Welcome Bags!!

I agree with Jennifer. Like with favors, I think welcome bags create unnecessary stress on the bride and budget. When I got one, most of it ended up in the trash when we packed our suitcases, to fly home. Unless you're going to a deserted island, most hotels provide a lot the stuff that's in them and I bring my own, i.e. high SPF sunblock, prescription sunglasses, Excedrin, etc.

I think for a DW its really nice and can be the favor for the guests. I went to one in Jamaica and they gave us stuff like you said, some snacks, toiletries.

( I thought this said, welcome bagels, and I got really excited. I need food and sleep in that order).

If you want to do these, I'd keep them simple with things they will consume there and won't have to toss or bring home on the plane. Aspirin, water. (Buy there?), chips, and snacks. Pretty much hangover cure/late night munchies supplies. Amazon sells little Advil packets, as does BJs and Sams Club usually. For the bags, it depends on if you want disposable (recommended) or reusable.

We are doing welcome bags. We purchased the bags from papermart.com for a reasonable price. We opted for a metallic bag because it matched our colors, so it was a little more expensive, but still a good price. I purchased the large labels from vistaprint when they were having a sale and will just put them on the bag. Like klimberkat said, Sams club sells the little pain reliever packets. I would also include snacks and water. Perhaps you could find something local to your area. Ie where our wedding is has a certain brand of chips only found locally, so we're putting them in the bag. I don't recommend putting brochures/touristy stuff in the bag. They can get all of that information from your wedding website or from the concierge at the hotel.

We didn't do printed ones, thought the cost was unnecessary. I got these from orientaltrading.com they worked out perfect. They have different kinds to chose from and really cheap!

I wouldn't bother either, honestly. Who doesn't know to bring their own sunscreen? You're making yourself another task, honestly, and it costs money and time, and I can tell you that it'll be more aggravating than you think....

That being said, you can find everything you need at the dollar store and Amazon. (The dollar store has little shopping bags.) I bought tons of individual sunscreen packets last year after watching my groomsmen broil in front of my eyes....

I did brown kraft bags, and i made a personalized sticker on Vista Print. As far as trial sizes, the cheapest i found Tylenol and Advil was amazon. You can get like a 150 2 pack box for about $11. If you have a harmon store nearby, you can check them too, they take Bed Bath and Beyond coupons, so if you have some $5 of $15, you can minimize costs. I spread all the costs of the bags out, and bought things here or there if i found something on sale or had a coupon. I also found that Amazon Pantry had really great prices for snacks. I was able to score some coupons for free Pantry shipping buy other things through Prime and choosing the longer delivery, not sure if Amazon is still offering that on certain items though.

I think if you are doing them do it because you want to a not because you feel obligated. I am doing them as many of our guests are coming from across the Country. I bought white bags I stamped them with a cute stamp from micheals and my FH and I signed each bag with a silver marker. We are putting in mostly local food. A bottle of local beer, a cookie from a bakery, local coffee. I also emailed a few local attractions and they are all willing to mail me pamphlets for their location for free to include in the bag. I wont include toiletries or water as the hotel rooms usually already have those things.

For me it was about welcoming them to local things and showcasing my city and surrounding and not about giving them more stuff.

I am having a DW wedding and doing welcome bags but I am putting a thank you note in them with our picture and our itinerary.

I am also having a DW and am doing welcome bags. Many of my guests have never been to Mexico before so I am going to give them each a bubba keg which they can use at the resort all week to keep their drinks cold.. and then I'll add things like pepto bismol, advil, and bug spray, maybe a mini flashlight to help them see their way at night. After reading reviews of the resort it's pretty easy to tell what people usually wish they had brought with them so that's where I'm getting my ideas from.

See if your hotel does them so you don't have to. The hotel we ended up doing room blocks with actually does welcome bags with some snacks and Tylenol as well as the shuttle schedule and we can add things if we want. I wasn't charged a dime for them. And they actually monogram our initials on them. Not that people will actually want that later lol but j thought it was kind of cool and they match them to our wedding colors.

I have nothing beneficial to add to this thread except to say that scrolling through the forums, I read this title as "Welcome Bagels" and got way too excited because BAGELS.

We had a DW and did welcome bags. I think it's a nice touch for the people who are traveling so far with you for your wedding. We bought zippered canvas bags from Amazon for like $60 or something. It was just over $1/bag when it came down to it, and then I bought stencil and fabric pait to paint on a cute beachy design. In the bag, I had:

- welcome book with times of planned outings, information on the resort like restaurants, clubs, activities, pictures of all the guests so everyone would know who everyone was, etc

- advil

- mini bug spray

- mini body wash

- mini lotion

- mini sunscreen

- candies

- some snack chips

- shower poofs

- antacids

- and a lot of other stuff I'm forgetting.

You can find most of that stuff at the dollar store, actually!

The canvas bag was a total win, because most people used theirs as beach bags over the whole week, which was exactly what I thought would happen. And since it's canvas, it lasts a while so you don't really feel like your money is wasted on something getting thrown away. I'm all about reusable stuff.