welcome bags/ favors/overall decor

Hello Future Brides

I am getting married in 4 months. We've decided on Sandal Grande Ocho Rios in Jamiaca. I heard a lot about Sandals Resorts, but I didn't have the time (or money) to visit the resort before the wedding. I'm going in blind, hoping that I can hold the wedding of my dreams. We will be having about 12-20 guests. I want to put together really nice welcome packages to be waitng for each couple. I like the idea about monogrames beach bags, towels, flips and magizines, but what else should I include. Also, while the women will appriaciate those items, I don't think most men will care. Any ideas on what to include in welcome bags for my male guests? Also what about wedding favors? I have plenty ideas for the women, but I don't know what to do about the men. I want to do something nice for the people who are taking the time and the money to come share our day. Thanks for any help.

Heidi

Hi! I love the idea of welcome bags for anyone traveling to a destination wedding. It shows your guests just how much you truly value their presence. I've also been trying to come up with some ideas about what to include for men specifically... a sporting magazine, a travel guide to the wedding destination, a gourmet snack, or if the hotel has a golf course you could prepay for the men to use the driving range. Most driving ranges use a token that you insert into a machine that spills out the balls, so in the welcome basket you could include a couple of tokens for the guys to go to the driving range. If you have time to find out what the locals enjoy, maybe you can design your welcome basket as a way to "immerse" your guests into the culture of your destination. (i.e.: what type of beer is local to the island, or what kind of jewelry is made by the locals, etc). Hope this helps!
Pamela

Love this idea and I'm going to use some of the suggestions I've read. I'm wondering if people usually mail down the bags early so that they are already in peoples' rooms or how is the best way to go about getting them in the rooms? I'm sure I like the idea of mailing all the stuff and having the resort try and get them in the rooms but how else can I have them waiting in the room upon arrival??

Any suggestions/info would be great!!

Hi everyone! I just started using this website today and came across some of your questions regarding welcome bags. I just got engaged and am planning a destination wedding in Cabo San Lucas. I also am having welcome bags for all of the guests. I did find a lot of bags on the internet that I thought were very cute, but a bit pricey-I'm having about 50-60 guests. I found these great bags at www.ceriwholesale.com for really cheap. Regarding what is going in them? I am planning on putting in a photo album,wedding camera,bottled water,sunscreen,maps, itinerary and maybe something like nuts/fruit. For guys you may want to do something like a cigar-just a thought. I am also getting to my destination a few days ahead, that way I can assure that things are being done and I can personally put the welcome bags in my guests rooms. Best of luck to all of you getting married.:-D
Danielle

I did welcome bags for my Mexico destination wedding back in July 06. I went with mesh bags I got from Oriental Trading (assorted colors). I thought the mesh bags were a good idea especially when you go to the beach, the sand comes right out. In the bags I put a personalized towel with our names and the date of our wedding, a back scratcher, chapstick w/suncreen, photo album from a craft store, tubes of bath confetti (for the romantics), Rolaids (we took these separately). I made up tags (I used blank placecards I got from a dollar store and made labels w/a welcome note). I attached them to the bag w/a keychain that had a morocca on it (also from Oriental Trading). I shipped all the bags already made up to the resort. As guests arrived and checked in and got situated into their rooms, my wedding coordinator wrote their names and room number on the front of the tag and had them hand delivered by one of the employees. It was awesome seeing the golfcart filled with my bags being delivered. The bags were a huge hit and EVERYONE used them. Other guests at the resort asked about them and by the second day everyone knew Pablo and Alisa and that we were getting married there. It was like walking into the set of "Cheers" where everyone knows your name! No lie! The towels were a hit too because they didn't have to use the hotel towels and get dinged if they "lost" the towel card. You knew who was part of my wedding guests by their mesh bags! My story is listed on the website in their featured weddings (Pablo and Alisa). Good luck! :-D

[jennymartin14]

Where did you order the personalized towels from for the welcome baskets?

here is the website I used: http://www.towelsonsale.com/

Good Luck!

[albianstar]

I am doing welcome items
So far I have ordered custom fan favors(our mane, date on them ) from weddingthings.com. I Will use for ceremony on each seat in case it is hot it will be nice

I am ordering insulated mugs from discoubtmugs.com with our wedding logo on it. Good for the drinks at the resort

I have 60 plus people coming so i dont want it to get out of hand cost wise, but plan on putting sunscreen etc in the cup and wraping with celophane.

Also looking at some gel orhid candles and mini beach bags for the tables

[bride2B]

A few of our guests are going to make it to our resort before us, that is just the way it worked out with flights, but I am thinking of hand delivering the welcome bags to people once we get in and then either doing the same thing or having them in the rooms waiting for the other guests who will arrive after us. I agree that there does feel like more "female" things to go in the bags, but I am trying to put in things everyone will like. I am going to put in can coolers that I think all will enjoy. I am also thinking about putting in a frisbee/beach ball/water toy that may be more enjoyed by the males. www.orientaltrading.com is a great website to get tropical items, in bulk and for pretty cheap. They have bags and then items that could go in them too.

[coffeelover23]

I agree that it's hard to know what to give guys as wedding favors. It depends on your budget, but I think that local specialty gifts are a really good idea and could be the cheapest. If you have a little more money to spend, maybe something like cuff links would be great.