Everybody knows that in New Orleans we let the good times roll, and the city continues to rise in popularity as a destination wedding location. If you have wedding guests coming in from out of town, start their Big Easy experience with a true southern welcome: NOLA-themed welcome bags! We’ve picked the perfect items to pack for your loved ones.

A Guide to the Crescent City: Provide your out-of-towners with a map of the city listing some of your favorite New Orleans bars, restaurants, places to shop and other hotspots. Send them to the Warehouse District to check out some art galleries or Magazine Street for some shopping, spa treatments or brunch!

Wedding Weekend Itinerary: It’s become very common to create an entire experience for destination wedding guests, including welcome receptions, rehearsal dinners and wedding after-parties! Make sure your guests know when and where to be throughout the big weekend with a printed itinerary. Include your wedding website URL and upload a digital version there as well!

Local Nibbles: Our city is known for a lot of things, but food is probably one of the most important! Include some treats to give your welcome bag some NOLA spirit: a bag of Zapp’s (a local favorite named one of Food & Wine’s Best Potato Chips!), mini bottles of hot sauce made in-state, or some world-famous New Orleans pralines. Want to kick it up a notch? Add some bottles of locally brewed beer and help your guests get the party started off right!

Personalized Keepsake: We Southerners love a good monogram! Give your guests something personalized with your names and wedding date on them, like a koozie for those to-go drinks, customized Mardi Gras beads, monogrammed handkerchiefs for the second line or sunglasses (necessary for the morning after!)

Hangover Helper: Speaking of, a Big Easy wedding can lead to a not-so-easy morning after. Help relieve the champagne headache with some bottled water, aspirin and bandaids. Your guests will thank you!

Thank You Note: Unfortunately, not everyone on the guest list can make it to a destination wedding. Show your traveling guests how much you appreciate them for attending your big day with a little thank you note from the happy couple.

At Carol Bond Weddings, we can help you take care of the details like assembling your welcome bags and delivering them to your hotel blocks. Be sure to contact us so we can get to planning! Cheers!