Planning a destination wedding can be overwhelming, especially with 50 guests or more! Welcome your guests to a fun beach destination wedding in the sun with a bright (and practical) welcome bag. We’ve made it easy for you to create customized bags friends and family will rave about during the entire trip!
Step 1: Gather Your Supplies
For this DIY, gather the following supplies in the quantity you need at least four weeks before the wedding date. We recommend placing one welcome bag in each hotel room or one per family.
- Natural jute bag (They also come in lots of other fabulous colors!)
- Seahorse bottle stopper
- Party straws and personalized beach straw flags
- Personalized bottle labels
- Personalized sunscreen bottle
- Pretzels, trail mix, salt water taffy or any of your favorite treats
- Bottles of water
- Paper favor bags (Coming soon to Kate Aspen! These personalized paper favor bags are a great substitute.) and personalized stickers
- Sunglasses (We love these personalized sunglasses from My Wedding Favors. Include one per person in each bag!)
- Beach favor boxes
- Dotted gold foil hand fan
- Baker’s twine
- Mini champagne bottle (optional)
- Beach towel (optional)
- Mini Emergency Kit:
- 1 – Gold stripe muslin favor bag
- 1 – Advil® – travel size, individually sealed packet
- 1 – Pepto Bismol® – travel size, individually sealed packet
- 2 – Band-aids®
- 2 – Safety pins
- 1 – Travel size aloe vera
- 1 – Shout® wipes – travel size, individually sealed packet
- 1 – Insect Repellent Wipes – travel size, individually sealed packet (optional)
- 1 – Roll of TUMS® – travel size, individually sealed packet (optional)
- 6 – Bobby pins (optional)
Step 2: Make Fan Programs
Since it’s difficult to travel with assembled bags, we recommend bringing all items to your destination and building all bags there before handing them out to guests. You can also ask your wedding planner or coordinator for help!
Two to three weeks before the wedding, work ahead and start creating fan programs.
Planning Tip: Creating your program fans weeks ahead will help you be prepared! Host a DIY party and ask friends and family to offer a hand with all wedding DIY projects.
Step 3: Prep Your Snacks & Drinks
Begin by placing some savory snacks in paper favor bags and sealing them with a customized sticker. Salt water taffy is a great beach-inspired candy to place in a tiny favor box for a few extra sweet treats!
Planning Tip: If it’s easier, purchase all snacks at your destination or buy treats that travel easily.
Next, stick personalized bottle labels to water bottles and adhere personalized straw flags to paper straws. Then, tie one straw to a water bottle and another straw to a mini champagne bottle with baker’s twine. Don’t forget to include a special ombré seahorse bottle stopper in each bag!
Step 3: Create Emergency Kits
One thing your guests will be thankful for–emergency kits! Some of your guests are bound to forget important items or they might need aloe vera after lying in the sun too long.
Add all emergency kit essentials (in Step 1) to a gold striped muslin bag and tie each bag shut. Depending on your destination, it’s smart to pack necessities like sunblock, and aloe vera, but don’t forget bug repellent wipes if you’re in a jungle destination (like Cancun or Costa Rica) or stain remover wipes in case of a wine spill!
Step 4: Assemble
Assembly is always the easiest step! Place all your items inside each beach bag. If you included a few extra items for one specific family, tie tags around the handle with the family or individual’s name so you can keep track of them all.
Now the whole gang is ready to relax, soak up the sun, and enjoy the wedding festivities!
How would you customize your own wedding welcome bags? Tell us in the comments!
