Weddingbee Blog

Ever since I went to a friend’s wedding and arrived at the hotel late and starving, to discover the most delightful basket full of delicious baked goods, snacks, candies, water and Advil, I knew I had to have OOT (Out Of Town) guest bags. Of course her basket also included a welcome note, directions to the ceremony and reception, a shuttle schedule, important info, etc. - but I was mostly (ecstatically) happy about the food. What can I say, I’m easy to please. Although her goodies were in an cool galvanized bucket, I really want to stick with something that will be easily transportable for our guests (something that can fit in a suitcase) so I’m thinking about something more along the lines of a bag.

One example I’ve seen that I immediately bookmarked were these from Mrs. Lemon (whose blue & gold wedding I absolutely love):

(a look into how she decorated & filled these here)

I love these bags! Mrs. Lemon used gold silkscreen ink on these ’pseudo-canvas’ bags to put their wedding motif on them, then filled them with all sorts of delicious snacks and treats for their guests. I love the way this looks, although we don’t really have a motif that springs to mind as easily. I want something like hers, though, where it obviously carries over as a theme from other things in the wedding so people remember where they got them, but doesn’t have our names scrawled all over them. So this is something I’m still working on - one idea is to use the same stamp on the Luminarias and these bags? Now to find that stamp…

Although the design hasn’t been worked out yet, I have known for months what I want to fill the bags with. Much like our rehearsal dinner crab feast will be a tribute to a Maryland tradition (blue crab, yum!), I want these bags to give our guests some uniquely Maryland/Baltimore treats!

My favorite? Berger cookies:

(source)

These are not a universal Maryland thing, they are an almost exclusively Baltimore thing - they’re hard to find outside of this area! But ohhhh dear, are they delicious. The bottom is an upside down, dense, vanilla wafer (almost cake-like) cookie, and the top is the most rich, thick fudgey chocolate frosting you’ve ever tasted. They were created by George and Henry Berger in 1835, who came over to Baltimore from Germany and started a bakery - although their bakery doesn’t exist anymore these cookies live on (now manufactured by DeBaufre Bakeries). Thank goodness, because they are heaven. Granted, they’re not very good for me - but I love them anyway. Everyone should get to try these!

Next up: Utz Potato Chips

(an assortment of potato chips from Utz)

While these are technically based out of Hanover, PA, Baltimore is the closest metro area and these chips are EVERYwhere here. They have all the normal flavors, plus … unique… ones as well! (Crab chips, anyone?) These will be an excellent salty snack for our guests to cut the sweetness of the Berger cookies! Also, one of the most famous billboards in Baltimore features the Utz girl (and is wedding related!):

(source)

The other character (the round guy’s head) is yet another Baltimore-related thing: Beer! The guy is “Boh”, from ’Natty Boh’, our local beer (proper name: National Bohemian).

(Natty Bohs)

This is something I would totally consider putting in the bags, but I’m not sure that’s reasonable. All of our out of town guests will be over 21, so I suppose it’s legal, but is that really done?! Can you put beer in OOT bags?! I guess it would be warm… (eew, as Miss Cheeseburger mentioned). Moving on.

Our last Baltimore-inspired treat: Old Bay Seasoning

It’s yet another food created in Baltimore by a German immigrant (this one much later, in 1939). The seasoning is delicious and used everywhere in Maryland (exhibit A: Crab chips by Utz!), and the blue and yellow tin is iconic.

(Old Bay)

This won’t be for the guests to eat in the hotel (unless they are very adventurous!) but I think it’ll be nice for them to take something home to spice things up, as a reminder of our Maryland wedding!

The other things I want to put in the OOT bags won’t be so Maryland oriented - I’m thinking some kind of baked goods that we’ll make the week before the wedding (since my mom and I love to bake so much), mints and gum, Advil, and bottles of water (all bought in bulk at Costco and split up into individual portions)! I’ll also include an itinerary/map of the area, probably something about the story behind all the Maryland items, and a welcome/thank you note.

I’ll have to think about how and when to deliver these, as our guests will be spread out over 4 hotels in the area, but I am so excited about the local flavor we’re including in our guest bags!

Will you have OOT guest bags? Am I missing any must-have items? What would be your favorite Baltimore/MD thing to try from ours?