Wedding Reception Forum

Guest Book Ideas

So I'm pretty sure I get why a guest book is necessary (so you know who all was actually there, right?) but I think traditional guest books, where you essentially just sign in, are silly.

I've been looking around at alternative ideas, but I don't really like any of them, and some of them get really pricey.

What did you all do/are planning to do?

Re: Guest Book Ideas

  • rcher912 said:

    So I'm pretty sure I get why a guest book is necessary (so you know who all was actually there, right?) but I think traditional guest books, where you essentially just sign in, are silly.


    I've been looking around at alternative ideas, but I don't really like any of them, and some of them get really pricey.

    What did you all do/are planning to do?
    Meh, I personally don't think they're a necessity, and I'm pretty sure there's been a few weddings where I just completely forgot to sign it, so....there's that.

    ANYWAYS, what we did was make a Shutterfly book with our engagement pictures.  We included empty pages to write on and some pages with quotes slothieguy and I really like.  Our guests mentioned they liked looking through it, plus it was pretty cheap.  I'll come back with some pics in a little bit.

    I know @lolo883 had a super awesome, unique idea that she can give much better justice to instead of me trying to explain it, if she wants to chime in  :)
    Anniversary

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  • I too thought just having people sign their names was silly, and I rarely actually do it myself at other weddings. I had no interest in lugging around a fancy book for the next 50 years and pulling it out once every 25, maybe, in order to look at people's signatures.

    It depends what you're trying to accomplish. If you're fine with just having signatures, but don't want something that'll be put away in a box, there are plenty of Pinteresty ideas to make your "guest book" a part of your home decor.

    I was really interested in having people actually write us something meaningful, which I know no one bothers to do at a guest book table if they have to stand there and they feel like other people are waiting on them. I also wanted something we would actually remember to pull out and look at. Since I really like efficiency, I combined our table numbers and guest book. I bought little Moleskine cahiers (paper covered books, about 3.5"x5", 64 pages) and put clear labels on them with "Please leave a message in this book for Flan and H to revisit on their [TABLE NUMBER]th anniversary" and just set them up with little gold wire stands I found on Etsy and a couple of pens to a table. I attached a photo. Cost about $95 in total to kill those two birds.

    I figured since people could write in them at their own table, at their leisure, throughout the reception, people would actually take the time to write out a nice note to us. And I was right. They are hilarious to read and people loved it.

  • We did a Shutterfly book too. We included some engagement pictures along with pictures we'd taken while dating, on vacations, etc.

    I bought some fine-point Sharpies in all different colors, and the guests used those to sign the book. We received a lot of comments on the photos.

    I thought it would be better than a regular guestbook, as this is something I'll continue to pull out and look at. I put the pictures in chronological order, so it shows our history, from the day we met right up to our wedding day. It's fun to read comments from people while looking through the book.

    I kept it on our coffee table up until our first anniversary.
  • We had kind of a river rock theme, so our guests signed river rocks, which we keep in a vase in our home. It's one of my favorite things. 
    What did you think would happen if you walked up to a group of internet strangers and told them to get shoehorned by their lady doc?~StageManager14
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  • We purchased this board on etsy and set it out near the entrance the venue... it is seriously now one of my favorite things EVER. I love reading the notes people wrote. 


  • Since cooking and food is involved in much of your relationship (and wedding), we used a cutting board and Sharpies and just allowed guests to write or draw whatever they want.

    Actually, the wedding gift that I volun-told my dad to give me was to paint the back side of the cutting board:


    image
  • edited March 2015
    I'm doing a wishing well type guest book. I found a template for advice cards on Etsy that says, "Please Leave Your Wishes and Advice for the Mr. and Mrs."   I'm going to get a big decorative jar and some nice pens.  People can write us little notes and then put them into a jar.   After the wedding, I plan to put all the notes in a little keepsake box.  

    I wanted my guest book to be meaningful, fun and have true sentimental value.  In 10-20 years, it will be interesting to see what people wrote to us.  
  • Some great ideas, thanks guys!

    @JennyColada could that cutting board be more beautiful??? Goodness, that's amazing!!! Where did you get the original?

    @mrscomposer where did you find that? That's very lovely, too!! I LOVE that your family messed with it!
  • @rcher912 We bought the actual board from the gift shop of where we got married actually, but you can buy many similar boards on Amazon.

    But the artwork is a totally original creation by my dad! I was so amazed with what he came up with! I just gave him the board and told him "I'd love if you painted something on it, but it can be whatever you want" and that is what he came up with.
  •  I really think the traditional "signature book" is so boring. Like, whats the point? lol but to each his own, right? I went so unique with the things we are doing for our wedding because a wedding should express the personalities of the bride and groom. We are young and always the life of the party, so I just knew that people would be expecting something different from us!


    I ordered the envelope guest book... I was going to make it - but most books were UGLY too small, too big, or had lines in them. I was over that within weeks of searching for things. We ended up ordering from Etsy, which should be getting delivered any day now. She customizes the covering with your colors, adds your name and date and you pick the blank page covers and have the option of having her insert your envelopes for you.image

  • mrscomposermrscomposer member
    First Anniversary First Comment 5 Love Its First Answer
    edited March 2015

    @rcher912 - https://www.etsy.com/ca/listing/184482574/wedding-guest-book-tree-personalized?ref=hp_mod_rf

     

    She has different listings for different sizes.  We went with the biggest one, I think, because we were expecting over 200 people.  She took a long time to acknowledge the order, but when she did, the proof was in my email the next day and the print was in the mail the day after it.  It turned out beautifully.

    ETA - when we ordered our Christmas cards from Vistaprint, I also found address labels that had a birch trunk with initials on it just like the poster.  Super fun! 

    **The OMH formerly known as jsangel1018**
  • I bought this on Etsy. I absolutely love it. I have it hanging over the bar area in our dining room.
  • We are also doing a wood hanging sort of thing.  FI knows a guy who makes log type furniture (he made our dog's log bed, but I've said no other log furniture in my house LOL), so we're going to have him make a wood plaque with the last name and date engraved on it, then we will have everyone sign it.  The guy will then seal it after the wedding and we will hang it on the wall somewhere in our house.
    Married 9.12.15
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  • @jenijoyk and @climbingwife, I love those ideas! FI's father is a master carpenter and could probably make something similar for us, and FI loves the idea. What did you have people sign the boards with out of curiosity? Would regular Sharpies work or do you have to get the special paint ones or something else? 

  • @jenijoyk and @climbingwife, I love those ideas! FI's father is a master carpenter and could probably make something similar for us, and FI loves the idea. What did you have people sign the boards with out of curiosity? Would regular Sharpies work or do you have to get the special paint ones or something else? 

    I used white markers that I found in Michael's. I'm sure Sharpies would work too.
  • For the cutting board we used, we sprayed it with Verethane to protect the wood (and deter the ink from bleeding), people signed with Sharpies, and we sprayed with Verethane again to seal it in.
  • doeydodoeydo member
    First Anniversary First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its
    edited March 2015
    My sister had a picture frame for people to sign with a photo from their engagement pictures in there.  I think after the wedding she switched it to one of their wedding pictures.  So, kind of like this: http://www.mazelmoments.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Photo-Frame-Guest-Book.jpg
    Edited because TK doesn't like to actually post shit that I paste.
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  • Some really awesome ideas here already. I love the idea with the envelopes/books for certain anniversaries. 

    I had originally thought about having Jenga pieces for guests to write on because we love to play games. But then I thought I'd rather have something I could look at more often. Jenga may be an idea for writing advice on but I opted for something that has our wedding date and names that we can display in the house somewhere after the wedding: https://www.etsy.com/listing/159688324/wedding-guest-book-alternative-wedding?ref=listing-shop-header-0


    image
  • @jenijoyk and @climbingwife, I love those ideas! FI's father is a master carpenter and could probably make something similar for us, and FI loves the idea. What did you have people sign the boards with out of curiosity? Would regular Sharpies work or do you have to get the special paint ones or something else? 

    I used special gold paint pens from Michael's. I actually had to buy a couple different ones and test them out on the back of the board. The gold and silver sharpie pens did not show up on the dark wood for some reason, but a different brand worked well. 
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