Guest Gifts, is it a must?

I don't think it is necessary to give them gifts. You can if you want to, but I think you would be able to get by without. Most guests do not even take the wedding gifts home.

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Thanks, I didn't think it was a major option for me but it was just a thought

We did welcome bags at the hotel for everyone staying in the room block. They included water bottles, snacks, the itinerary for the wedding, and packs of Advil. They're definitely not necessary, but if you have room in the budget for it, they're nice to have as a guest!

Hello Britney.
You can gift them with a dinner or a brunch. If you're having a rehearsal dinner, it would be a nice gesture to include them if your budget allows it, of course. If you're not having a RD, you can host a welcome dinner the night before or a brunch the day after.
Sure, a dinner or brunch is more expensive than a gift but it's well worth it and your OOT guests will love it.

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Thank you for the input

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Thank you, I will keep looking around and see what will work for me

Guest gifts that are a must are good plentiful food within your budget, drinks they do not have to pay for, good entertainment and gracious hospitality from you. Welcome bags and favors are the first things to cut and no one will miss them.

So long as they have a good experience at the ceremony and reception they will not miss an additional gift. If you are doing wedding favors then you are already giving them a gift for attending, whether or not they choose to take it.

It I did little bags with a few snacks and drinks. We only had 2 sets out of town guests though. I did local snacks. I k ow being in a hotel room with nothing to drink or snack on isn’t fun and it may not be something they thought of coming back from the reception so I wanted them have something.
It’s a nice touch but not necessary especially if you have a lot

They're definitely not a must, but they're a nice thing to do if you have the budget. We did welcome bags for our out of town guests at our hotel block, and included things like water bottles, snacks and treats, and mini hangover kits. We bought everything in bulk from Costco and they were very inexpensive to make

If it’s in your budget I think it would be a nice gesture to maybe do a welcome bag and leave it with hotel staff. That’s what we plan on doing

Like others have said it's not necessary but a nice gesture if it's in your budget. For me I am doing hotel welcome bags with items that are all from local businesses and that represent us.

That was an expense that we cut, and nobody seemed to care. Most of our out of town guests were either staying with friends or family in the area or were reasonably close-ish and just drove in for the day then back home that night. It's a nice gesture if it's in your budget and you really want to, but certainly isn't a necessity.

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I think I might not do any gifts considering how much we'll be spending already. I might just do thank you cards or something simple like that.

Welcome bags didn’t exist until Pinterest. As a guest I’ve thought “oh this is cute,” but wasn’t overly excited about it. While I appreciate the free bottled water, half the time the snacks are junk that I don’t really want to eat.


As far as favors, I really don’t think anyone would be upset if they weren’t provided. I don’t think I’ve kept or really used a single wedding favor I’ve been given. I have been to weddings where the couples have decided to donate money to a charity of their choice in lieu of favors. I thought that was a neat idea and a much better use of money

View Quoted Comment I agree with this! This is exactly what we’re doing for ours, but it absolutely is not necessary for you to give gifts if it will put you over budget! I know that I wouldn’t travel to a wedding that I wouldn’t want to be at, so I’m sure just them being a part of your special day will be enough for them, but it can be a nice gesture!

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I'm sure that Pinterest helped popularize welcome bags, but they definitely existed well before the internet. All throughout my childhood whenever we traveled to weddings of cousins and family friends across the country, welcome bags were most definitely a thing. As kids, my siblings and I were always super excited to check into the hotel block to find out what treats were in the welcome bag. And this was in the late 1990s... Maybe you hadn't heard of them until Pinterest, but they've actually been very common in many families, cultures, and social circles for decades. That being said, of course they're optional!

We will be doing them for my wedding because that's the norm in my family, but they are certainly not required

I've never heard of giving general guests gifts, other than the favors that go on the table. They should be giving YOU gifts, not the other way around. Of course, you should give gifts to your bridal party, if you're going that route, and maybe something for your FH's parents might be nice, but as for everyone else, you're off the hook.

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I probably should've changed that title to "Should I invest in gifts for guest" lol, I don't think its a must but its what popped up in my head at the time to put down so I did. I keep going back and fourth with should I or should I not. Im leaning more towards not doing it just because of the budget but I would just hate having all our guest fly in and not have a little thank you gift or anything for coming all that way.

90% of our guests will be from out of state. We won't do gift bags. Instead we are reserving the patio at our favorite Italian restaurant and they will do pizza, salad and chartreuse boards the night before the wedding. Simple, but one less meal our out of towners need to purchase.