Advice on What to Include in Your Wedding Welcome Gifts

Your wedding welcome gifts offer guests a true first taste (and first look!) into your wedding weekend, and the significance of each item included may feel ever so slightly daunting. However, deciding what to include in your wedding welcome gifts sometimes starts with a simple question: what would you love to receive?

In order to ease your mind and inspire your wedding welcome gifts, we thought we would break down what to include in your gifts! From the gifting container to the thought and intentionality of each item inside, we’re giving your expert advice on exactly what couples should include in their wedding welcome gifts. 

We love working with our couples on custom wedding welcome gift designs! But, it’s no secret that the number one question that we get from our couples centers around what to include inside the gifts? 

As we mentioned earlier, it always helps to think about what you’d like to receive in a welcome gift if you were a guest receiving that gift. Perhaps you traveled to a new location for the wedding and you’re staying in a hotel away from home, in this case, it would be nice if the wedding welcome gifts included information about the city you’re visiting, as well as little amenities to make your stay more comfortable. Perhaps you’ve never met one of the couple before or you have questions about the wedding weekend, in this case, it would be nice if the wedding welcome gifts included a heartfelt welcome letter as well as an itinerary for the weekend so you know what time to time be where. 

Planning a wedding can be super stressful and there are a lot of decisions to make from engagement to walking down the aisle. From contracts to budgets to venues to what to wear, wedding planning can feel overwhelming no matter if you’re planning a large multi-day destination wedding weekend or a simple, low-key wedding on the smaller side. When it comes time for those important details like welcome gifts for out-of-town guests that take your wedding to the next level and help you thank your friends and family for making it to your big day, decision fatigue can set in. 

If you’re thinking about what to include in your wedding welcome gifts and you want a confidence boost in the right direction, we’re giving you the scoop on what to put inside your wedding welcome gift bags and boxes so that you can go into your wedding stress-free and ready to celebrate! And your guests can show up to your wedding, or check into their hotel and be greeted by a thoughtful and intentional welcome gift.

Start With the Package

Boxes or bags, every great wedding welcome gift starts with the packaging, as in what are the gifts themselves going inside of? For our custom wedding welcome gifts here at M&G, first and foremost we’re always focused on the vessel used for your wedding welcome gifts.

If you choose an intentional and reusable gift vessel it can become a part of the gift itself. For example, a tote bag filled with beach essentials for a destination wedding at the beach (like these beach bag welcome gifts for a destination wedding in Palm Beach), or a keepsake gift box filled with seasonal and local items (like these custom jewel-toned wedding welcome gifts for a chic wedding in Washington, D.C.) can be repurposed and enjoyed long after the wedding is over.

We love using classic gift boxes or tote bags in neutral colors like white, grey or black - plus we often use pine wood boxes. These keepsake gift bag and gift box options serve as the perfect neutral base for welcome gifts and allow us to add colorful and themed gift content to keep in line with your wedding’s branding.

We love to tie gorgeous soft ribbons around wedding welcome gifts to keep all of the contents inside while also offering a nod to your wedding’s beautiful aesthetic and palette. Because a gift is never complete without a gift tag, we love to add a gift tag to our custom wedding welcome gifts - this small but important detail is simply a must!

What Should We Include Inside Our Wedding Welcome Gifts?

When it comes to wedding welcome gifts, what should be included inside? Now that we have the outside taken care of, let’s dig inside wedding welcome gifts. Couples often opt to include gift items that are special to them like their favorite snacks or a special item that commemorates the wedding’s location. Really, you can include anything that’s meaningful to you inside that you think your wedding guests would enjoy. 

If you’re at a loss for where to start with this process, follow our top six must-haves for wedding welcome gifts, including:

• Sweet treats and salty snacks
• Beverages
• Locally-inspired keepsake
• Amenity or hangover kit
• Welcome letter
• Necessary supporting items

Be sure to check out more information about the six most important things to include in your out-of-town wedding gift bags for guests.

And if you find yourself lost, overwhelmed, or confused with the process, don’t forget that you can connect with our expert team of gifting experts to design (and deliver!) custom wedding welcome gifts unique to your wedding.

#1:  Sweet Treats and Savory Snacks

Whether planes, trains, or cars, after your wedding guests arrive for your wedding weekend and check into their hotel, a snack is typically top of mind. It’s impossible to go wrong with a combination of sweet and salty snacks, which is why we always recommend including at least one of each in every wedding welcome gift.

Delectable locally sourced candy is one of our go-to sweet treats along with cookies and chocolates baked by kitchens local to your wedding venue, location, or region. The best salty snacks to include in wedding welcome gifts are always chips, nuts, and pretzels. It’s even more fun when your included snack items are from shops and brands local to your wedding’s city!

#2:  Beverage(s)

When your guests arrive at your wedding not only will they be hungry (see welcome gift inclusion idea above!), but they will also be thirsty! We highly suggest offering your wedding guests bottles of water (or perhaps bubbly!) in their wedding welcome gifts.

Pro Tip:  Be sure to include one, or two beverages for shared welcome gifts as the perfect rule of thumb for any wedding gift. 

Your wedding guests will enjoy having a satisfying drink to enjoy alongside their snacks and in their guest room throughout the wedding weekend. Sometimes, you may opt for your favorite brand of flavored water, but beverages that match your wedding’s theme or locale are also great ideas.

#3:  Locally-Inspired Keepsake

If you’re looking for what to include in a wedding welcome gift, besides food and drinks (see tips above!), consider adding a keepsake gift that is inspired by your wedding’s venue or location.

Here at team M&G, we love to brainstorm with our custom wedding welcome gift design couples on a unique keepsake gift to include inside each gift that is representative of the wedding. 

Locally sourced keepsake gifts inside wedding welcome gifts help to introduce your guests to a new region, maybe showing them why this location is important and special to you, and also support the local economy where you’re wedding is taking place.

Wedding welcome gifts can include a keepsake that guests can take with them as they depart from your wedding weekend and continue to enjoy during the weeks and months to come. Our gift design experts always like to include to candles, coasters, tote bags (see our tip above about making the gifting vessel a gift itself!) that can become carry-on bags for flights home, and welcome maps that can act as art prints in their homes. 

Each time your wedding guests use their gift item they will be reminded again of the incredible weekend they had with you. These types of keepsake items are easy to find themed to or made in your wedding’s location, making them extra special and memorable.

#4:  Amenity and/or Hangover Kit

Your wedding guests will be away from home, so including little extras like medicine and stain removers that they might have forgotten to pack goes a long way in any wedding welcome gifts. It’s the morning after the wedding parties and celebrations when your weddings guests will really enjoy a hangover kit or amenities that you include in your wedding welcome gifts. 

Simple hangover kits or amenities sets with electrolyte drink packets, headache medicine, lip balm, stain remover sticks, breath mints or gum, hand lotion, soap, makeover remover wipes, or anything else they might find useful over the wedding weekend are excellent gifts for guests to have on hand and readily available inside their wedding welcome gifts. 

Pro Tip:  When thinking about amenity kits for your wedding welcome gifts, think about your wedding's location. For mountain weddings at higher altitudes include things to help your guests with possible altitude sickness. For beach or warm weather weddings, consider including things like sunscreen or a hat to help them be more comfortable during their stay. 

Thoughtful items like hangover kits and amenity items make a big impact on your wedding guests and take your wedding welcome gifts to the next level!

#5:  Wedding Welcome Letter

Keep in mind that your wedding guests are attending your wedding because they adore you, so always include a letter welcoming them to your big day! Letters that are from the heart and genuinely thank them for taking time out of their busy lives to help you celebrate goes a long way and are must in every wedding welcome gifts. 

In your wedding welcome gift welcome letter, think about including a welcome message of gratitude, as well as important wedding timeline pieces, such as a reminder about welcome dinner, ceremony, and reception start times as well as transportation times and options. 

Although your wedding’s festivities might fill your guests’ schedules almost completely, they do always appreciate the inclusion of things to do in the area, tourist attractions, places to eat, as well as maps of the area.

#6:  Final (and Most Important) Welcome Gift Tip

Now that we’ve talked about what to include inside your wedding welcome gifts, we’d be remise if we didn’t make this one important point that many couples forget when it comes to their wedding welcome gifts.

If you’re designing, assembling and delivering your wedding welcome gifts yourself, be sure to think in about how each gift item will be used and consumed. If the gift item needs something extra to make it useable in the moment, be sure to include that too. 

For example, if you’re including a bottle of wine in your wedding welcome gifts that are not twist top, it would be helpful to your guests if you also included a wine bottle opener. Or, if you’re including candles, be sure to include a matchbook so that you’re guests can light their new candle.

There’s nothing worse than wanting to use something inside of a welcome gift, only to find out that you don’t have that extra thing to make it possible to enjoy. 

As you’re designing, think about how each item inside your wedding welcome gifts will be enjoyed. Remember that you’re wedding guests will be away from home, and be sure to include any extras like matchbooks or bottle openers so your guests can enjoy their gifts. 

‘We Love NYC’ Custom Wedding Welcome Gifts

When it comes to custom wedding welcome gift designs, we’ve got a prime example of a welcome gift that’s got it all! We are so excited to share the details and behind the scenes of a custom wedding welcome gift set that we designed for a New York City wedding.

This New York City-theme wedding welcome gift set includes the our top six must-haves for wedding welcome gifts, as well as hits all the points in our keys to a memorable welcome gift. For this custom wedding welcome gift set, our goal was to create elegant and unique wedding welcome gifts that set the tone for their wedding at The Rainbow Room wedding venue, while guests stayed the weekend at The Plaza Hotel.

We wanted their custom wedding welcome gifts to reflect the beautiful and iconic NYC wedding venue, as well as coordinate nicely back to their wedding colors and romantic feminine aesthetic overall wedding design. The colors for this custom gift included light blush, cream, and gold.

We started with an ivory keepsake box as the gift’s container, and adorned it with a blush pink satin ribbon. Included inside each custom wedding welcome gift box was a custom notecard with a heartfelt gift note and welcome letter from the bride and groom, and a custom wedding weekend itinerary card with information about the weekend’s activities. 

For beverages and snacks inside the custom wedding welcome gifts, we included items that were not only tasty, but where intentionally chosen because of their personal meaning to the couple.

We included two peach ginger sparkling waters, as a special nod to their family who only drinks sparkling water,, Girl Scout cookies repackaged with a personalized wax seal, as a nod to the couple’s daughters who sell Girl Scout cookies, and a package of gourmet sweet and salty popcorn for guests to enjoy. 

We kept the personal and intentional vibe going with the non-edible gifts included in the custom NYC inspired wedding welcome gifts. To tie in the New York City wedding location, a vintage-style watercolor card of the city was featured inside the wedding welcome gift box. We also included a lychee scented candle, because the bride loved lychee, and custom blush colored matches with their new monogram in glass jars.

It was an honor to work with our couple to custom design their NYC themed wedding welcome gifts that not only paid homage to their wedding venue, New York City, but also was packed full of meaningful and useful gift items with a personal connection. 

The perfect wedding welcome gift does exist - and it’s waiting to be specially made for your wedding! Let our gifting design experts lead the way with a welcome gift designed with you and your wedding in mind from start to finish!

Wedding planning can be difficult, but with our custom wedding welcome gift design and delivery service, the gifts are one less thing for you to worry about. Fill out our custom wedding welcome gift form to tell us a little bit more about your wedding day, and one of our gifting experts will be in touch to help take the burden with welcome gifts off of your to-do list. 

If custom gifts are not in your wedding budget, or you need welcome gifts in a hurry, be sure to check out our ready-to-ship wedding welcome gifts and amenity baskets.

Happy wedding welcome gifting!

3 Ways To Do Gifting With Marigold & Grey

When it comes to corporate gifting, gifts for your business, or gifts for your company's employees, clients or events, there are three unique ways to gift with Marigold & Grey.

#1: Custom Gift Design Service

If you're interested in elevated branded gifts for your company for employee appreciation, holiday or any corporate event in between, please get in touch with us to ask about our custom corporate gift design services. We'd love to work with you or your team to create something that reflects your company's brand with limitless options for customization to include branding the packaging, gift contents, printed collateral, and more. 

#2: Add-Your-Own-Logo Program (i.e. Semi-Custom Gifts)

In addition to custom gift design, we also offer a thoughtful semi-custom gift design program with low order minimums and your company's logo and brand on each gift you send. Our Add-Your-Own-Logo Program is perfect for businesses that want to send company branded gifts either all at once for an event or particular marketing campaign OR throughout the year, on demand as you need them, for special occasions like employee appreciation, birthdays, client thank you gifts, and more.

#3: Ready-to-Ship Collection in our Online Shop

For curated gift sets and themed gift baskets that are easy to send for any occasion in life or work, don't forget to shop our curated collection of ready-to-ship gift boxes with quick turnarounds and no order minimums. These ship out within 1-3 business days; rush next-day shipping is also available at checkout.

Images: Lisa Ryan Photography