It is DIY week at Oh Lovely Day, and I want to kick the week off with a DIY project I did for my own wedding.  I’ve been to a lot of weddings.  AAAAA LOT!  And as an out-of-town guest, I have always appreciated a good welcome bag.  So when I was planning my wedding and knew a majority of our guests were coming to California from all over, I vowed to make them as comfortable as possible.

I wanted to make my welcome bag a little more personal than the generic brown or colored paper bag with a couple of things thrown in.  I wanted them to include what I believe are necessities.  And I wanted them to be easy and inexpensive for me!
Materials for the bags:
  • Canvas tote bags (from cheaptotes)
  • Iron-on printer paper (from office depot)
  • An iron
  • A printer
  • An image to print
We had a monogram that we included on our save-the-dates, invitation suite, and other wedding details, and I wanted to put in on our welcome bags.  I had to reverse the image so that when it was printed and ironed on it would read correctly.  I bought enough tote bags to accommodate each out-of-town couple or guest for our wedding.  I printed a coordinating number of monograms.  Then I found a hard surface (a table works well- an ironing board doesn’t work as well).  Follow the directions on the transfer paper packaging.  I laid an old pillow case down on the table, put the tote on top of that, and placed the printed paper where I wanted it on the tote.  Then I ironed each image on until I had done enough totes for everyone.
Next you have to fill the bags.  Here are what I consider essentials:
  • 2 bottles of water (this is the most important thing, and one bottle is NOT enough unless for only one person!)
  • Snacks (in ours I included special K cereal bars, a bag of chips or crackers, and a small bag of Isabella’s Cookies, which are made where we had our wedding and are my absolute fave!)
  • Hangover helpers (tums, advil, etc.)
  • A map of the area and activities & restaurant recommendations
  • Mints and/or gum
  • An itinerary of events, including any shuttle departure times (if applicable)
  • Sunscreen (if in a beachy area)

Here is a picture of our finished product, complete with itinerary and other items with our monogram:
Total approximate cost per bag = $6
Making your guests feel welcomed, comfortable, informed, and hydrated….priceless

Has anyone else done their own DIY welcome bags?

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