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There's a lot of information out there surrounding wedding client gifts and it can be overwhelming for those who don't know where to even begin.
You want to elevate your clients experience but...how?
There are so many things to take into consideration when thinking about adding gifting to your workflow: budget, how many clients you book a year, if you are working with the couple, their parents or someone else, your list of services, do you do onboarding, offboarding or both, what should you include..the list goes on.
Luckily, our experience working with countless Wedding Planners, Wedding Photographers, DJs, Florists and even Venues across the country has helped us compile the most frequently asked questions to help you in your gift service search:
How much should I spend on client gifts?
My advice is to assess the financial health of your business first and see if client gifting is something you can take on at the moment. It's an investment, albeit a valuable one, but it's great to weigh your options. Outsourcing is meant to help you, not cause you stress so when in your search for a gift service, ask questions! Transparency is important. Also, don't feel the need to deep dive into spending $100+ each on a gift right off the bat and if you feel pressured to spend more than you are comfortable with, then take a step back. On average, we see client gift spending around $75-$125 per gift however sometimes it's less, sometimes it's more! Do what is best for you and your business (not what someone else is doing!).
What kinds of services are offered for client gifting?
There has been a huge uptick of gift box companies and gifting platforms over the years and we are all different in our own ways. Our products, style, customer service and gift services offered vary across the board. With that said, do your research- client gifting becomes an extension of your workflow and you want that professionalism to be reflected in all aspects, including the style of gifting to reflect your brand. On demand and automated gift services are a great way to really implement into your workflow and save you time so as soon as your client signs their contract with you, a gift goes out, you get tracking and boom-done! Some pros start off by DIYing and some start off outsourcing right away. Again, once you determine what's best for you, we offer gift ideas and solutions through our curated shop, semi-custom gifting or full custom design. Note: semi-custom and full custom do come with additional fees for the services.
When should I send a client gift? During onboarding or offboarding?
Desirée Adams is a Business Owner, Wedding Planner and Podcast Host. Her business, Verve Event Co., is based in Rochester, NY working with couples to design the most stunning heirloom events from the ground up in the Finger Lakes and Upstate NY regions and beyond.
We both share the same love language of gifting and Desirée actually used to do her own! When she realized the time it takes to source, assemble and ship client gifts, she made the decision to outsource the task.
The goal for her client gifts were to be fun, celebratory and practical for her couples to enjoy together. She wanted the message to her clients to be that she was thinking of them, and they can truly rely on her to get this job done--which her proven track record is nothing short of 5 star service.
The level of personalization for her client gifts includes Desirée her own custom stationery and branded gift tags by Brittany Lilly Designs.
Let's talk about The Gift:
Let's just take a minute to swoon over this gift, shall we!?
Getting to know Desirée has been both wonderful and inspiring. She goes above and beyond to make her client experience seamless and stress free in addition to turning wedding dreams into a reality!
If you haven't done so already, check out her work and see for yourself!
Client Testimonial: "I cannot stress how much time, stress, and headaches working with Lavender & Pine has saved me. Now, I can focus on delivering an amazing client experience from the minute a new client works with me until we hug goodbye. I'm able to wow them with a thoughtful gift almost instantly, which is priceless." -Desirée Adams, Owner, Verve Event Co.
Let's talk about The Gifts:
On-boarding Gift
Renewal Gift
Product Photography by Alex Healy Studios
You know when you meet someone that just gets you? I had that instant connection with Cora Jane when we met to discuss her client gifts. There was this mutual understanding of people, relationships and a sincere appreciation for her clients which made a perfect recipe for this new working partnership. The goal for her custom client gifts was to create a warm, romantic and luxurious gift for the couple to enjoy together. Cora provided her own black and white branded stationery to maintain that on brand luxe feel and we worked one on one with Brittany Lilly Designs to create custom branded gift tags.
Let's talk about The Gift:
As you can see, the bold stationery gives the gift a beautiful contrast and breaks up the white space from the minimalist packaging. Curating this gourmet client gift for Cora Jane also allowed us to get creative when we knew the whisk wouldn't quite fit in the box since the pancake mix and syrup are full sized products. We opted to tie the whisk on the outer packaging which not only elevates the gift but creates a level of excitement when her recipients open their gift. Lastly, we adorned the gift box with a beautiful bow and custom gift tag.
Not shown: Cora's branded packing tape to seal her packages! It truly makes for the perfect final touch for her gifts.
We love sharing our experiences we've had with our clients. Cora knew exactly how she wanted her clients to feel when receiving such a thought-out gift and was open to suggestions on how to get there. The result? a cozy, delicious, and luxurious gift for her couples to enjoy together.
Product Photography by Alex Healy Studios
Working directly with our incredible bride, Alexis, the goal for her custom welcome gifts was to create a gift box full of the couples' favorite snacks for their out-of-town guests after postponing their 2020 October wedding to November 2021 due to the pandemic. Alexis also worked one on one with Bella Giornata Paper Co. to create beautiful gift tags and itineraries that included sweet nods to the couples' love of music which played a HUGE part of their wedding: Alexis and Michael, who are both incredibly talented, serenaded their guests, and each other on the big day....talk about romantic!
Let's talk about The Gift:
We knew just what to do to create an awesome welcome gift for Alexis and Michael. In an effort to keep the gift elevated and cohesive, we repackaged the cherry gummies, that came in plastic packaging, into glass jars with gold lids that complimented the gold in the Perrier cans.
(Pro tip: When repackaging food, ALWAYS make sure the ingredients are visible and exact)
Next, we included Lukes Truffle Chips that I may or may not have ordered an extra case for myself--yes, they are THAT good. The final touch included two fresh baked chocolate chip cookies, from The Sugared Almond Company, packaged in a clear cello bag and tied with a music note charm to include a sweet musical element!
For packaging we used a disposable white tuck top box, tied with a beautiful, satin burgundy ribbon, gift tag and an everlasting floral bundle that included boxwood and miniature roses (we didn't snag a picture of the florals but trust me when I say they were gorgeous!).
I just love sharing the same enthusiasm about gifting with our couples and working with Alexis on these was a dream--she knew what she wanted, was open to suggestions and we were able to create really beautiful welcome gifts for hers and Michaels guests.
From Alexis: "Alexandra, thank you for adding that extra special touch for our wedding day. Everyone loved the boxes!!! They were beautiful and delicious."
Congratulations Alexis & Michael!!
Product Photography by Alex Healy Studios
So, you REALLY want to add wedding welcome gifts to your list of "Wedding Must Haves" but not sure if you should outsource the job or DIY?
Below are 4 reasons why you may want to seriously consider hiring an expert to handle your wedding welcome gifts:
1. Expert Curation
Sure, you know the products that you want and can easily head over to Amazon to buy in bulk, but if you are a sucker for consistency and want your welcome gifts to be "on brand" with the whole vibe of your wedding, finding products that not only look nice but are great quality AND go together, is no easy feat. Another detail that's often not thought about while curating are the dimensions of the products! To us, curating is like a game of Tetris but to most, finding products that you want, look nice, compliment the other products while all fitting nicely inside a bag or a box--can be a total headache!
2. Packaging
It goes without saying that welcome bags are way easier to assemble than boxes, but we have a very particular way of curating both so that your products don't get crushed, are not just thrown inside and don't compromise the packaging (meaning that your gift doesn't look like it's busting at the seams). Welcome Boxes will triple your assembly time because of the filler aka crinkle you need to hold products in place and the bow tying will take just as long.
If you don't know how to tie bows, not sure where to even get boxes, ribbons or bags then I recommend you quit while you're ahead, save yourself a huge headache and just fill out our inquiry form now ;)
3. Saves You Time
So often I hear how gifting "won't take long" and my response is this: if you're going to keep it super simple and throw 2 bottles of water, bags of chips and a chocolate bar in a gift bag, then sure..I'd say you won't spend a lot of time assembling. But if you are looking for details, clean and sturdy product placement, perfect bows and packaging that WOWs---it's going to take hours, sometimes days depending on how many we are building and the details of the gift. Our service partners QUALITY with QUANTITY that will completely relieve you of that time suck during the week leading up to your wedding day!
4. Delivery and Hotel Coordination
Part of our service is to handle the coordination with hotels where room blocks are secured and it is our job to schedule a delivery date and time that is in line with your wedding guest check in, the hotel staff, traffic implications and time of year due to weather (on the East Coast we do have snow!). We also have the means to transport anywhere from 24-100+ gifts just days before your wedding. If you have someone that can handle this for you, I recommend giving them detailed instructions about a month before they have to do the job so they are prepared!
To DIY or not to DIY?
If you are ready to outsource the task, fill out our inquiry form to schedule a call and we can talk through the fun details of what you are looking for and how we can potentially work together! Working with a Wedding Planner? We are more than happy to work 1:1 with your Planner to build the perfect welcome gifts for your wedding.
If you made it this far and still up to the DIY challenge (that's what I did for my wedding!), WE ARE ROOTING FOR YOU! We are not only cheering you on but also sharing our free welcome gift checklist to help keep you organized! Check it out here and don't forget to tag us @lavenderandpinegifting on Instagram to show us your creations, we LOVE to see our couples getting creative and having fun with it!
Grab your free welcome gift checklist!
