I HATE the traditional guestbook

DirtyWater

So I HATE the traditional guest book, i feel like people will just sign it and move on, im a huge scrapbooker so this drives me crazy!! I want something "scrapbooky" that i can leave out for guests to write but i can later decorate or they can decorate at the time but im not sure what to do,
also looking for someting on the less expensive side.. thoughts??

J&K10910

I made a scrapbook with our e-pics and left blank pages, or pages with just one picture for guests to sign.  it was a big hit, everyone loved it.  We're going to add pages with wedding pictures we get them back, as well.

DirtyWater

We have been together for 4 1/2 yrs and i take a ton of pics so i am actually working on a giant scrapbook now. i could put that out and just add signing pages in the back! Thats a great idea! thank you!

J&K10910

You're welcome!  I just had a bridesmaid occasionally check on it and stick the full pages back in the book and pull out new ones as needed. 

Tiger_Tammer

I came across this while on Stumble Upon and thought it was an adorable idea. (last picture). You may want to have wipes there too for your guests to clean there fingers.

http://www.pearlseventsblog.com/2010/09/photoshoot-art-inspired-wedding.html

Tanq&Tonic

LOVED this idea when I saw it...
http://bridalcheek.wordpress.com/2009/03/26/grid-painting-guestbook/

We ended up printing a giant canvas of an e-photo and having guests sign with sharpies directly on the canvas.  That's going to get framed and put on the wall eventually.

Jen6862

I'm doing a photog guestbook through Mixbook.com. Got a coupon for $15 for $50 worth of product. This is as crafty as I get.

kristeno90

I made a photo book on Shutterfly. Here are pictures of it.

front cover:


inside pages:

Wiscisbliss

Would you be interested in the photobooth approach?  (Guest take pics in photobooth, 2 sets of pics are printed, 1 goes in guestbook 1 goes home with guest)

love2nap

My dad use to send me a postcard every week when I was in college so I would get mail, and he didn't really have enough to say to write more than a postcard. I designed and ordered postcards on Vistaprint and had everyone sign them. I also made a little sign explaining why we decided to do postcards. You could do that or something similiar, and scrapbook it after you read them all

jena.n.ross

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_reception-ideas_hate-traditional-guestbook?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:5Discussion:42ef6137-be36-46b0-8f5b-d303785fe6adPost:f6b0c540-6ffe-4b21-b5e3-f53b2f0e46b1">Re: I HATE the traditional guestbook</a>:
[QUOTE]Would you be interested in the photobooth approach?  (Guest take pics in photobooth, 2 sets of pics are printed, 1 goes in guestbook 1 goes home with guest)
Posted by Wiscisbliss[/QUOTE]<div>
This is what I did, it worked perfectly for us, and was both guestbook and favour.  It can easily be done (<strong>including </strong>magnet photo favours for less than $100.<div><a href="#" title="Click to view a larger photo" onclick="return gSiteLife.LoadForumPage('ForumImage', 'plckPhotoId', 'd327e002-9147-4a73-8c77-490787ef70bf', 'plckRedirectUrl', gSiteLife.EscapeValue(window.location.href));"> <img src="http://cdn.cl9.vanillaforums.com/downloaded/ver1.0/content/images/store/3/12/d327e002-9147-4a73-8c77-490787ef70bf.medium.jpg" alt="" /></a>
</div></div><div>
</div><div>There's a full write up (with more pictures) in my bio <a href="http://vistaprint-goddess.weebly.com/diy-photo-booth.html" target="_blank">(Clicky)</a>.</div>

libbyloutoo

I bought a gorgeous blank book off Etsy and will be having my brother take care of a small camera and portable photo printer at the reception.

He'll take a photo or 2 of each group, print them out on the spot and stick them in the book and there is room for people to sign their names or leave a "love note" for us or whatever
I'm hoping that the photos will help loosen people up and get them laughing so we get more than "congrats, love auntie jane"

lesliegil

My wedding is in July/2011 and I purchased the guestbook (http://www.guestbookstore.com/) I fell in love when i saw it on a magazine. I ordered it and it's great.

FYI - quality of the paper is very good, something that someone mention that i did not do was make it "Mr and Mrs xxx" instead of each other's name.

vexie

We're doing a wish tree.  Throughout the evening guests will write their wishes and/or advice on the tags and tie them to the tree. After the wedding I'll put them in a scrapbook.  It will be alot more fun reading their words of encouragement or advice than just a list of names

amyderrah

@ Lauren Kae - wow!  I'm doing a gardening theme wedding too!  You are the first person I've heard of who's doing it too - great idea  I was playing with the idea of two wooden chairs for the garden, have everyone sign them, then varnish them after.  It's either that or a an idea I heard online.  Everyone gets a small card and draws a "best wishes" picture of the happy couple (what would you like the couple to do? or some question like that).  The pictures can also be judged and awards given for funniest, most detailed... ect.  All the cards can be put in an album after.  I'm an artist, so I love the idea of getting small drawings from guests!  Haven't decided yet, but there's two ideas.  

Lauren Kae

I'm having a garden themed wedding. I found a big white planter that I'm setting out so every one can sign. I love gardening so this will be a great way to use it on a daily basis.

fancieface

I bought this and I love it.   www.guestbookstore.com

DirtyWater

WOW, NicoleH55, lots of ideas!  Haha.  I love when you high-jack my knot.  Thanks for the heads up.  I forgot and looked at my past posts and thought to myself WTH?  I didn't do this!

courtney1188

I am doing a 'wish tree'. After the wedding is over I will take the wishes and scrapbook them with wedding pictures.

seabreeze1053

My FI and I love the beach and love to surf, so we're doing a personalized 4 ft surfboard sign from SundayTreasures at Etsy instead (they do smaller ones, too):

http://www.etsy.com/search_results_shop.php?search_query=4FT&search_type=user_shop_ttt_id_7755741

It'll double as reception decor (and then home decor)!

Fireworks061510

I also HATE the "traditional" book!!.

So instead, my fiance's mom is making us a wedding quilt, the type you hang for decoration, not for your bed. (She's a HUGE quilt-er)

Anywho, We're having guests sign & make little good luck notes & what-not on pieces of fabric, & she's going to incorperate them into the quilt!

No dust-collector book for me!!      )     

GrizBearGirl

Wow - great ideas!!!

I think what I'm doing is making sure to get a couples/family portrait of everyone at the reception (it's only 80ppl, so might work), and then asking everyone to write us out a note on a card.  I'll then take the notes and type them into Shutterfly, with one pic per page, and the right note, and have a custom guest book that way.  

Seriously, looking at some of the guest books in the catalogs, who has 600+ people at their wedding?  I would have so many blank pages!!!!!!!

jena.n.ross

Re: Mixbook:

This awesome groupon is available again ($15 for $50)!

Clicky!

And just to AW: my wedding album, made through Mixbook: Clicky.

And the BEST photo guesbook I've ever seen, April's (amj287): Clicky.

amyb140

My wedding coordinator and reception contact both suggested an idea that I think I'm going to use - a coffee table book!  In our case we live in Chicago, and our reception is right downtown, so I'm going to find a gorgeous black and white coffee table book of Chicago and have people write in it with silver Sharpies.