As you may have read, I’m nearing the end of what I can bring from home for the welcome bags. “Extra Baggage” and “Overweight Baggage” charges are so outrageous that I don’t want to take any chances – its just not worth it. So, now I have to again think through want I can buy down there.

At the moment the items I plan to include for sure are:

• Freshly baked Dutch cookies (our wedding planner is going to get these for us from someone who will have made them fresh that day)
• Postcards: We’re going to include 1 or 2 postcards guests can send home as well as another postcard stamped and addressed to us with a note asking them to please jot down their favorite memory from the weekend and drop it in the mail. We will later include these in a scrapbook of the wedding
• Bottled Water: Planning to include 2 bottles of water (Awa) per person
• Beer / Wine / Liquor: I plan to include some sort of ‘libation’ for my closest friends that love to party!

I thought there were a couple more items on the above list so I’ll update this post when I remember them! I want to make sure I have some sweet and some salty snacks and am hoping to figure that out at PriceSmart. Its the worst when you are in the room late at night, hungry and confronted by that minibar!

Items that are on the “maybe” list:

• Cheese and Crackers: I’m hoping to maybe find some mini cheeses and crackers from the grocery store – one big benefit of the Marriott is that there are refrigerators in all the rooms
• Aruba Aloe: I actually have a decent amount of money budgeted to purchase some Aruba Aloe products. The plan is a full size After Sun lotion in each bag (30) and probably some lip balm with SPF. (I had purchase some lip balm from Drugstore.com but our guest list has since grown.) I was also planning to buy maybe 6-8 assorted ‘burn’ products like their Aloe Gel since I can already name like 4 or 5 people that I know are going to get sunburned! I was going to place my order though the factory store and have them deliver it to the hotel but am having second thoughts so stay tuned on that one.
• Cigars: thinking about maybe including some cigars for some of my boys since I have other extras for the ladies

One thing I wondered is if Aruba has a Costco. (My fiancé and I are Costco junkies!) Well they don’t have Costco but they do have something similar called PriceSmart. I had looked into it months ago and read something that said non-members could shop there but would pay like 10% more. I just revisited the site though and it is saying you have to be a member. OR – be with a member! Yet another benefit to having a local wedding planner or be friends with a local. If you don’t have either, membership is only $31 though I do not know if you need to be a resident to get a membership. Like Costco they have things like electronics but they also have some food items. Here is their current flyer (that is current as of the date of this post). I have a feeling we’ll be buying the Oreo’s for the welcome bags!