As well as your photographs and video, guest books can act as fabulous mementos of the day. To sit down with your husband after the big day reading heartfelt wishes from your friends and family can be a great way to relive those moments.
A traditional guest book is a simple solution which you can tie into your colour theme to gather all those good wishes but can occasionally get lost doing the rounds so either assign a friend to keep an eye on it or make a feature of it and set up a table where guests can go to sit down and write out messages, the bar area is usually a good spot.
There are number of ways you can play around with the traditional guest book format.
Collect old postcards for your guests to write on and have them post them into a vintage mailbox or collect them in a large vase. You could even provide a vintage typewriter for them to type out their messages.
Or how about a Wishing tree, they make great focal points; provide guests with luggage tags and they can tie on their wishes, you could also add some family photos to the tree.
How about a modern alternative where you clip the cards onto a wire frame (ok this is a chandelier which costs about $1200, but think of it as inspiration…)
If you are having a pre-wedding or engagement photo shoot it can be nice to incorporate the photos into a guest book. Some photographers like Marianne Taylor, will offer this as a service or use your favourite image mounted into a frame which your guests can then sign (even after 8 years of marriage I still find myself looking at our framed guest wishes and reminiscing about our wedding)
If you are having a photo booth you can put these images straight into a book, this might even be included as part of you package, or how about a Big Brother style video booth guestbook.
Why stick to paper, ask guests to write on pieces of fabric or vintage handkerchiefs which you can then sew together to create a large wall hanging or funky quilt.
Have giant pebbles for guests to write on which you could collect in a lovely bowl to be displayed in your new home together.
If you are having a lot of children you could have a craft table where they paint panels that can be put toether into a large piece of art.
If you are having a lot of children you could have a craft table where they paint panels that can be put toether into a large piece of art.
Or how about what they did at this wedding, the couple asked guests to write onto tiles which they planned on turning into a table top…
Who says you need to stick to best wishes, you could ask for advice on a happy marriage, a much-loved memory they have of you (ask them to bring an old photo showing it), a great holiday destination or share a favourite recipe which you could turn into a little book to give as thank you gifts.
What about no words at all-at this wedding they had a fabulous fingerprint tree, where guests stamped their prints onto branches of the tree and then signed their names; available from Etsy seller Lovli Day
At this vow renewal there was a time capsule box, do check it out as she explains exactly what that involved; it’s a great idea which not only provided a great keepsake full of memories but really involved and entertained the guests…
So get creative and have some fun with your guest ‘book’, make it something that you’ll want to look at again and again. What are you having for your wedding day?
