Welcome Bag Etiquette - Is it tacky to only give certain guests a welcome bag and not others?

I don't think it's tacky to only do it for the few guests who are arriving earlier than others. However, if your budget allows, maybe provide the other guests something small upon their arrival (sunglasses, lip balm, flip flops, etc.) to show your appreciation for their travel expense.

Not tacky, but you might consider doing something for everyone since they're traveling. We bought bags from Oriental Trading, and included two water bottles, two granola bars, some local caramels, and a small bag of local chips. We also put some brochures from the local town hall (we ordered them and they didn't charge us!). All together, it was less than $4/bag

$4/bag isn't bad at all! @MrsSki(ToBe) did you all do a bag per person or per couple / room?

thanks for the input ladies....

Everyone (but FH and I) will be traveling to our wedding by several hours. We're planning on doing something very similar to @MrsSki(ToBe) you can get like 50 white gift bags on amazon for like $10 and then we'll get the waters and snacks from Costco for cheap.

I think you may have some hard feelings, even though no polite person would ever raise the subject. Guests will hear about the other guests who got the goodie bags.

Or, save your money instead of buying a bunch of things people already have in their luggage or can be found at the hotel. I can't imagine anyone feeling appreciated because someone gave them some lip balm.

We did one bag per room. The cute wedding bags from Oriental Trading were actually cheaper than any of the other stores we found. Water and snacks came from Costco!

This is very helpful! one last question, did you all deliver the bags to your guests rooms directly? did the hotel allow you to access the rooms or did they require you have them deliver the bags (for a fee)...

now that i think of it, we are getting married on a boat and my mom already purchased dramamine for those who may get sea sick, we were going to have them in a basket on the boat but maybe we'll put them in the bags with a note and have a small number available on the boat!

Yes, I think it's tacky. It's okay to do it for everyone staying at the host hotel, but don't tier your guests by when they arrive.

Most hotels will hand them out when guests check in as long as each bag is the same and not room number specific. Some will charge a small fee, but it's usually not much.

I think putting dramamine in the bags is a great idea! It can work better if someone takes it before they get on the boat, so it might be better than just having it on the boat

We did a "hangover" bag for all the rooms. We got pints, tooth brushes, chips, soda, Advil, and some stuff reliever. I think my mom sent 300 bucks for 80 bags

when they check in the hotel can give the bag to your guests. I've also seen them already in the rooms but at smaller hotels.

The bottles of water and some small snacks are very much appreciated as someone who has traveled to every wedding I've gone to.

We are going to be doing this as well.

We did it for our destination wedding. It's the one thing I regret doing. We included water, snacks, sunscreen and general info for the wedding. People didn't use any of the info (we kept getting text asking us about info we included in the welcome bags). The only thing a very few people used were the small bottles of spray sunscreen. I don't think they are worth it and wouldn't do it if we did it again!

I don't think it is kind to give only some out of town guests bags and not all. People will talk and feelings could be hurt. We are planning on bags for all out of town guests...adults will get water, snacks, etc...and kids will get something fun for them tucked into their bag.

Nope, we are doing welcome bags for guests in the hotel where we have a hotel block. We won't know about the others. I am going to do water bottles and some snacks. Then my mom is hosting an open house the next day, all of FH's family is out of town, so we can all be together and the invite will be in the bag. Other family will be told since my family doesn't have to stay in the hotel.

We are doing welcome bags for our guests, as everyone will be traveling to get there. Plan is to include water bottles, brochures, chips/fruit, and a small bag of Old Bay (Maryland seafood spice) with a cute sticker on it. We will have them at the Welcome Reception Friday night - everyone is staying at different hotels and some of the hotels charge a fee for distributing the bags.

Thanks for the tips on Oriental Trading, @MrsSki!

@MDEasternShoreBride, not sure what chips you're planning on, but Amazon sells a vending machine pack of Utz Old Bay chips! It ended up being cheaper (and was delivered faster) than buying direct from Utz Retail. We also included MouthParty caramels since they're made by a small company in Baltimore. The company was super sweet to us after we contacted them and said they were for our wedding.

@MrsSki, Omg YAAASSS to the Old Bay chips! Thank you so much! We're already doing our fave candies at the wedding so we may go with fruit or jam or something else from the Eastern Shore for the welcome bags.

FH loves the UTZ Yuengling chips, so I bet he'll love these!

If you're doing them you should give them to all guests staying at that hotel or wherever. Or you could not do them. Not sure what is correct etiquette but I don't think they are necessary. Bottles of water and snacks? People travelling from out of town already have drinks and snacks from the car/plane ride. Maybe if it had stuff they may have forgotten like shampoo, toothpaste etc but hotels already have that. I just went to a DW a few weeks ago and we didn't get any welcome bags and they weren't missed

@Charlise, the idea of providing Dramamine to guests who may get seasick is a kind gesture, but that stuff works by putting people to sleep. Since sleeping pills are linked to deep vein thrombosis, doctors usually recommend people knock themselves out with Dramamine to sleep on long-haul flights.

I think this should go without saying, but mixing Dramamine and booze is a mega no-no.