Bellissimo and Bella: Awesome Wedding Guest Bag

A little over a year ago, one of my friends and former clients, Michele, became engaged to her sweetheart, Brett! We previously worked on her condo in Atlanta, only to have her meet her prince shortly after and make the move from Atlanta to Dallas!

I was so thrilled for her as I was installing her condo on the weekend they met - when she arrived home to find her newly furnished condo she called to tell me how happy she was with the result and about meeting this awesome new guy in Napa. As a bridesmaid at a wedding in the gorgeous California wine country, she met a fun wedding guest that would later be her husband.

After their engagement, I was enlisted as a wedding consultant - just a friend to bounce off ideas, make suggestions, find vendors, etc. Then, a little while later the subject of me coming to Dallas for the wedding came up. By this point a quick glance of the calendar told us I'd be 8 months preggie for the festivities. Sadly, I knew I didn't need to head to TX to work the wedding, so it was agreed I'd do what I could from Georgia for their March 2013 nuptials.

First on the list:

Bridal Registries

To say I had a ball helping Michele chose items for her registries would be a gross understatement! I felt like the bride all over again! And she trusted me to pick out things I knew she needed and of course the fun things too! :) Williams Sonoma, Crate and Barrel, Pottery Barn, Neiman Marcus, and Heery's Too....man, was it a treat!

Second on the list:

Guest Bags for the out of town guests and wedding party

We finally got these under way after Christmas, so there was a little bit of a rush to get them completed and sent to TX in a 2 month period!

I decided to use a canvas reusable grocery bag to hold our contents. Amazon had some great ones that were well-priced.

Instead of writing the traditional note to include in the bag, I designed these fun tags with the help of Darby Cards in Nashville via Etsy. The gray and white chevron background along with the coral silhouette of the state of Texas would be the color scheme for our bags' paper products, and more.

Matches just seem very apropos for a wedding favor, don't you think?

I used Favors and Flowers, upon recommendation of Martha Stewart magazine, for the custom match boxes. The crisp white box was precious with the personalized gray and white chevron sticker.

Michele had the great idea of doing a boot-shaped koozie for the guest bags, in honor of her Texas beau. So, I designed a light gray version for the wedding weekend on Quality Logo's website.

As another homage to the groom's Texas roots, mini 1.9 oz. Texas Pete Hot Sauce bottles were included as well. So cute!

A few more of our fun treats:

The best gum ever - Trident Layers Strawberry

Everyone's best friend on Sunday mornings after a wedding - Tylenol Extra Strength

And snacks in honor of the bride - Mini Moon Pies and Cheese Straws: While growing up in Tennessee, Michele lived next door to the family who invented Moon Pies, so including these was special to her. And as as a nod to both Michele and Brett's Southern roots, Betsy's Cheese Straws were the only thing that would do.

Betsy's offered me a smaller wedding favor sized bag that fit perfectly into the guest bags. I used Davet Designs via Etsy to help me design a cute sticker for them.

The bride's family are all big fans of boiled peanuts, and I knew that only Hardy Farms would do! The peanuts are not only grown and packaged in my home town, but the Hardys are relatives of mine too.

Their 8 oz. bag is the perfect size for a wedding favor. I included these in my wedding guest bags a few years ago, and they were a hit!

About a week before the wedding, I shipped 50 assembled guest bags, wedding favors, and programs to Dallas - 4 huge boxes via UPS. Once the bags arrived, water bottles would be added as well as a map of the festivities, and last but not least, a bottle of wine too. Since the bride and groom met in Napa, it was only appropriate to include wine in the weekend's bag.

Here's what the koozies and labels looked like when used.

At the time of their meeting in California, Michele lived in Atlanta and Brett lived in Dallas....Gold Fox Paper via Etsy helped me design this adorable wine bottle label for the couple.

If I do say so myself, this bag of goodies is a pretty fun treat to receive as their guest!

In the same capacity, I designed the wedding program for the bride using Alice Boutique, also on Etsy. I loved how simple and classic they were. Printed front and back on a slender piece of ivory card stock, the gray ink matched the invitations.

Facebook has allowed me to see the details from the weekend, and I had to share a few.

The Rosewood Crescent Hotel ballroom served as the reception site, and it was transformed into a wonderland of blush, peach, coral and white for the bride. Here is the magnificent cake display.

The bridesmaids wore gorgeous pale pink chiffon halter gowns...they're such a fun group - evident here. The bride wanted something fun for the guests to party with later in the evening, and I sent glow necklaces and black wayfarer sunglasses for them to use on the dance floor, all from Oriental Trading. Here, you can see the bride already has hers on!

At the end of the evening, guests were treated to one last favor - a delicious sugar cookie reminding them to set their clocks ahead!

I used Wedding Ambiance to design a coral, white and gray tag for them.

And my super talented friend Linsey from The Hunnie Pot made these amazing clock cookies. They're not only precious, but they taste divine too!

Weddings are just so fun for this party-planning gal, and I love every little aspect. I have been lucky enough to have aided my friends, and a few clients too, in making their big day happen.

The guest bags are a fun way of including your guests in meaningful gestures from the bride and groom, as well as tying in wedding locale.

On Pinterest, there are so many wonderfully fun versions of guest bags, and I wanted to share a few of them with you all!