Wedding Welcome Gift Bag Ideas & Advice - Part 1

As a professional gift designer, I often get asked for advice on what to include when curating wedding welcome gifts so I figured it was time for a three-part blog series all about these types of gifts and today is Part One! This is the number one question that we get from couples planning their wedding, and this series is going to put you on a path to wedding welcome gift success. 

In this first part of the series, I'm going to give you the details on what to include in your wedding welcome gifts. That's the best part, after all! So if you're considering sweet and savory treats to greet hungry out of town guests, or perhaps thinking about a keepsake in lieu of traditional wedding favors, you're in the right spot. If you decide to DIY your wedding welcome gifts, or purchase some of our pre-designed, quick and easy ready-to-ship welcome gifts, or go the personalized route with custom wedding welcome gifts via our gift design experts, you'll be all set!

You can include anything that you want in your wedding welcome gifts! But to cut down on the overwhelm and give you an inspiration boost, I'm sharing the six best things to not forget in your wedding welcome gifts including a local keepsake to help them remember your wedding, a sweet treat, a savory snack, a beverage, personalized wedding information, and, of course, finishing touches like ribbons and gift tags.

Do not miss Part Two talking all about how to create a wedding welcome gift letter for your guests (a must for any welcome gift!), and Part Three where I teach you everything I know about avoiding logistical mistakes with wedding welcome gifts (and there can be many!).

When designing custom wedding welcome gift bags, I take into consideration many factors such as wedding location, wedding style, budget, color palette and even the personalities and interests of the couple. But overall, the most important thing is to make sure the gifts are as well-balanced and as unique to the couple and their wedding as possible. 

Read on for some ideas for what to put into your wedding welcome gifts, and then stay tuned because we have two more posts coming in this series later this week and next! (For more, check out part two on how to write the perfect wedding welcome gift letter, and part three on avoiding logistical drama with your wedding welcome gifts.)

Wedding Welcome Gift Idea #1:  Local Keepsake

Keep your wedding top of mind long after your wedding is over! Including a meaningful local keepsake is a fantastic way to leave your guests with something to remember your wedding by.

When thinking about what to include in a wedding welcome gift, I always like to consider the location of the wedding. I adore city-specific coasters or even a notecard set featuring artwork depicting landmarks of the city where you’re getting married.

You can even let your gift packaging double as a keepsake by choosing a reusable tote bag with a screen-printed map of the wedding's location or area. You can also highlight hobbies or interests that play a role in your relationship.

The most important thing with any keepsake gifts inside your gifts for wedding guests is to have fun and get creative!

For these neutral toned wedding welcome gifts for a Long Island, New York wedding, we included a set of coasters featuring the iconic Fire Island Lighthouse. A local keepsake your wedding guests can take home to use in the future means they will think of your wedding day for years to come. 

Wedding Welcome Gift Idea #2:  Sweet Treat

Keep their sweet cravings at bay! Sweet treats inside of a wedding welcome gift is a win-win!

Who doesn't love a late night sweet treat when you're at a wedding? A sweet treat that is personalized to you is a great opportunity to choose something special to you and your fiancé. This is a great way to personalize your gifts and put something in your wedding welcome gifts you know your guests will enjoy!

Do you have a favorite bakery nearby where you live or your wedding's venue? An individually-wrapped brownie or cookie from your favorite establishment would be the perfect sweet (and meaningful!) snack, while also supporting a local business.

Are you having a seaside or beach destination wedding? Salt water taffy is a great ocean-inspired option to satisfy your wedding guests’ sugar cravings, while also giving them an on-theme taste of your wedding's location.

If you want to tie in your wedding color palette into the sweet treat of your welcome gifts, macarons are a fantastic way to show off your wedding colors. 

Or, perhaps you simply want to welcome your wedding guests with a celebratory vibe, in this case Champagne gummy bears or Champagne bubbly candy by Sugarfina are always a Marigold & Grey favorite!

For these mod black and white custom wedding welcome gifts, our couple chose a local sweet treat for their guests. Their wedding took place on Kiawah Island in South Carolina, so we included custom palmetto tree shaped cookies and praline pecans, a local favorite sweet treat for the South. 

Wedding Welcome Gift Idea #3:  Savory Snack

Keep them full and happy! To balance out the sweet, we always like to include some good old-fashioned salty in our wedding welcome gifts!

Your wedding guests have likely traveled far and wide to get to your wedding, or at the very least made time in their busy schedules to be a part of your big day. Greeting them at the hotel upon check in with a wedding welcome gift packed full of delicious salty and savory snacks will be a much appreciated hit.

Some ideas for savory snakes that we like include salted peanuts, flavorful crackers, bagel crisps, pita chips, trail mix, popcorn, gourmet potato chips or maybe even some high-quality beef jerky - we could go on and on! 

A savory snack inside your wedding welcome gifts ensures your wedding guests will be energized all weekend long.

For these modern destination wedding welcome gifts, the savory snack was pimento cheese flavored kettle potato chips, an iconic Southern inspired flavor that was perfect for a South Carolina wedding day.

Wedding Welcome Gift Idea #4:  Beverage

Keep them happy and hydrated! Including a beverage, like bottled water, in your wedding welcome gifts is a must!

Let’s face it. It’s pretty annoying to check into a hotel and discover that bottled water isn’t included in the hotel room. Help your wedding guests stay hydrated, especially since they’ll be enjoying cocktails and dancing the night away at your wedding reception. 

For an added touch, consider sparkling water. Mini San Pellegrino bottles always look nice and can really up-level any wedding welcome gift. Also, consider seasonally appropriate drinks such as gourmet hot chocolate for a winter wedding or a spring IPA beer from a local brewery to your wedding venue.

For these luxury, neutral toned custom wedding welcome gifts, we included two high end natural spring alkaline waters in luxurious glass bottles that perfectly fit the aesthetic of the wedding. 

Wedding Welcome Gift Idea #5:  Custom Paper Goods

Keep them informed and on time! In our wedding welcome gifts, we always like to include plenty of easily accessible information about the wedding and the venue or location so guests know exactly what to do and when.

Chances are, you have all the particulars spelled out on your wedding website as well as the invitation suite you mailed out. But, once guests arrive in town for your wedding, they may not have easy access to all the info.

Make it easy for your wedding guests by creating a weekend timeline along with any necessary maps to help them get to where they need to be. Bonus points if your welcome information includes local things to do, or places to keep them occupied in their new home away from home for your wedding.

Also, don’t forget a heartfelt message thanking your guests for making the trip. Take it a step further and create a booklet of the “who’s who” of your wedding party or even the background into your love story. 

I'll go deeper into the topic of what to include in your wedding welcome gift letter in part two of this three part series. Part three is all about how to avoid logistical nightmares with your wedding welcome gifts. 

These elegant ivory and blush wedding welcome gifts for a New York City wedding included a bevy of custom paper goods. A custom welcome note from the bride and groom welcomed their guests into the city while a vintage watercolor New York map card made sure their guests knew all the key locations for the wedding weekend. A wedding weekend itinerary card ensured guests would be on time for all the key events and a custom monogram gold foil tag tied it all together. 

Wedding Welcome Gift Idea #6:  Finishing Touches

Keep the tone set for a fun and festive wedding ahead! I like to pull our custom wedding welcome gifts, and our pre-designed wedding welcome gifts together with finishing touches that not only tie into the wedding, but help to create a celebratory vibe with each gift.

Pull your wedding welcome gifts all together with memorable finishing touches that take the gifts to the next level and really stay in your wedding guests' memory long after the wedding is over.

A finishing touch means ribbon that color coordinates perfectly with your wedding color palette, tied in the most perfect bow, of course. It can even mean greenery, either inside or outside of the welcome gift box or bag.

To complete these luxe Napa Valley wedding welcome gifts, we included a dried yellow Sanfordii flower bundle and a sage green satin ribbon with custom personalized gift tags to tie everything together. It was the perfect finishing touches for natural inspired wedding welcome gifts!

The sky is the limit when it comes to wedding welcome gifts! Be intentional with your wedding welcome gifts and think about what your guests would like to receive. What would make their stay more comfortable? What would introduce them to your wedding's venue or location? What would tell them a little bit about your love story? 

Don't forget, the six more important things to include in any wedding welcome gift are a local keepsake, a sweet treat, a savory snack, a beverage, customized paper goods, and finishing touches. No matter what you include in your wedding welcome gifts, remember to have fun with your wedding welcome gifts and create something uniquely yours!

A thoughtful and useful wedding welcome gift is a great way to set the tone for your wedding weekend. If you are looking for inspiration on how to design your wedding welcome gifts, be sure to check out our gallery of custom wedding welcome gift boxes and bags. 

For more helpful wedding welcome gifting tips, be sure to check out part two in this series all about how to create a wedding welcome gift letter, and part three all about wedding welcome gift logistics. 

Don't have time to create welcome gifts yourself for your guests? We would love to work with you to design the perfect custom wedding welcome gifts to start your wedding weekend with a special personalized touch. 

If you need quick and easy pre-designed wedding welcome gifts, be sure to shop our online gift shop. 

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: Lissa Ryan Photography