My cousin had some rented portable lavatories at his outdoor/tent wedding- full bathrooms, with sinks and flush chemical toilets. They did provide some mini-soaps and things- but it made sense, in that venue. In a public hotel restroom, I’d say if what’s already in the facilities are inadequate to ensure decent hygeine, you might want to find another hotel…?
Definitely not necessary — have you ever been at another wedding and had a dire need for something which would be in one of those baskets? Like another reader mentioned, it would be rather unlikely for someone to suddenly and unexpectedly require a feminine product in the middle of your wedding. Hand lotions definitely aren’t a necessity (they will just leave greasy marks on the back of their dates tuxedos/jackets!), and if your wedding is in a hotel, any out of town guests will have access to their rooms, should some dire emergency occur.
I say skip out. I am doing a black-tie wedding in which case magazines state that I absolutely must, under penalty of death, provide a bathroom basket — and I am vetoing and not doing it. If anyone pops a button and requires a sewing kit, I will just give them the key to my suite and they can take the one from my room!
Wow- thanks for the input everyone!! Okay, I will just say NO to the baskets. Thank goodness, because if Mr. Kiwi had to hear another reason why I want to elope, I think he’d be putting me on a plane to Vegas right now!!
Miss Kiwi there are a lot things out there that vendors create out of nowhere so they can suck up your hard earned money. just say no to the bells and whistles and focus on things that matter
Just say no - people took everything in the baskets whether they needed it or not! i was really shocked.
I’m having the baskets… I put them together for a friend’s wedding and went with simple but sometimes-necessary items. I got small wire baskets for $2 from Pier One and loaded them with things from the travel-sized section of the store and a few of things I already had. I included hairspray a few tampons, a few band-aids, a few sample-sized packs of advil, tylenol, immodium, and a pack of tums. I also included a comb, a pack of safety pins, and a few shout wipes. I wanted to put in contact lens solution, but it was too expensive.
Two guests commented to me that the medicines saved them from having to leave the wedding.
I think it is gimmicky, and in a hotel where all the guests are staying and where the bathrooms are public, I wouldn’t do it because the guests can go to their rooms if they need to or their own stuff.
But if it’s a hotel where none of the guests are staying, I would do a small basket with a sign that says “For Mr. and Mrs. Kiwi’s Guests - Please return to the party soon!” or something like that. If you just get a few travel packets of the key medicines, someone will use it and be glad it’s there.
Just my two cents!
oo yay. i’m glad most people said no. ahahha. i completely forgot about this until you blogged about it. whew! thought there was going to be something else i have to throw together last minute.
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Mrs. Kiwi, Los Angeles Age and Occupation in 06: 27, Bookkeeper Fiance's Age and Occupation: 27, P.E. Teach/Coach @ private schools in LA Engagement Date: March 31, 2006 Wedding Date: November 3, 2007 Venue: Radisson Hotel About Me: I'm a bookkeeper who failed high school algebra. I'm currently living in Los Angeles, literally a street over from where I grew up with Mr. Kiwi, my honey of three years. We have a jumbo mini-dachshund (seriously, he's huuuuge), and we're planning an autumn themed wedding on a shoestring, paid for by ourselves. The wedding date is my late grandma's birthday, I needed her there somehow, and that seemed like the best way for us. I can't believe I'm a Bee! I couldn't be more proud!
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