Congrats and welcome to the forum! Check out some reviews from past brides from different palace resorts to help you get some more information, good luck with all the planning!
I don't think it's necessary to give her an extra gift, as your gift is paying for her trip. The only thing more I might do is to make a nice thank you card for her for being a part of your day.
Sticking with the New Orleans theme sounds great, but what were you thinking of putting on the OOT bags? I would probably just make it a beach theme myself.
Congrats and welcome to the forum! I'm also getting married in 2011 in May. We chose Mexico as we are paying for everything on ourselves with a tight budget and found it to be our best deal. Good luck with all the planning!