You ooh and ahh over lush floral centerpieces. Eat so many wedding cake samples, you fear your gown and tux might not fit! But it’s the extra touches guests note at your wedding reception that can often make or break the event. Guests really appreciate finding a wedding bathroom basket in the loo—and that includes the dudes lavatory, too.

Pamper your guests with a wedding bathroom basket that goes the extra mile and earns you a reputation for being both thoughtful and creative! We’ve got your tutorial and since you can make these in advance, this may be the only wedding project you undertake that leaves you feeling relaxed rather than stressed!

Must it be a basket?

Heavens no! Brides frequently employ trays–like a simple bathtub tray–to assemble goodies guests need to refresh themselves during your wedding. In fact, a bathtub tray often holds more items than a basket and arranging each item for visibility is a fun way to show off your creative skill. Choose a bathroom tray that matches your wedding theme colors. Can’t find one? Paint it or decoupage an unfinished one using wallpaper or scrapbooking papers. Whether a basket or a bathtub tray, the impression you leave behind says plenty about your generosity and style.

Unusual items make big impressions

What goes on at a wedding reception that is known to cause guests scurrying for the bathroom? Spilled wine. Over-enthusiasm on the dance floor when the DJ breaks out “YMCA.” The bite of cake that winds up on the pricey dress one guest splurged on just for your big day. Happily, companies are introducing stain removing products that range from pens to sprays, so putting several stain removers on display could earn you gratitude borne of your resourcefulness. Add spray deodorant to the mix. Dancing fools will appreciate this, too.

Toiletries galore

Party purses tend to be small and suit jacket pockets finite, so up the ante on toiletries placed in your wedding bathroom basket or bathtub tray so guests can avail themselves of products that they didn’t have enough room to bring: acne treatment, breath mints, gum, mouthwash, grooming aids like combs and brushes, tissues, hand lotion, hair spray and hand sanitizer. You’ll think of more as you browse the best place to pick these items up: Dollar stores.

First aid items

Your wedding bathroom basket projects won’t be complete without a handful of items that can come to the rescue of guests whose enthusiasm for your wedding party has caused them to develop indigestion, rub foot blisters, get food lodged in-between teeth and at least one girl guest is likely to discover that she has started her menstrual period between the ceremony and the cake cutting. Basics like pain relievers (Tylenol, Aspirin and Aleve), bandages and/or a liquid bandage product, antacids and menstrual pain meds should do the job nicely.

Venue-appropriate additions

If you’re throwing the best outdoor wedding ceremony and reception on the planet, you can’t do a thing about the weather or ants, but you can help your guests protect themselves from the critters that can make life miserable (think mosquitos). In addition to fogging the venue to keep flying pests away, having sunscreen, bug spray or lotion and even blotting papers in your wedding bathroom basket or bathtub tray shows you care. Guests especially love blotting papers to mop up dance floor sweat.

Baskets and trays and containers, oh my!

Having already noted that a bathroom tray makes a great alternative for holding items listed above plus the ones you are clever enough to come up with, who says you must follow standard procedure and go for wicker, straw, reed and other natural basket weaves? Ethnic patterns of braided cloth, old tin buckets from antique stores and even planters will work for you, as will every sort of tray under the sun. Need inspiration? Visit the Etsy website to peruse unusual items that can be used to make your one-of-a-kind wedding bathroom basket.

Put it all together

It’s no secret that every couple wants their wedding to be so memorable, it will be talked about for years and one of the ways to do that is to place a wedding bathroom basket in both bathrooms at your wedding venue. Use eclectic materials to enhance products by coordinating the wedding bathroom basket with material liners to carry your theme to perfection. Line the interior of the basket or tray with a matching fabric, use billowy clouds of netting or pick a tissue paper color that works with your theme. Admit it: This is fun, and it doesn’t cost a lot to go the extra mile for guests.

Final touches

Having fussed and rearranged your handy items amid tissue paper, fabric or another ingenious idea for lining your wedding bathroom basket, it’s time to add the extra touches that finish your wedding bathroom basket with a flourish. Sprigs of silk flowers, greenery or leaves in accent colors are ideal. Try wiring small faux doves or birds to a basket handle, tray handles or along the tray rim. Ribbons literally wrap up a basket in style. Once again, you get to show off your original ideas amid items guests will appreciate.

Ideas are all around you!

Your bathroom baskets can be as easy or as complicated as your time and imagination allow, but one thing is for sure, few things you provide your guests will be as welcomed! Browse the internet for more ideas and do visit your library where books filled with basket ideas can be easily converted to suit a bathroom treasure trove of essentials. And if any excuse will do to get together with friends, why not purchase all of the items you intend to provide and invite friends over for a basket-filling party—not that you need an excuse, right?