welcome bags

date posted: March 08, 2019

welcome bags

Your special day is a celebration of love and also a wonderful chance to reconnect with dear friends and family.

Welcoming your guests with a satchel filled with your favorite local goodies is a thoughtful way to express gratitude, especially to those traveling from afar, and to provide a glimpse into all that the Hudson Valley has to offer.

You can make your own welcome pouch by using a 12-inch by 12-inch piece of canvas or burlap fabric, or even a silk scarf to match your wedding colors, and pull all four corners together, tying it off with a bow at the top made of twine, yarn, or ribbon.

This is a fun chance to get creative and improvise with various textures, colors, and prints.

Welcoming your guests with a satchel filled with your favorite local goodies is a thoughtful way to express gratitude, especially to those traveling from afar.

fill your pouch with heirloom goods

• A beeswax candle. These come in all sorts of fun shapes and sizes.

• Handcrafted soaps. You can make these yourself (this takes some experience to get just right) or buy them at your local farmers market or food co-op. These are made in all sorts of delicious scents, from lavender rose to mint honeysuckle.

• A locally crafted leather keychain or bookmark. These can be stamped with all sorts of lovely designs to fit your wedding’s unique style.

• Jams, jellies, and pickled vegetables. The Hudson Valley is teaming with homemade preserved goodness. These make a lovely welcome gift and can be as unique as pickled fiddleheads or beets, or as down-home as strawberry rhubarb preserves or huckleberry jam.

• Whittled woodland creatures. Our local artisans are making all sorts of adorable hand-whittled and hand-illustrated objects, from beavers to bears, and much more.

The most important thing here is to have fun with it, and become friendly with some local businesses in the process. They will be happy to help you find what you need, and your guests will have memorable souvenirs to bring home with them.

• A blank handmade paper card. A blank handmade paper card.

• A bottle of wine or liquorfrom a local distiller or vineyard.

• Local chocolate,tea, or coffee.

• A personalized bottle stopper or corkscrew, or wine glasses.

• Water is a must.

• Handcrafted pottery from a local potter