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Thoughtful and eco-friendly gift bags, that not only delight your wedding guests but also reflect your commitment to saving the planet, are a great way to welcome your guests to your outdoor Las Vegas wedding.
As you celebrate love and adventure with friends and family, it’s important to do so while also embracing practices that honor and protect the stunning natural beauty of your chosen venue.
The Las Vegas area has some amazing venues in which to say “I do,” and we’re thrilled to share these outdoor spaces with couples from around the globe.
Our passion for these natural wonders drives us to follow sustainable practices, ensuring they remain beautiful for generations to come.
The thoughtful curation of your welcome bags will enhance your guests’ experience and reduce your environmental impact while being both fun and eco-friendly.
On offer here are some creative and sustainable ideas for what to include in your guests’ welcome bags when coming to Las Vegas for a wedding.
Drawstring Knapsack, Not Cheap Flimsy Tote Bag
Let’s start with what to put all your goodies in. A cotton drawstring bag is immediately useful on your Vegas adventure.
You can get whatever quantity you need for less than $1.70 each, with the price dropping as your order gets bigger. There’s also a combo jute and cotton version that’s about double the price and appears to be more durable.
Put some personal customized decorations on them using screenprint, vinyl or embroidery.
Whether your crew is meeting up for a pool day, going on a hike, or cruising the Strip, these bags will almost assuredly get some immediate reuse.
They are hands-free, unlike a cheap and flimsy two handle tote bag, and their light weight and large capacity means you can easily take them on the go.
Treats
Bulk Snack Mix, Not Single Serving Snack Packs
If you’re going the snack mix or chips route, buy the snacks in bulk and then distribute equal amounts into the gift bags.
You can pour single servings into cardboard takeout boxes that are more biodegradable than the single serving plastic chip bags. They even come in four different sizes!
Purchase the big 44 oz. canister from Costco and portion it out into your gift bags. And if you’re really being eco-friendly, you can repurpose the container into a bird feeder or a planter, or use it to store all your miscellaneous nuts and bolts in your garage or workshop! They make useful storage containers around the house.
Drink Tickets, Not Mini Bottles
Nips are a great way to get the party started as your guests arrive in Las Vegas for your destination micro wedding. But, the fun little plastic bottles are also a big trashy nuisance.
A more eco-friendly way to treat your guests to a cocktail is with drink tickets.
A little leg work getting the tickets from your hotel or bar of choice goes a long way in reducing plastic waste. And, if all your guests have to head to the bar to redeem their tickets, then you’re well on your way to getting the party into high gear.
If you choose to write a personalized note for your guests to include in the bags, you could conclude with, “Meet you at the bar — bring your drink tickets!”
Vegas Essentials
Customized Tumbler, Not Bottles of Water
You’ll want to keep your guests supplied with water in Las Vegas. It’s hot and dry, and it’s important to stay hydrated. The simplest solution is to buy plastic bottles of water and hand them out via your welcome bag.
Obviously, that’s not very environmentally friendly.
The alternative is a reusable water bottle or tumbler. You and your guests may already have one (or several) back home, but a personalized one may become a new favorite for your guests! And there’s seemingly always a new one taking the world by storm. (Do you have an Owala yet?)
Bonus Tip: Check out an online guide to water refilling stations and drinking fountain locations, such as this one, and then create a list for your guests that covers all the spots to fill up inside your hotel.
EWG Verified Sunscreens, Not BananaBoat, Hawaiian Tropic or Other Familiar Names
It’s always a good idea to protect your skin, and the sun in Las Vegas can be brutal. But how do you pick a healthy sunscreen to put in your welcome gift bags when there are so many to choose from?
You might be tempted to grab the first one you see on the shelf at your big box retailer of choice, but you can do better.
(Did you know that 11 of the worst 24 sunscreens on the market are from the Banana Boat Brand? Follow the guidelines from the Environmental Working Group to provide your guests with a verified healthier option.)
Here’s how:
- Don’t fall for a high SPF label.
- Avoid sunscreen with vitamin A.
- Avoid oxybenzone.
- Don’t combine sunscreen with bug repellent.
- Don’t get a spray version.
Souvenirs
Playable Casino Chips, Not Chintzy Souvenirs
We’ve seen lots of wedding welcome bags include a trinket, memento or keepsake of some kind. Often these are on-theme with the wedding, in line with the location it’s taking place or representative of something important or relevant to the couple.
But who needs more mass produced junk from the gift shop?
Instead, head to the casino floor and buy into a game of blackjack. Ask the dealer for five dollar chips, and then walk away with your stash. You won’t be gaming with these chips.
Hopefully your guests will enjoy them. And if they choose not to play, then they’ll have a genuine piece of Las Vegas to take back home with them.
Custom Koozies, Not Shot Glasses
If you and your guests will be having a few adult beverages while you’re in town, and you want to give them a boozy Vegas souvenir, opt for customized can koozies!
You can put almost any design on them, and they come in a variety of sizes to fit different size and shape cans; 12oz. can, 24 oz. tallboys, 12 oz. slim can, and even zip-up sleeves for long neck bottles.
The neoprene ones fold up easily to fit in your pocket for on-the-go use. The larger thicker foam ones are great too, as they provide a little more cooling power for those hot Vegas afternoons.
Unless you plan on partying exclusively in your room with your own package liquor, a shot glass won’t get much use while in Vegas. Better to have a custom koozie you can slide onto a can or bottle ordered from a friendly cocktail waitress or bartender!
Going Green in the City of Excess
People come to Las Vegas to get married and spend a few days having fun in Sin City for many reasons. Some want the full on Vegas experience, and we’re here to help them do it.
Others seek an intimate and stylish occasion in the great outdoors, which is our specialty. Once you see our wedding venues, you’ll understand why we’re committed to keeping these special spots as pristine as possible.
We hope our suggestions for what to put in your guests’ welcome bags when coming to Vegas for a wedding allow you to help us keep our commitments to a sustainable future.
As our partners at Leave No Trace have told us, the goal is to lessen the impact our activities make. It may be unrealistic to completely change our harmful and wasteful ways, but when we are more mindful of even our smallest actions we can make a big difference.
Once you’ve got your guests’ welcome bags squared away you may want to further personalize your special day with some of our great ceremony add ons. Our Behind the Scenes content service and the Downtown Las Vegas Photo Walking Tour are two of our most popular.
Recommended Reading:
Guide to the Best Places to Stay in Vegas
Wedding Welcome Parties Make Your Wedding’s First Impression, So Let’s Make it Count!
10 Tips on How to Have a Vegas Wedding That Looks Like a Vegas Wedding
Exploring Vegas After Your Wedding: What to Do and See
McKenzi Taylor is America’s go-to elopement and micro wedding expert, often featured in small and major media outlets, such as the New York Times. With over 15 years of wedding photography experience, it was after planning her own Las Vegas elopement in 2016 that McKenzi felt her purpose shift into elopement coordination. She started Cactus Collective Weddings soon after in 2017. Since then, she’s become a WIPA board member, and has helped well over 1000 couples get hitched in style around Las Vegas, San Diego and Black Hills.
