OOTs!

That would be Out of Town (bags) for those of you who don't speak wedding. I just like to say OOT. It makes me giggle. Cuz I'm 4.

ANYWAY. Our out of town bags have been given significant consideration. And by that, I mean that I've been obsessing and Matt has been looking at me thinking, "Who are you and what have you done with my normal fiance?" Whatever. I want our guests to be wowed as soon as they check into the hotel. To know that they're in for a great weekend. To know that we appreciate that they've traveled, spent money, and taken time out of our lives to celebrate with us.

Apparently, I also want them....to get fat. Because here's what I've come up with. First up? To represent where we currently live, each bag will get 2 miniature pretzels from the Philly Pretzel Factory.

Say you: Pretzels?! Who cares about pretzels?
Say me: Hush, you. If you've never had one, you don't know. And hey - at least I'm not trying to stuff a cheesesteak in there (don't think it didn't cross my mind)! [Blogger tried to tell me that cheesesteak was 2 words. Silly Blogger]

Seriously, though. I used to be strictly an Auntie Anne's pretzel girl. No trip to the mall was complete without a stop at the Auntie Anne's shop. And then? I moved to Philly and had my first taste of the Philly Pretzel Factory pretzel. Umm...yeah...mind - blown. If there ever was a perfect food, this might be it. Ok, that might be an exaggeration, but...you get the point. These things are freaking awesome. Anyway, we tested it out at home to see how they held up in storage (a ziploc), and they did pretty well, but we're definitely going the unsalted route; the salt kind of liquefied and made the pretzels a bit gooey. So yeah, our guests will each get an unsalted Philly Pretzel Factory mini. I'm jealous of them already.

Next? I came across this little set on a another blog, and immediately had to have it.

(source)

ACK! How fabulous are these? Cookie cutters that you can customize with your own messages! Each guest will get a cookie, too. Homemade with a special message from me and Matt. I plan to start baking and freezing them soon, and then thaw and decorate a week or so before the wedding. Thank you, Williams Sonoma. I have always loved you.

And, of course, no wedding in Hershey would be complete without some Hersheys love. We haven't decided which product to use, though. I think we should go with the classic Hershey bar, but I could also be convinced to change it up a bit. We'll see once we get there and it's time to fill the bags.

We're also going to include a bottle of water for each guest because, well, who doesn't need one of those after a superfun wedding? I'm also going to put together a small little "emergency kit" with travel-sized packs of Tylenol, Advil, Tums, and band-aids. I haven't decided if I'm going to do something cute with the kits, or just throw things into a ziploc bag. Time will determine that, I think.

I hand-drew a couple maps of the area, including one that has a specified Wedding Day Route so that guests know exactly how to get from the hotel, to the ceremony, and back to the hotel/reception site. We'll throw in a thank-you from me and Matt, and some brochures about area fun stuff!

As for the bags themselves, I'll just pick some gift bags up at the Paper Factory or something. And then I downloaded a custom monogram from the WeddingChicks blog. They have tons of stuff, so if you're planning a wedding and want to go the DIY route but aren't creative enough to actually design something, definitely check them out! Bonus: they're all FREE!

So that's it! All the contents of our OOTs! I can't wait to get started on the baking, and hope that our guests will love them as much as I've loved planning them!