Welcome bags for hotel blocks?

We did them. We had put a “Newsletter” we designed that had a welcome note as well as itinerary of events we were hosting. We included bottles of water, some of our favorite snacks (from TJs and Costco), different asian goodie snacks representing the 5 different countries we were going for our honeymoon, Advil, pepto bismol, pedialyte packets, mints, hair ties, band aids.

I was planning as well. I bought brown paper bags at target cheap. It will have Chicago themed treats - made or started in Chicago-lemonheads, wrigley gum, Fannie May pixies, jays chips and mini Snickers (they’re made a few blocks form our house), fishers nuts if I can find small bags. We’re including brochures from local tourist things, a couple bottles of water, and a note welcoming that includes a note of shuttle for wedding and breakfast at hotel included. I planned on stickers from Etsy that said welcome our names and the date. I might skip the date in case I need to change date. They’re not necessary but I only have about 8-10 people from out of town.

They're not necessary. I've been to some weddings with them, and they were usually bottles of water, some mints, snacks, and those individual packets of tylenol. We opted to skip them. I don't think anyone noticed.

We are debating them, but we're also having a destination wedding. We're thinking of some printed Tote bags with the date and location of our wedding along with some goodies inside. The idea is still up in the air, especially because we're not sure if everyone will stay at our resort or one of the sister /nearby properties (cost reasons).

Anytime I went to a wedding where most of the guests had to travel, there were welcome bags for the guests. It's a nice gesture to thank people for traveling a long distance for your wedding. But for weddings where most of the guests were local and there was a room block just so people could choose not to drive home, there weren't welcome bags.


If you decide to do them, they can be put together pretty cheaply. There's generally a thank you/welcome note from the couple, a couple of snacks, a bottle of water, a single-dose of a painkiller (if you're serving drinks at the reception), and a bag. If you shop deals, buy bulk, and don't go over the top with personalization and themes, you can do it for about $2 a bag.

A tip: contact the local visitor or convention bureau. They will give you local maps or guidebooks for free!

View Quoted Comment Thank you all for your input! Since about 2/3 of my guests are out of town I’ll probably make simple ones

Before you do anything, check/wait and see if your hotel will have any restrictions that might preclude them handing out welcome bags. Many of the "how will a hotel stay look different now" articles I've read include the hotels doing as much as they possibly can to reduce/eliminate physical interactions with guests and passing items through various sets of hands. Many are going to touchless registration and keys to reduce contact points. I'd expect at least some will decline being involved in handing out welcome bags. Perhaps if you're inviting everyone to a rehearsal/welcome type dinner/event you can hand them out there and then guests can take them back to the hotel.

PS -- yesterday someone posted the link to a WW article about "how weddings will be different" and some of the guesses were that durable goods that would pass through various hands (e.g., welcome bags, programs, menus, favors, dessert tables, etc.) will be the first things to be dropped in efforts to minimize points of contamination.

View Quoted Comment That’s a great point to consider!!! Thank you!

I love the idea of welcome bags! if i did them, i would definitely put anything local to the region like any regional snacks

They exist but they’re not a requirement. We did them just because I always appreciate when I get them. Ours were simple — water, salty snack, sweet snack, Advil packs and mints. Then we printed out a “welcome letter” with schedule of events / shuttle info etc

In my experience as a guest, this is something you only see on Pinterest and almost never in real life, nor do people expect them. Save your money for food/drink/dj or put toward a rainy day after the wedding.

I worked at a hotel for years so I have seen the contents of many. Usually they just have a bottle of water and snacks. Sometimes, they have a personal little touch such as a DND sign tailored to the wedding. They also aren't that common. I usually only see a couple per year.

The majority of our guests are coming from out of town. So in our case we decided to do welcome bags. We're planning on putting some water, snacks, and a hangover kit in ours.