Maggie has written a very witty and helpful wedding guide at The Morning News, and the latest installment suggests a toiletries basket for the bathroom at the wedding reception. Having made a ton of these as the Perennial Bridesmaid (including traveling from Austin to Greenwich, CT with two in my checked luggage), I'm going to elaborate on toiletries-basket tips.

1. The concept:

Your guests will find themselves in the restrooms at some point over the course of your wedding and reception. Between sitting for a while at the church, traveling to the reception venue, eating a meal, having some drinks, sticking around while the happy couple departs... a guest might him- or herself in need of some thing they aren't likely to have brought. How considerate you are to have thought ahead and provided it!

2. You need two baskets.

Unless you already know that the reception venue only has one unisex bathroom (and, likely it doesn't), you'll need one for each bathroom. You could go with just the one for the ladies' lounge, but the gentlemen would appreciate it too and it's just as easy to make two as one.

3. The contents
(these are just ideas -- one can go far above and beyond this list. The asterisked items were suggested by Dawnie.):

breath mints and breath strips
individually wrapped toothpicks
small Band-aids
tablet antacids like Tums
safety pins
individual packets of an OTC pain reliever like Advil or Excedrin
pocket-packs of tissues
a few matchbooks (plain, or from the venue, please)
*travel bottle of hand sanitizer
*Shout wipes or other stain-remover wipes
a few new AA batteries
a small pair of scissors

Additionally, in the ladies' basket:

a travel-sized hair spray
a few tampons and pads
a bottle of clear nail polish
hand lotion
bobby pins
a couple of emery boards
a packet of replacement earring backs

4. The arranging.

You could just toss everything in there all willy-nilly, but you might as well make sure that the items are invitingly arranged. Otherwise, small stuff might get pushed to the bottom or the back and go unnoticed in a moment of need. Layer the big items (the tissues, the hair spray, etc.) in the back, and then tuck the smaller items in around them on top and in the front.

NB: Be discreet and stick the ladies' unmentionables in the back. Don't obscure them completely, but just let them peek out so they are noticeable but not prominent.

5. The decorating.

You could buy fancy expensive containers that need no adornment, but since you should also plan on never seeing them again, I recommend going the cheaper route. And, you could leave the baskets plain, but I like decorating them a wee bit, in some way that lets guests instantly know that they are a courtesy of the bridal party and not something the hotel/venue leaves lying around.

My suggestions:

Go to your local craft store (Michael's, Hobby Lobby, etc.) and get two similar wicker baskets, one smaller than the other (the mens' basket won't need to hold as much). I like the baskets with the large arching handle, because then an already-harried helper can transport both in one hand.

If the baskets have a nice finish already, you can skip this step: I like to spray-paint them in an eggshell color with a glossy finish paint like Krylon. Two coats is fine, and one can will cover both nicely.

I like to line both baskets with fabric. It not only looks nice, it keeps smaller items from falling out through the bottom. I usually use some sort of satin (get the cheap polyester kind if you like -- no one will know the difference), either in an ecru or to match the "bridal colors" if there are such a thing. With a hot glue gun and the fabric shiny side out, I go around and tuck the fabric under, then glue it to the inner edge of the basket -- no sewing needed, and you have no unfinished hems. Also, if you want to fill the baskets out a bit before putting the items inside, you can line them with batting before gluing down the fabric. Dawn followed the tutorial and made the blue and white baskets pictured here, which turned out adorably.

The mens' basket is usually fine with just the fabric lining. On the ladies' basket, I usually add some other adornment -- like a floofy bow of wired ribbon on one side, or strings of pearl beads wrapped around the handle.

6. The logistics.

Remember what people do instantly upon reaching the reception venue: they go to the bathroom to take advantage of the few minutes of free time. Put the baskets in the care of a family member, friend or other member of the house party who is not in the actual wedding -- you need someone who is going straight to the reception venue, not sticking around for group pictures after the ceremony. Ideally, he or she is the other half of a co-ed couple who is travelling together (so that both bathrooms can be entered without anyone looking at anyone else funny). Ask them to place the baskets in a convenient yet inobtrusive place in the restroom; if there is a lounge area with a separate counter, that's ideal, but usually it has to be on the bank of sinks somewhere.

Afterward:

The baskets can be left at the venue, in the worst case scenario -- the staff will just toss them. Or, the same friend who put them there can be in charge of picking them up if someone wants to save them. But, don't be too surprised if they have walked away by the end of the night... it's the sort of thing that Great-Aunt Mabels the world over like to take home, for some reason.