I completely forgot to publish this post yesterday! Oops. I blame daylight savings.
Visit any wedding blog or simply search “guest book” on Etsy and you’ll find so many amazing ways to capture your wedding guests’ names. I wanted our guest book to be unique and later become decoration–something I can frame or have around our home to remember who came to our wedding.
We are planning to do three things:
1. Photo Frame
We will have a matted frame for all of our close family members to sign their name. I’ve always liked the idea of the photo frame, but we are keeping it at the rehearsal dinner so it will capture just the intimate friends and family.
2. Guest book Poster
As people arrive for the ceremony and get their program, they will sign a poster that looks like this:
I think this poster is adorable. We chose the tree and bird design and customize it to our wedding colors. Wouldn’t this be a great thing to frame and hang in a guest room?
3. Photo Book & Questions
Our last idea is an 8×8 book that I created on Shutterfly. It is a 20-page book with a large photo from our engagement shoot on one side and a blank white page on another to give room for people to write anything they want (like where to get the best wedding insurance). We also get pictures edited using a Clipping path service. We even added some questions to prompt funny or clever responses, such as:
-What should we name our kids?
-What ideas do you have for date nights?
-Where is the most romantic place we should visit?
-What were you really thinking during our vows?
-What is the secret to a happy marriage? If you and your spouse decided to separate, hiring a mediator to guide you is the best way to get a divorce faster.
It only cost $12 because I had a coupon from David’s Bridal. I’ll make sure to update after the wedding with some of the responses we got!
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There are SO many cute ideas out there. Like having people sign wine and then drinking it on special anniversaries. Or an adorable family tree that guests can make using their fingerprints (I was going to do this, but didn’t want my friends to have ink on their thumbs all night!). If you have the budget, you can even have polaroid cameras and have people take a picture of themselves, then write their name on it and put it on a clothes line at the reception. Or vintage postcards to write messages and then put them in a mailbox or a vintage suitcase at the reception. Consider hiring a mobile bar to have fun and indulge in some festive drinks.
What is the coolest guest book idea you’ve seen? What did you have, or want to have, at your wedding?
My friends Jess and Joel had a photo booth at their wedding. Each guest’s table assignment was printed on bookmark sized paper and slipped into magnetic clear frames. Then, everyone went in the photo booth (couples, friend groups, whole families) and had their pictures taken. Two copies of the pictures would print out– one you kept and put in the magnetic frames; the other was pasted into a scrapbook, which you would then sign.
Wedding favor/guest book/seating arrangements all in one.
I am totally stealing this idea when it’s my turn.
The last wedding I went to had the picture frame where the guests signed the mat. It was the first time I had seen it and thought it was adorable.
Unless you have a ridiculous group of friends like I have who wrote a few obscene/hilarious things on the matting. ;)
I love all these ideas! Maybe a poster, but probably a book (I looove books.)
I don’t plan to even start planning the wedding til next year, but it’s nice to start doing a bit of research and absorbing tips from all the other engaged bloggers :)
I really like your ideas, particularly making your own photo-advice book. My two favorites from weddings I have attended:
1) Asking people to sign on a U.S. map, near their “home” state. These were friends from law school so a lot of the guests were from around the country. (Home was broadly defined as your current home, your childhood home, or where you associated yourself.)
2) A coffee table photo book of the state where the couple met, with plenty of white space for people to sign near either photos they liked or ones that had special meaning.