My OOT Bags~ the big hits and the things that weren't used

[1BeachBride]

 

 

@@itswrightsc No shipping! You can only buy it there in Jamaica. Go off the resort to a store there. If you ask them for Wray & Nephew (pronounced Ray), they will know what you are talking about. Or you can do Appleton Rum.. Both are well known Jamaican name brands like Absolute is here. Not expensive, probably a couple of dollars like airplane bottles here in USA. If you buy a lot they should give you a deal.

 

I would do little travel size bottles. Tie a yellow,black, & green ribbon on the neck of the bottle with a tag you make on the computer that says "Thanks & Irie Love - Bride name & Groom Name" (Irie means like "a whole lot" or "great")

 

You're wedding is close & you have a late start with OOT's. It'll be a lot of effort to get those done. You don't have to do them.

 

How many guests do you have?

Hope this helps you out!

[jackielemman]

Such great ideas! I have only begun getting items for my OOT bags but one special thing that I have found for my bridesmaids are embellished flip flops for the reception and personalized bridal bouquet charms. They are so cute! Found them on etsy.

[dewi70]

I've got the weekend itinerary, going to add maps of Negril and things to do, personalized keychain bottle openers, postcards, hand fans, ring pops, stir sticks, Oh Shit kits (bandaids, ibuprofen, pepto, and a safety pin), and shot glasses. But I think I might trade those out for travel mugs that you guys say are hits. Whatcha think, ladies?

Oh, I forgot my spf lipbalm and sunblock is in there, too. Some bags have mini domino sets, and others have playing cards. I have 30 guests coming, and most love these games. And, after reading these post for hours, I'm thinking washcloths might not be a bad idea. Thanks for all the wonderful ideas, BDW!!

[itswrightsc]

@@1BeachBride I didnt see this some how... (overworked brain)... okay so before I forget my email "theaulls07@@gmail.com

 

next I can kick myself because I am a little late with a lot.. it was like I had this great timing going and then work got crazy my mom got SUPER crazy with my shower.. (OMG) then I looked up and it was May... WTH

 

will say sorry ahead of time but I really need my numbers.. I am going to start a new post "Late start on Invites and OOT Bags... wait for it...     

 

thanks ladies...

[CB777]

I know how you feel -- it gets a little overwhelming

 

oh good I thought it was just me

This was soooo helpful!

Thanks! I'm so excited I could explode. Instead of exploding I'm trying to focus on working out

 

We're keeping the bags really simple with only the bag & two other big items. We are on a budget so I wanted to stick with a couple of simple things that are memorable.

 

1)  Because the bags were so expensive they are part the present... hopefully they like them. 1 bag per couple with the couple's last name embroidered on them. I ordered them but haven't gotten them yet. If I could do this over I would have gotten the Target bags becasue they are so cute and tropical & less expensive. But as we stand they are coming and they are part of their gift.

 

2) Other than the bag I did travel mugs for each person (I think I put a photo a few pages back) that came out to $3.something each and I only had to order 25 of them, so that was nice because I don't have to pay for a bunch of extras. Honestly, our group is full of non- alchololic drinkers, but when we are in Mexico they will have ice water & probably a few blended drinks, alcholic or not, I know my guests want their drinks cold and not warm when we are in the sun. So I know these will go over well. We're putting a little tag on this item that says something like "Drinks melting in the sun is never any fun, bring this mug to the beach & to the pool to keep things nice & cool" Not quite perfected wording yet, but we'll get there.

 

3) Underwater camera for our group excursion. We thought this would be good because they suggest not bringing a good camera on the trip (partly because they want us to buy their expensive photos during the excursion), but we wanted everyone to have a camera for ziplining & snorkeling that they would be comfortable with losing or dropping. It's a tough camera that you can drop without harming it. We ordered these on Amazon and got 10 for about $64.00 We will give one per couple being there are 24 shots per camera and I didn't see people carrying their own camera and taking that many photos. Most couples would probably trade off who carries it, etc. For this we will have a little tag that says something like "Snorkeling in the sea or an adventure trying something new, Use this waterproof camera & be sure to share your photos when you are through..." on the back of the tag we'll have info on our WikiAlbums Group where everyone can upload their photos for sharing with the group. (We picked WikiAlbums becasue of their privacy policy) 

 

4) Not so much a gift as something for our ceremony, we are putting cute little containers with sand from the beach where we'll be married (we'll gather it once we get to Mexico) with a tag that asks each guest to spend time sending their intent of well wishes and happiness infusing the grains of sand. At the ceremony each guest will put in thier sand in first as the foundation to our sand ceremony. We'll add our colored sand on top of the sand from the beach. It is important to us to have everyone there to participate in our ceremony, being they are all so special to us. This is how we decided to do that. There will be a tag on this item as well, explaining all of the above.

 

5) I was SO close to buying personalized matches and little heart candles. I started to get out of control and was going to by "extras" of these for our at home reception and the cost went up to $150. I realized I was going crazy & needed to stop. So neither Mexico guests or AHR guests get these. I just had to stop. It was hard not to buy these because I really love candles and part of our theme is "Love & Light" - so hear shaped candles with matches would be PERFECT. It still is hard, but I'm not buying them..... for now.  

 

That's it for us. Every time I go into Target I get SO close to spending another $50 on cute little asprin or sunscreen or chapstick - the good ideas are so endless, but then I go back to deep breathing and I snap out of it. Buying stuff & getting creative can totally suck me in and if I'm honest to myself I started doing it as a "Thank You" to our guests and then I realize that something else takes over (maybe nerves, or wanting people to like me, or say I'm doing a good job?? ) and I really do have to stop.

 

So I'm done for now. As long as I can remember to breathe & put the wallet away!

Love this post!

Women are so well prepared!

[jayejayelynn]

Great read. Good to know!! Starting to plan mine out

[luisanmike]

I have over 150 - why can't I open these attachments 

[BusyBee280]

I want to do something like this for my guests but I'm worried it will just be money out the window- and that my guests won't end up using most of it.

 

I wanted to add an itinerary of the trip, a welcome letter, a menu to the restaurant we will be going the night before the wedding, a map with locations on it, and a rainshaker made by a local shop in Puerto Vallarta.

 

I'm still trying to find that something extra to add in and make it special for them though-

 

for afterwards, I was considering using some of the lace from my wedding dress/veil to make picture frames for our portraits to give to family.

[andiegarcia]

We purchased our tumbler cups from Dollar Tree (via dollartree.com).  They are perfect, nothing fancy for something that will probably be used once for our Mexico wedding but very affordable.  Then we found a vendor on Etsy to do a vinyl label for our cups.  The cups were $24 (for 24 cups) and the decal was $30.  We have a small guest list for our wedding so it was easy for us to add into our welcome bags at an affordable cost.

 

I hope this helps someone!

[Chrysta]

Thanks for all the great information!