Welcome Welcome

I teased you with a picture of our welcome booklet back when I shared the last minute details for our wedding. However, this project was such a labor of love (and collaborative effort with Two Paperdolls) that it deserved its own post.

Photo (and booklet) by Two Paperdolls

If you've been following the Turkey posts, it's probably pretty clear that we absolutely LOVE Philadelphia and all that it has to offer. Besides throwing a fabulous party, our goal was to have our family and friends experience the City of Brotherly Love.

Engagement photo in Washington Square by Philip Gabriel Photography

Back in January, I shared the "top 10" documents we put together for our wedding website on things to do / eat in Philadelphia.

Mr. & Mrs. Turkey's Top 10 Philly "to dos"

However, no matter how helpful, not everyone will utilize the wedding website (more on that later), so we wanted to include something for our guests in their welcome bags.

When I brought my idea of doing a welcome booklet, complete with a schedule and map, to Nicole at Two Paperdolls, I thought for sure they would have a template for me to look at / start with. They had done some bits and pieces of what we wanted, but nothing as comprehensive. So, I gave her my website documents to start. Although I think they might have initially been overwhelmed by the amount of detail we were looking to include, they found a way to bring the pieces together.

There were 3 docs on the website covering: what to do, where to eat and where to "get pretty"

Now the map was really Mr. Turkey's idea. He wanted guests to be able to have something they could put in their pocket and carry around for the weekend. This was something he was very passionate about and provided a lot of feedback as we went through the process.

The map was glue-dotted on the front page of the booklet

Photo (and booklet) by Two Paperdolls

We LOVED our map - it listed out all the key locations for the weekend (hotels, ceremony, reception), but also captured some special spots. If you look above, in the bottom left corner of the map you can see a pabbit (pig rabbit) - the logo for one of our favorite restaurants.

The booklet also included our weekend schedule, transportation detail and a thank you note to our guests.

Loved the skyline shadowed in the background and the accent of green text

From a detail standpoint, I was SO happy with how they integrated fonts and design elements (like our ampersand logo) from our save the dates and wedding invitations. It really created a cohesive suite for the wedding.

I would be remiss if I didn't give major kudos to everyone at Two Paperdolls for putting up with my Type A perfectionist nature when it came to the edits. There was a LOT of back and forth. Honestly, it may have taken the most time - even more than calligraphy (though with less hand cramping).

Don't mind my TERRIBLE attempt at drawing Independence Hall

In the end, this (12 page) booklet was a source of great pride and we were thrilled to hear that our guests absolutely loved them! With beautiful wedding weekend weather, our guests were able to really enjoy the city. Many carried around the map and used the booklet to choose their sightseeing activity or spot to eat.

Did anyone else do a welcome booklet for their guests? What did you include?