Halloween, Valentine's and Event Bags: Planning a Seasonal Order

Why do seasonal bag orders go wrong?

Seasonal bags have a hard deadline, and the deadline does not move. A treat bag that arrives on November 2 is a year early for the next Halloween and useless for this one.

The orders go wrong for one reason: the date is counted from the event, not from the proof. Artwork takes a few days to settle, the press takes its time and the carton still has to travel.

This guide works backward from the dates that drive most of the seasonal orders we see. It covers which bag suits each occasion, how to print for a short season and what to do with leftover stock.

Which seasons drive paper bag orders?

The table lists the occasions that bring the most seasonal requests. For each it shows who orders, the usual bags and a safe date to have the proof approved. The dates allow 4–6 business days on the press, 2–3 in transit and a week of margin.

If your artwork is already approved from a past year, you can cut the first week. If the artwork is new, keep it.

How do you count back from the event date?

Take the date the bags must be in your hands, then subtract each stage. The steps below show the count for a Halloween order with new artwork, and the same method works for any date.

1. Decide the day you need the bags on site. For Halloween handouts that is about October 24, a week before, so staff can fill them.
2. Subtract 2–3 business days for tracked delivery. The cartons need to leave by about October 20.
3. Subtract the press run of 4–6 business days. The proof must be approved by about October 12.
4. Subtract two to four days for the proof round. Artwork should reach us by about October 7.
5. Subtract a few days to gather the artwork, measure the bag and agree the quantity. Start the order in the last week of September.
6. Add a week of margin if the bags are for a one-day event. A reprint after a problem needs that week.

Which bags work for Halloween handouts?

Halloween is the biggest single-day bag event of the year for candy shops, bakeries and the schools and churches that run trunk-or-treat evenings. The bag has to be cheap, quick to fill and fun to look at.

Small paper treat bags are the standard. A kraft or white bag around 4 × 2.5 × 8 in takes a handful of wrapped candy with room to fold the top. A one-color pumpkin, bat or ghost print in orange or black does the job.

Popcorn bags double as treat bags for movie nights and school fairs. A #4 SOS sack works for shops that fill bags at the counter.

Order by the number of children or guests plus 10% for spares. Our paper treat bags are quoted in both plain and printed versions.

What do Valentine's and Mother's Day orders look like?

Both days sell gifts, so the bag is part of the present. Florists, chocolatiers and candle makers order small ribbon handle bags. White or pastel paper with a one-color logo and a heart or a floral mark is the usual look.

Bakeries order cookie bags and small gift bags for decorated cookies and boxed chocolates. Glassine shows the cookie and takes a small red or pink logo well.

Keep the seasonal element light. A heart on the bag dates it to one week. A plain logo on a pink ribbon bag works all spring. Many shops print the logo and add the seasonal touch with a sticker or a tissue color.

Sizes are small. Most Valentine's gifts fit a jewelry bag about 5 in wide or a small shopper about 8 in wide. The paper gift bags page shows both with ribbon and rope handles.

Easter, graduations and weddings: favor bags

These three occasions share one bag: the favor bag. A small flat or gusseted paper bag, filled with candy, cookies or a small gift, and handed to every guest.

Easter favors go in pastel paper or kraft with a one-color egg or bunny print. Graduation favors carry the school color and the year. Wedding favors are usually white or kraft with the couple's initials and the date.

The date is the trap on wedding and graduation bags. Once it is printed, leftovers are scrap. Keep the quantity to the guest list plus 10%, and consider printing the names without the date if a second event is likely.

Favor bags are also where a sticker or a tissue color can carry the season while the printed bag stays generic. Styles and sizes are on our party favor bags page.

How should you print for a short season?

A seasonal print is used for a few weeks and then goes in the recycling or the back of a cupboard. That changes the printing math. Keep the printed bag generic and put the season on something you can change.

• Print the logo in one color and add the seasonal artwork with a sticker across the fold.
• Change the tissue paper or crinkle shred color by season while the bag stays the same.
• Use a seasonal ribbon color on a ribbon handle bag with a plain logo.
• Print a pattern without a date or a year, so leftover bags are good next season.
• Choose paper colors that carry across occasions: white for spring, kraft and black for fall.
• If you do print a full seasonal design, order exactly to the count and treat the leftovers as scrap.

Which bags suit company events and store openings?

Corporate events, trade shows and openings need a bag that looks good in photos and gets carried out of the building. Eurototes in the brand color are the usual pick, with a die-cut handle bag as the cheaper alternative for large crowds.

The date is fixed and the venue often cannot accept parcels early, so delivery goes to the office. Build in the extra day it takes to move the cartons from there to the venue.

Order by the expected attendance plus 10%. Trade show teams usually add a second small bag for visitors who take one sample. A large bag for a pen looks wasteful.

A matte laminated bag with a foil logo photographs well under event lighting. The eurotote shopping bags page shows the common sizes for brochures and samples.

What should you do with leftover seasonal bags?

Some leftover stock is normal. A 10% buffer that goes unused is cheaper than running out on the day. The question is what to do with it.

Undated bags go back in the cupboard for next year. Store them flat, dry and off the floor, and mark the carton with the occasion so nobody opens it in July.

Dated bags can still be used in-house. Staff lunches, sample bags for reps and packaging for online orders use up a few hundred printed bags, and nobody minds the date.

If you reorder next year, count the leftovers first and subtract them. The artwork is on file, so the reorder skips the proof round and the lead time drops by a week.

Planning the whole year in one sitting

Shops that run four or five seasonal peaks do better with one plan than with five rushed orders. Sit down in January with last year's sales by week and mark the peaks.

For each one, write the bag style, the quantity and the proof date from the table above. Then group the orders. A florist can order Valentine's and Mother's Day bags together in January, with the same logo and two ribbon colors.

Grouped orders bring the unit price down, because quantity is the biggest factor in a quote. They also put the artwork through one proof round instead of several.

Send the year's list through the quote request form with the dates marked. The quote comes back with each occasion as its own line.