Gift Bags & Swag Bags for Your Event
Creative Ideas for gift bags that will keep your guests remembering you and talking about you - for both business and regular life!
Oh, the dreaded, boring gift bag - filled with logos, coupons, and the tiniest of samples.
If you’re not going to make your gift bag or takeaways fabulous and on-brand, don’t do them. Seriously. It’s more of a negative than a positive. I’ll give you a few examples below. And if you’re reading this around the holidays, here is another post on holidayish gifts for your guests.
Remember this: it doesn’t need to be big or extravagant - just on-brand, creative, have value, and be memorable.
1 | Going Away Party - I know this isn’t a company event, but it still has fun ideas.
We were moving to a small (adorable) town in a new state. It’s Beaufort, SC - on the water, thus the blue and white vibe. We included a card that, in a creative way, listed what we loved about Beaufort, our new address, and invited people to come see us.
Then, there was a card to each couple, explaining what we loved so much about them (continuing the theme from the Beaufort card).
There was a bottle of Bloody Mary mix that is harvested and made on one of the Sea Islands near us, so we included that and a bottle of ghost pepper to make it spicy. And then added to that, Dave’s personal Bloody Mary mix, as he is the master.
Finally, we included cookies that are made in Charleston, since we are close.
So, it wasn’t a lot, but it was a BIG deal.
2 | Restaurant Relaunch
The event was a relaunch of a restaurant that had a reputation of being expensive (it was) and a bit stuffy (it was). We were relaunching it as something still elegant and formal, but surprisingly fun, creative, and current.
This restaurant also served an amuse-bouche before every meal (the complimentary little bite that the chef sends out before the meal). FYI - Amuse Bouche actually means, “to amuse the mouth.”
So, we filled the gift bag with just that - surprises for the mouth. We collected a combination of high-end and low-end to keep it fun.
A small bottle of champagne
A bag of Pop Rocks
A tube of gorgeous red lipstick
Locally-made chocolate truffles
A tin of gourmet sea salt
A beautifully designed card with upcoming restaurant events, etc.
there may have been more, but this was a long time ago - but what a fun brainstorm with your team!
3 | Company Retreat Offsite: an in-room hotel turndown
The attendees received gifts throughout the event, but this was a turndown and a poem on their beds.
We included an eye mask and a satin pillowcase. The message said sweet dreams, and then went on to recap the past few days and their goals, and how they would implement once returning home.
I’ll do another post on all of the gifts from this retreat soon, and will update this to link it here.
