Welcome bags are wonderful for destination weddings. It's one thing that I have noticed that guests consistently rave about. The thing is, they can get pretty pricey. This last season the bags we delivered ran between $5.oo each and $32 each. I know, pretty big range. What drives the cost is the actual container you choose, what is in the bag, and the expense of assembly and delivery. Most resorts will charge a fee to deliver to the guests rooms. Others may allow you to drop it off at the front desk for when your guests actually arrive free of charge. For sure check on this in advance. So what if even $5 isn't in your budget? There is still something you can do. The reason we do welcome bags to to welcome wedding guests who are from out of the area, introduce them to the locale, and provide them with the weekends itinerary (if there's more than just the wedding ceremony & reception). If you can't do this, how about sending out a wedding newsletter to all the guests who have RSVP'd "YES!", including all the information on it: Itinerary, favorite & nearby restaurants, things to do, and for sure a map. All this costs is your time, some nice paper, and postage. For certain, this is much less expensive, and your guests will still be tickled pink that you thought of them in advance. Got a little wiggle room in the budget? Use photostamps to spice it up. Or if you and your groom aren't camera shy, do a welcome dvd and mail that to everyone! You can totally get creative with this. And if one of you does do the welcome dvd- send me one, I want to see!
Here comes the organized wedding planner chiming in: There is absolutely no need to wait to do this. It can be done way way in advance. Don't dilly dally.
