Wedding Series: Destination Wedding Welcome Bags

Hi Bellas,

I'm back with another post in my wedding series! One of the projects that I was working on for months was building Welcome Bags for my destination wedding. This is something that you'd typically give out of town wedding guests at hotel check in, but since all of my guests were out of town, everyone got one. I also thought of it as my gift to them for flying all the way to the Dominican Republic for my destination wedding. Check it out!


I was really inspired by many helpful posts on Etsy where crafts brides to be were creating super creative and affordable gift bags.  I knew I would be creating over 50 bags so I wanted to watch my budget but still make it nice.

The first idea that I saw and loved was a Hangover Kit.  I hoped that my guests would have some fun with this idea and it should come in handy considering we're staying at an all inclusive resort where drinks are flowing!  You can actually make your own custom bags, but I ordered some cute personalized paper bags from eBay for a great deal.  I was all about personalization with these wedding crafts.  On the bag you can get your name and wedding date, so cute!
For the Hangover Kit, I found some great ideas on pinterest.  Anything that soothes the head and stomach is great for this little bag.  I ended up finding these items from a Wholesale store where I was able to get several dozen of each item for pretty cheap.  I recommend buying these in bulk even from stores like Sams or even checking out the dollar store.


I bought a lot of these items from www.OrientalTrading.com 
This is a great resource to buy even wedding items in bulk at wholesale prices.  I was able to get these cute anchor recyclable bags for $11.99 per dozen.  Then I filled it with items that I thought would be great for the beach including:

  • Customizable orange water bottle (close to my coral wedding color)- I got this idea when I went to an all inclusive resort and saw that all of the guests had the same cup at the pool which they just had the bartender refill.  Great for meeting other wedding guests at the resort!  I got 50 pieces for $120...not bad for $2 and some change per bottle.  I know that a lot of my guests did end up using this at the resort; even using it during excursions and refilling at meals.
  • Mini Sunscreen
  • Mini flip flop jelly candy - you get 20 bags for just $6.99 on Oriental Trading
  • Waterproof Beach Carriers - Pictured in Purple, this little carrier is great for stowing cash or other small items at the beach - it's waterproof so you can wear it around your neck and even get a little wet in the water
  • Custom Door Hanger from Etsy - "Do Not Disturb" We partied all night at Adrian & Renelyn's Wedding:  I had the design made on etsy then simply printed them on card stock and cut them out
  • Local Treats - I visited my venue in the Dominican Republic the month before and picked up a bunch of local chips, candy, and chocolate from a local grocery store.  The guests starting eating them as soon as they got the bags at check in - they were hungry after their long trip!
  • Use lots of tissue paper in your wedding colors to make the bag look nice and full
My guests loved these bags.  I'm glad I went through the trouble of adding the customization details and local treats.  It really was my gift to my guests for traveling so far for my destination wedding.

Don't forget to follow my Wedding Board on Pinterest for more ideas!