Valentine’s Day proves a gift for UK retailers, as consumers hold back on big-ticket items

2025.03.26

In the last few years, weddings have shifted to put a greater emphasis on guest experience. Wedding weekends, with multiple days of events, have become the norm, and couples across the country are going above and beyond to ensure loved ones enjoy every moment of the celebration—unique entertainment, curated menus, and thoughtful amenities are all the name of the game. Another way couples are ensuring their guests feel taken care of? Engaged duos are forgoing standard wedding welcome bags and treating their family members and friends to a market experience instead.

According to Lauryn Prattes, the principal event designer and planner behind Lauryn Prattes Events, welcome gift markets are best-suited to pre-wedding events—consider setting yours up during a rehearsal dinner or welcome party, at a pre-nuptial pool party, or at arrivals if you're doing a property buyout. "We’re big fans of this trend, and we first embraced it at a destination wedding a few years ago," Prattes notes. "The event took place in beautiful Ravello, Italy, where guests were scattered across the town and even in nearby villages. Trying to deliver welcome bags to each individual accommodation would have been a logistical nightmare. Instead, we created a welcome gifting market, where guests could choose their own personalized bag—custom-embroidered straw totes in a variety of designs, colors, and sizes—and then fill it with local goodies from around town. It turned into a fun, interactive experience that guests truly enjoyed."

While these shopping experiences are a guaranteed way to surprise and delight guests, the cost and planning efforts associated with them can't be understated. "It is important to note that gifting markets are typically more expensive than a standard welcome gift," Prattes explains. The reason? You need to purchase extra products in the event guests take more than one of an item. "Additionally, consider the cost and effort of building out displays for each item," our pro adds.

If you have the funds and bandwidth to pull off a welcome gift market for your guests, Prattes has advice you need to know. Ahead, your guide to creating a unique, memorable gifting experience for your big-day attendees. Plus, we're sharing five examples we love to inspire your own setup.

What Is a Wedding Welcome Gift Market?

A wedding welcome gift market is a curated shopping experience for guests to enjoy; typically, they're organized during a welcome party, rehearsal dinner, or at check-in, and big-day attendees are encouraged to "shop" for their own welcome bags. The catch? There's no payment required—at least, not for the guests. Couples buy a selection of items that speak to them, their love story, and their wedding locale, then invite family members and friends to pick and choose exactly what they like.

It's important to note that these shopping experiences replace a traditional wedding gift bag. Instead of finding goodies for the weekend in their room, guests will be invited to select their own items (typically consisting of snacks, drinks, and keepsakes) from a curated display.

How Many Items Should You Offer at Your Wedding Welcome Market?

Prattes says a good wedding welcome gift market will have at least four items for guests to choose from. "Our formula includes four core items: something savory to eat, something sweet to eat, a beverage, and a keepsake," she notes. "Anything beyond that is a nice bonus, but we always ensure these four essentials are included." Within each of those four categories, she also likes to ensure her clients offer plenty of variety—for example, both an alcoholic and a nonalcoholic drink or a variety of different chip flavors—which ensures each guest finds something they love.

If you'd like to include more than our expert's tried-and-true formula, Prattes suggests adding products guests will actually use over the course of the weekend (and potentially beyond). "You can add practical comfort items, like heel savers for a grass ceremony, handheld fans for a heatwave, or a refillable water bottle for hikes if your destination involves outdoor adventures." she explains. Think about your wedding locale: Are you hosting a pool day? Sunscreen, hats, or sunglasses would be nice additions. Are you tying the knot in a region know for its delicious wine? Offering guests a few different bottles to try is a thoughtful gesture they'll appreciate. "Focus on local and personal touches," says Prattes. "If you’re at a distinctive destination, embrace items that reflect the local culture—especially unique finds that aren’t available in airport souvenir shops."

Your shopping experience also affords you an opportunity to remind guests about important events throughout the weekend. "Of course, don’t forget a welcome note and a schedule of events, including transportation pickup times and locations!"

When Should Guests Come to Shop the Gifting Market?

Generally speaking, your market should be set up for guests ahead of the big day. "We prefer to set this up at the welcome party," notes Prattes. "If you have a property buyout and all attendees are staying on property, guest check-in is even better timing for this. This is a fun way to kick off the wedding weekend and gives guests the ability to enjoy some of the items during their stay." On a practical note, setting up your shopping experience early helps minimize waste. If family and friends are treated to your market at the end of the weekend, they may not have a chance to try the goodies during their stay and may no longer have space in their suitcase to bring items home. "Having this early in the festivities ensures guests leave room in their luggage when considering purchasing their own souvenirs as well," Prattes says.

What to Avoid When Planning a Wedding Gift Market

Whatever you do, skip the generic when curating your market experience. "Revelry remedy bags are cute, but they can be a waste of money since most guests are going to bring those items with them," Prattes notes. "The same goes for bottles of water—most hotels supply water in guests rooms."

And while it might seem acceptable to set up the experience, then walk away, Prattes insists that having some monitoring the display is key. This ensures everything is well-stocked for guests and that anyone who didn't have a chance to shop is still given a gift. "Have a plan in place to track which guests picked up a bag and who may have missed out," she suggets. "For those who didn’t get one, we recommend assembling bags afterward and ensuring they’re delivered or handed out at the wedding so everyone feels included."

5 Wedding Gift Market Examples

While there's no right or wrong way to create your welcome gift market, the most successful ones have a few things in common: First, items are displayed in a way that's easy for guests to navigate. Avoid cramming too many products on one shelf and group like items (like chips in different flavors or a variety of scented candles) together so that guests understand they should choose just one of each. Second, provide bags, baskets, or totes that can actually hold what you're giving out. A bag that's too small is frustrating—a bag that's comically large is wasteful. Last, keep your offerings curated. More is not always more, and it's better to offer a few items you really love (and that guests will, too!) instead of lots of little knickknacks.

An Italian-Inspired Welcome Gift Market

For clients who tied the knot in Ravello, Italy, Prattes put together a market experience that highlighted a number of regional specialties. Olive oil, pasta, limoncello, and more were on offer for attendees to grab. To drive the theme home, baskets of local produce and herbs were used to decorate the space.

A Welcome Gift Market With Locally-Made Baskets

The vessels you hand out at your market are just as important as the items that go in them. At this destination wedding in Portugal, guests grabbed traditional woven baskets, which were sourced by the couple's planners at the Crachá, to fill with local goodies.

A French-Themed Welcome Gift Market

Tying the knot in a special location? Let your market experience be influenced by the destination itself. At this wedding at a castle in France, the couple and their planners at Two be Wed created a French market-themed welcome gift display. There, guests shopped for French soaps, chocolates, sweet and savory snacks, baguettes, bundles of fresh lavender, and miniature Champagne bottles.

A Christmas-Themed Welcome Gift Market

Here's another market experience dreamed up by Prattes and her creative team: At this Christmas-themed celebration in Washington, D.C., guests visited a thematic market with holiday-inspired houses, ornaments, and more.

A Welcome Gift Market With Weekend Essentials

At this destination wedding in Mexico, guests were treated to a shopping experience where they could grab items the couple loved and that would serve a purpose over the course of the weekend. Sunscreen, hand sanitizer, and both sweet and salty snacks were all on offer.

A Nostalgic Wedding Welcome Gift Market

Yes, practicality is important, but adding some fun elements to your shopping experience is smart, too. At this celebration in California, the couple created a gifting station that featured nostalgic throwbacks like keychains, disposable cameras, neon puka shell bracelets, surfboard magnets, and koozies.