Weddingbee Blog

When planning a wedding on a budget, there are certain things that are just not a possibility. Like videography, for us, is just not in the cards. It’s actually taken me awhile to let go of that because I see something like this, cry at how beautiful it is, cry because I can’t have it, and then just go on being pretty upset about the whole thing. Then I realize that we’re going to have incredible photographs that will be with us forever, and I am able to let go a little bit. Nonetheless, I’m still a bit saddened by the thought.

But that is actually not what this post was supposed to be about. I started off with the topic of budget constraints, and I’ll try to stay off videos for a while. We will be having a considerable amount of out-of-town guests celebrating with us on our big day. The thought of our guests arriving at their hotel and being welcomed with a sweet little bag full of goodies just makes me smile.

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And then the reality of our wedding budget sets in. While we don’t have the $28 per out-of-town guest + the cost of filling the bags (the look on their faces if they were given an empty bag kinda makes me laugh), I would still like to do a little something. There is so much information on this topic out there. There is, of course, the Weddingbee Wiki, and while it IS quite helpful, Fresno is most definitely not on that list. Maybe I could enlist the help of I Heart Fresno to find some unique-to-Fresno (and inexpensive) gifts to fill my nonexistent bags.

I’ve given this some thought, and the following (mostly obvious) items will find their way into the bags:

• A personal thank you note. How lovely would it be to get a personalized thank you from the bride and groom? I have never received one of these (seeing as though I’ve never been given an OOT bag), but I’m convinced that it’s something we have to include.

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• Hydration. I don’t know about you, but I hate not having bottled water with me after a long day of travel. What’s that, you say? There’s usually bottled water in hotel rooms? Oh yeah, but I’d like to save our guests the five-dollar charge per bottle if possible.

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• Something to nibble on. Picture this: adorable, freshly baked, individually wrapped mini-banana-bread loaves for each out-of-town guest. Love it. Love everything about it. I’ll also likely include some bags of trail mix, gum, aspirin, pistachios, fruit, etc. And hint: this idea is 100% stolen from Mrs. Guinea Pig.

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• Lots of information. I love details, lists, and knowing things. I figure there have to be others out there like me who obsess over knowing everything about any given situation. So I’d like to help out our guests with some info about the weekend. Itinerary, map to venue, map to my parents’ house, restaurant and activity suggestions, important contact information, etc.

Am I forgetting anything? The best part about this project is that I can assemble most of these items months before the wedding.

Any suggestions on how to keep this an inexpensive, yet meaningful, project? Did you do out-of-town bags on a budget?

PS: There’s also this video. Oh. My. Goodness. Not only is it beautiful, but they also used a Sigur Ros song. They won me over. Can you tell I still haven’t let go of not having videography? Ugh.