What to Include in a St. Louis Destination Wedding Welcome Bag

A husband and wife who have been married for 7 years are now guests of a dear friend’s wedding who are getting married in a new city! As they step off the plane staircase, their feet hit the ground of new territory. Emotions of anticipation, uncertainty, excitement, and nerves. The nerves were much more apparent on the face of his wife than his. He on the other hand, has this infectious adventurous spirit within him, causing any nerves of the unknown to be gone. She holds tightly around his arm to find comfort and safety. Discovering new places causes him to lead with confidence and causes her to trust him as she follows into this new place.

The future bride and groom intentionally thought of their dear couples who were similar to this one described above. They felt it was appropriate to welcome them with a goodie bag to help their out of town guests embrace the new culture they were stepping into. This is called a “Destination Wedding Welcome Bag.”

What is a destination wedding welcome bag you might ask? Well your guests will basically get a taste of that city while visiting and will make them feel more at home. The bags  are usually filled with intentional and thoughtful gifts with added personal touches. Your family and friends will surely feel so loved and cared for. Below we talk about what your wedding welcome bag could look like if you are hosting your wedding in the St. Louis area.

St. Louis Destination Wedding Welcome Bag

Recommend Gifting a Canvas Tote:

This is easy for the picturesque city adventure.Your guests will love being able to use it after your special day. You can get creative by customizing and personalizing the graphic on the bag.

Create a Brochure or Packet of Welcome Information:

Write a welcome letter. You can include the wedding website, wedding week timeline and wedding timeline from ceremony to reception. Mention important locations and contact information for your guests to know. We recommend having a calligraphy artist create a personalized map of the wedding location plus your own personal favorite locations. It is a sweet bonus if you are able to handwrite and personalize each welcome letter with a summary of the backstory for each item in the bag.

Include Your Top Local Flavors

Recommend sharing your top 3 favorites in the following categories:

1. Tourist locations
2. Restaurants
3. Coffee Shops.

Make sure the favorites are no more than three per category because your out-of-town wedding guests usually only visit your city for a few days. Also, share the reason why you chose that local flavor and any insight you have for your guests.

Top 3 Favorite Tourist Locations: 

Here are 15 Free Tourist Locations in the St. Louis. For example, the Saint Louis Zoo, one of the world’s top ranked zoos , or  Saint Louis Art Museum, 33,000 works of art from all over the world

Gateway Arch:  630-foot tall monument to President Thomas Jefferson and his vision of a continental United States.

Missouri Botanical Garden: top three public gardens in the world, features 25 demonstration gardens

The City Museum: Housed in the 600,000 square-foot building that was once an International Shoe Company, local artists who created the museum from all sorts of “found stuff.”4,000 square-feet of man-made caves and tunnels

Top 3 Favorite Restaurants:

For ideas, here are the top 10 best restaurants in St. Louis from Trip Advisor.

Top 3 Favorite Coffee Shops:

Kaldi’s Coffee– Third Wave Coffee:

“In 1994, Kaldi’s Coffee first opened its doors in St. Louis’ DeMun neighborhood. Since then, we’ve been dedicated to creating memorable coffee experiences wherever our coffee is served.

Kaldi’s Coffee specializes in sustainably sourcing and roasting the finest coffees in the world. We bring the best products to those new to coffee and enthusiasts alike, and guide you to brew coffee to its ultimate potential.”

Sump Coffee

Here is a review from their Facebook:

“Exactly what we were looking for! Sump seems very dedicated to brewing a good cup of coffee. They are not about putting as much whip cream on your fru fru frozen coffee drink as possible. I was looking for a place to buy whole beans and these guys had it. I tried the Keyna blend and it was very very good. I like a bold coffee and it was almost too bold to make it my everyday coffee for $18 a bag. Next time I will try the next coffee down from the Kenyan and if I enjoy it I will buy some beans too. Free wifi and quiet atmosphere!”

Blueprint Coffee

“Blueprint Coffee seeks a mutually beneficial relationship loop among our producers, vendors, wholesale partners, and customers. Good coffee must be good from the start, so we dedicate a tremendous amount of time selecting a few coffees that are fresh and exciting. The beauty in these coffees is maintained through precise roasting, brewing, and training methods. “

Select Your Favorite Local Ingredients to Share:

Give them the gift of the local flavor whether it is sweet or salty. Or a food and drink your city is known for. This is a great way to give your guests a souvenir of your city.

Eckert’s Apples: Include a couple of apples from the your experience of picking apples at Eckert’s as a couple. Make the apple picking date near your wedding date. Take a photo of you two picking apples.

Gus’ Famous Pretzels: A St.Louis tradition that have been hand twisted since 1920’s.

Fitz Rooter: Located in the heart of the Delmar Loop, this is a flagship soda that is made according to an original recipe developed in St. Louis in 1947.

Bud Light– “Since its founding in 1852, Anheuser-Busch has honored its historic brewing methods, maintaining the tradition of brewing the finest beers, one batch at a time.”

Gooey Butter Cake – Gooey Louies-–  A German baker accidentally created this sugar dusted cake in the 1930’s.

Pasta from the HILL in St. Louis: The Hill is the high ground, south of Forest Park.

“The Hill has an Italian American majority population, and is home to many Italian restaurants and businesses.”

Donuts from World’s Fair Donuts – Yummy donuts located near the botanical gardens

Imo’s items– Thin crust pizza with the famous Provel cheese, cut into squares. They sell their pizza sauce and salad dressing at local grocery stores.

Include a Seasonal touch

Winter and Spring wedding: Umbrella, heat warmers, lip balm

Summer: sunglasses, bug repellant, electric hand held fan, sunscreen

Fall: scarf

This is a fun and thoughtful gift, your wedding guests are going to love and will thank you for! This is something little that will make a big difference for their experience of traveling to come and see you.

IF YOU LIKE THE EXPERIENCE SEEN IN THESE PICTURES YOU CAN BOOK YOUR MEMORY MAKING WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER TODAY!

Many thanks to the wedding creative team who helped in the celebration of two souls committing the promise of forever:

Venue: ENCANTERRA COUNTRY CLUB | Blackstone Country Club | Encanterra Country Club | Royal Palms Resort and Spa | Four Seasons in Scottsdale | Inspiration for these St. Louis Wedding Locations: FOUR SEASONS HOTEL ST LOUIS |  THE CHASE PARK PLAZA  | MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN | BUSCH FAMILY ESTATE AT GRANT’S FARM | SILVER OAKS CHATEAU | PEABODY OPERA HOUSE | THE CARAMEL ROOM AT BISSINGER | Photographer: APRIL MAURA PHOTOGRAPHY