Leaving guest bags in the hotel rooms of out of town guests has become a Soirée signature over the years. It really adds a special touch to a wedding weekend and helps guests navigate activities in a new city. The keys to making a great guest bag are two-fold – make it useful and make it personal.

Make it useful: We fill our guest bags with things the guests will actually use during the weekend. Water bottles, snacks, emergency kits with bandaids, antacids, ibuprofen, eye drops, etc. are all items that will come in handy. We try to make sure the bags can be used after the wedding weekend by not printing the couple’s names or wedding date on the outside of the bag. No one wants to carry a bag that says “Katie and Ross” around. We print those details discreetly on the inside of the bag so that it’s still there – but it doesn’t warrant the bag useless in the future.

Make it personal: The wedding is all about the couple getting married – so have the guest bag reflect that notion. Include the bride and groom’s favorite snacks or drinks and local favorites from the bride and groom’s hometowns. We recently did a wedding in Sea Island, GA but the couple was from Dallas – so we put Texas Beef Jerky in all the bags. For a groom from Chicago, we incorporated his favorite hometown beer and local popcorn.