When Marc and I got engaged back in 2018 it was a no brainer that I was going to be the HBIC in regards to all things gifting. I mean, our engagement is what kicked off this entire business. Side note: I’ll never understand why I was crazy enough to plan a wedding AND start a business at the same time (WHO DOES THAT), but alas, here we are..

I get a lot of people asking me “Do we really NEED welcome gifts?” The short answer is no. You don’t NEED to do anything. It’s your wedding, your budget and your preference! For those that would like to include them in your wedding, great! I’m here to help. Welcome Gifts are becoming more and more popular as they are a wonderful and thoughtful way of thanking your guests for traveling to celebrate your Big Day!

Funny thing is that from November 2018 until July 2019 (a month before our wedding) I had NO IDEA what I wanted in my welcome gifts, hah, go figure! Luckily, I ended up having extra inventory of two piece white boxes from a previous custom order so I ended up using those for my packaging and Lord knows I have a lifetime supply of crinkle paper (gift filling) so from there we decided on what deliciousness went INSIDE which is obviously the best part!

When building a Welcome Gift, you want to check as many snack categories as possible but I use the below as a guide whenever I am curating for clients:

• Sweet Snack
• Salty Snack
• Hydrating Beverage
• Caffeinated Beverage
• Hangover Amenities
• Itinerary

Marc entrusted me with the entire gift– his one request was to include our favorite sparkling water, San Pellegrino, to which I obliged (and it was on sale at our local grocer so I got them for .87 a piece!) From there, I included two different types of Nonni’s Biscotti, my favorite Marcona Almonds, Starbucks Double Shot Espresso (for a pick me up before the festivities or the morning after) two chocolate covered salted caramels and finally ADVIL! We were able to fit quite a bit into these boxes and I was so happy with the end result.

PRO TIP: purchase your boxes FIRST so when you go shopping for contents, bring a box with you so you can make sure all items fit securely– It really is a puzzle!

As you can see from the mess above, terrible lighting included, these took some time to put together but were SO worth it. Luckily, I had help from my mom and bridesmaid Megan!

When all was said and done we made 42 boxes. My mom had the brilliant and very time consuming idea to include two different types of ribbon for these quad bows, a thin ivory and 1.5 inch sheer white. In addition we added fresh boxwood sprigs to go with the garden theme of our wedding. (Yes, the boxwood ended up looking like the Charlie Brown Christmas tree when we were done with it!) The tags added just the right amount of color to this gift. I was so excited that our guests would be receiving these beauties! Two days before our wedding, I dropped them off at the hotel and they were handed out upon guest arrival!

Are you interested in Wedding Welcome gifts? Have any questions on the process? Feel free to comment or reach out to hello@lavenderandpinegifting.com and let’s chat!