Our Wedding Welcome Gift Blog Series has flown by! (Catch yourself up here on what to include in your gift bags and here on how to create a welcome letter for your gift boxes). Today is our third and final installment and we're sharing our best tips on making sure your wedding welcome gifts go off without a hitch. Logistics are often the most overlooked part of creating wedding welcome gifts but are absolutely the part that can make or break your wedding gifting experience. Sure, the gifts still need to be well curated, unique and beautiful no matter what. But these things don't matter if the gifts don't arrive when and where they're supposed to. Without further adieu, let's talk execution! Order in Advance This might seem like a no-brainer but I can't tell you how many brides I hear from in a panic because they hoped to create welcome gifts on their own but were shocked to see how long lead times were on some items! Be sure to prepare early and add some buffer time to your ordering to avoid missing items days before your wedding. Also factor in additional time if the gift contents you order are breakable. It's not uncommon for a few to show up damaged and then the ordering process to replace those starts all over again. Plan for Perishables On the other end of the spectrum, perishable items should be picked up as close to the wedding date as possible. No one likes a stale cookie or muffin. If you are making the gifts yourself, be sure to assign a bridesmaid or family member to help out with the pick-up and gift building so you minimize the number of days between when the perishables arrive and when the gifts are assembled and actually delivered. Review Rooming Lists Double (and triple) check the rooming lists for your hotel blocks to ensure everyone who deserves a gift actually receives a gift! It's pretty standard to provide one box per couple but if two friends without "plus ones" are sharing a hotel room, we assign two gifts to that room! Heads up to Hotels There's nothing worse for a hotel concierge team than having 100+ welcome gifts show up out of nowhere when they're in the middle of assisting other guests. Avoid overwhelming the hotel staff by letting them know when you're planning to drop off welcome gifts and the size and quantity of the gifts. When you arrive, it's time to review the info again. Go over the rooming lists and any special requests with them (ie rooms with food allergies) so they are clear on the instructions. The hotels will really appreciate the heads up and most importantly, it will help them avoid mistakes. Allot for Extras There's bound to be some guests who go rogue and book outside of the room block or RSVP really late. You can avoid the possibility of these guests seeing other guests with gifts yet they don't receive one. Granted, it's not your fault that they aren't officially in the block but they are guests are you still want them to feel just as welcome as anyone else. We recommend ordering about 5-10 extra gifts depending on the size of your guest list and how confident you are with your guest list at the time of deciding upon your gift count. Worst case, you don't have any last minute RSVP's and you can give the extra gifts to on-site wedding vendors who went out of their way to make your weekend nothing short of amazing. You can also gift them to a few of your local guests who may not have received one due to not staying overnight at one of the hotels in your block. But in the end, a few extras are better than being a few short. We hope you find these tips useful and that they help you avoid some of these common pitfalls. To outsource your wedding welcome gifts altogether and let us handle your project from start to finish, learn more about our Custom Gift Design Service here or reach out via our contact page. We’d love to hear from you! Images: Lissa Ryan Photography