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When you host a “destination” wedding, all of your guests are from out of town, so it’s really nice to make them feel welcome. And packing welcome bags is almost as much fun as Halloween candy or holiday gift bags.
Mr. Onion and I went to visit our parents this weekend (both of them live within 10 minutes of each other which is great) and we got a lot done. The bags were purchased at Papermart.com and were reasonably priced at $.40 each. I chose these bags because of their color, size and the quantity. You could purchase these bags in sets of 25 — you didn’t have to buy 200+. We also packed all 30 of our welcome bags for our guests. I’m really happy with how they turned out.
Miss Onion surrounded by welcome bag goodies in my parents living room!
In each bag we put water, area brochures, an OOT Welcome Booklet (not shown), nuts in paper bags tied with twine (this is my favorite touch), chips, fruit snacks, granola bars, swedish fish, peppermint patties, hershey’s kisses and cookies.
All packed up and ready to go.
All the goodies were purchased at Costco — the total cost per person was about $2.20 including the bag. The contents shown above was for a couple — there will be one bag per room and the rooms with two people will get twice the goodies. 
I hope our guests enjoy and feel welcome after their long drive.
Did you welcome OOT guests? Did you provide a bag/box/basket full of snacks or one nice item and a note?
those looks SWEET!!! and $2.20/person is great! i spy a brochure to ben & jerry’s! 
It’s GREAT that you provided water bottles. Some hotels charge a lot for it.
I’m so impressed by the price!!
I have had a really good time planning our welcome bags for our DW, but man is it hard to keep the price down! We mostly shied away from food items (all of our guests are sharing a rental house with us and food/drinks will be readily available all day, every day) and tried to go for a few small things they can enjoy during the trip and possibly after.
Plus we needed to be able to carry everything in our suitcases — our trip home is going to be so much lighter!
WOW - looking at those OOT bags made me reaaaly hungry! They look great! No OOT bags for us…although I guess I still have time to change my mind….
Oh so cute! And great job keeping the cost down. I would love to do OOT bags but we have to fly 2000 miles to our wedding so there would be no way to get them there. Darn!
Yeah, we’re not doing OOT bags. Everyone’s staying in scattered places. 
are all your guests staying in the same hotel? i’d love to do this for mine, but i think my guests will be scattered across condos and hotels and i doubt i’ll have access to their rooms before they arrive.
What a wonderful package for your guests to receive! I’ll have to borrow your idea if I have enough out of towners - too sweet!
I spent about $2 also per bag. I got clear plastic bags with rop handles from papermart and bought our favorite candies, water, travel brochure, welcome bbq invitation, directions, and almond scented seashell candles. We dropped off all the bags at the hotels’ front desks. For those who didn’t book through the hotel block, we placed their names on the bags for the concierge to see.
I must say that it’s disturbing seeing plastic water bottles in these OOT bags… with all we know about how much they are crowding the landfills, how the water inside is just tap water to begin with and how some plastic water bottles leach a chemical called Bisphenol A, which is linked to breast cancer, I say out with the plastic. But to each bride her own. How about a nice SIGG bottle http://www.treecitydiapers.com/store/product/9992/SIGG—Hello-Kitty-.6L/? Or something in stainless? Or better yet, encourage your guests to drink the tap provided it’s pretty safe.
I was the matron of honor for the bride’s wedding and she mentioned wanting to do OOT bags but she didn’t have time so I offered to help her out. I did a Texas theme and bought everything red, white, and blue - the bag, tissue paper …
A great find for me was finding mugs 3 for a 1.00 with a Texas theme.
The water bottles is a great idea. I wish I thought of that.
Your bags look great!
We did OOT boxes. I appreciate receiving them and hope our guests did too. Ours didn’t have quite as much stuff as yours did - guests with nut allergies kind of cut down on the goodies you can offer 
- but we did have water, a few snacks, mints, tourist and schedule information.
I also ordered my bags from papermart.com but have not assembled things yet. Went to Costco for the goodies on Monday but of course it was closed for Labor Day…
wow, if it’s disturbing to see plastic water bottles inside OOT bags, how disturbing must it be for you to see them EVERYWHERE else? i had no idea plastic water bottles were so offensive but i guess, to borrow the cliche, we learn something new everyday.
awesome awesome bags miss onion.
This was one of the first “optional” things to get cut from our list of things to do, mostly for time reasons. There was a “welcome party” the night before where the groom’s family laid out a huge selection of brochures and maps, and we did a one-page welcome note that included the proposal crossword puzzle, a copy of the map from the invitation, a list of all local events (concerts, baseball games, etc) that weekend, and a phone number to call in case they got lost.
our guests loved the oot bags - esp the snacks! i’m sure your guests will appreciate all those yummies to munch on.
Our guests LOVVVED the OOT bags. Everyone appreciated the gesture and good point - water bottles or soda were $8 at the Hilton!!! Everyone was so thirsty by the time they checked in that the beverage was very much appreciated.
Goodluck this weekend!
The OOT bags are a great idea! Do you usually provide the day before (during rehearsal dinner/hotel) or during the wedding day? When is a good time to give it to them? Just curious because it looks nice but I wouldn’t know how to incorporate them. Thanks!
awww, what a nice touch! (and that’s amazing that you kept the cost down so much!) i’m sure your guests will LOVE them!
“how the water inside is just tap water to begin with” Uhm, no, no it isn’t. First of all, the bottles you linked to are much too expensive for an oot bag and I don’t see how anyone could afford them. Secondly, plenty of people can’t drink the water if they are from a different area because different places put different stuff in their water and if you aren’t used to it it can make you sick. Third, a lot of people just don’t like the way tap water tastes. Incidently, most people that I know of that drink bottled water regularly recycle the bottles.
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Miss Onion, NYC/Burlington, VT Age and Occupation: 27, PR & Marketing and Jazz Singer Fiance's Age and Occupation: 28, Data Analyst Engagement Date: April 2, 2006 Wedding Date: September 2007 Blogging Since: July 11, 2007 Venue: Restaurant in Burlington About Me: I didn't think I'd be "that girl," but I am having so much fun planning our wedding (mostly by myself). I'm a PR and Marketing Director for a major jazz festival and camp by day, and by night, a romantic jazz singer and bride-to-be! I hope all my research can help other brides in their planning.
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