Guest Blogger: Welcome Bags

welcome bag.

as our guests arrived to chicago they still had no idea where the ceremony would be, aside from the fact it was within 3 miles of hotel 71.

sticker on the back side of the bag.

the stickers were supposed to pull on the color palette and the rsvp card; also the design wasn't offered in black. i liked the way it looked on the outside of the bag, but i didn't really like the way it looked on the items inside.

inside the bag was quite a handful of chicago-ness,

including one particular item marked:

"the location"

this was the map that announced to our guests where the venue was and how to get there!

kate from my office helped me design these maps. it took a few lunch-time trips down to kinkos (they are so frustrating to work with!). the outside was an image of an old chicago map, folded to a paper source template. the inside was a current-day map, with directions to a new leaf and other important landmarks:

also inside, i made "handy" bring-along business cards (gocco'd) with the address and phone number of the venue, as well as a reminder of the time - 5:30pm sharp! if our guests were going to be out and about on st. patrick's day weekend, we thought the pint-sized address cards might come in more handy than a map.

also in the bag:

neighborhood maps ...

park map ...

and chicago articles bundled up with a read me tag:

{from the red eye}
[from dwell magazine]

for our local guests who were not staying at the hotel, our wonderful day-of-coordinator made phone calls on friday to announce the venue and give the address. she even called everyone staying at the hotel to make sure they got their welcome bag and venue map. she was wonderful. don't forget, this had meant i needed to create a phone number list, which i had not done when i made our guest spreadsheet with addresses. at the time, gathering phone numbers was yet another chore on the to-do list!

Comments

[Riley (aka Rachel)]

These are awesome!! You really did a great job on these!

[Kyra]

You really kept the throughline of the speakeasy style throughout. I am amazed at the attention to detail. It must have been awesome to attend!

[Broke-ass Bride]

Guh - I am in AWE of your awesome and innovative approach! As a born/bred Chicagoan, I really LOVE your concept and the execution was simply adorable! What a fun way to get the guests involved and excited. I'm so impressed.