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Having guests sign furniture (or something unique) instead of a guest book?

mrsallenbymrsallenby member
First Comment 5 Love Its Name Dropper First Anniversary
in Wedding Reception Forum
While perusing the FB of the venue I'm thinking of booking (outdoor barn venue) I saw a couple got an unfinished wooden bench for their guests to sign instead of a guest book. It even had a cute chalkboard sign that said "sign our bench, not our book". I assume the intention after the wedding would be to clear coat the bench to finish it.

Has anyone done this? Are you glad you did this instead of a guest book? Did guests like it/dislike it? If you didn't use a bench/furniture, but did something similar-- what did you have guests sign?

Thanks!
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Re: Having guests sign furniture (or something unique) instead of a guest book?

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    Maggie0829Maggie0829 member
    First Anniversary First Answer First Comment 5 Love Its
    H and I had a small wooden chest that I painted cream and then painted our first names, last initial and wedding day on top. Our guests signed this. I had a sign saying something like "Please take a moment and sign our wedding keepsake chest." It now sits in our family room and holds all the cards we received, an invite, our table number frame, a favor, etc from our wedding.

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    AddieCakeAddieCake member
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    I like it.
    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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    monica&bradmonica&brad member
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    What a wonderful idea! I would love to use a Muskoka chair but I already have my guestbook (I had someone do a tree with leaves on paper, then the guests will sign the leaves and we will frame and hang up). My friend is doing a big wooden letter "W" which is their last name and having the guests sign that and then hanging on the wall afterwards.  
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    mrsallenbymrsallenby member
    First Comment 5 Love Its Name Dropper First Anniversary
    Maggie0829 that's cute! I like the idea of the names and wedding date on it as well :)

    monica&brad I like the tree idea too, I've seen photos of it. That's also a nice keepsake that you can use as a piece of art... I like those sort of ideas better, I think, than the book of names that I may read once. I like the idea of something that's sort of part of your everyday life in some way as a reminder of your wedding day.

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    wilcogirlwilcogirl member
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    I got a wedding guest book tree poster. Guests sign the leaves Guest book posters are great!  It is a neat alternative to the original guest book and we framed ours to hang on our wall after the wedding. The guests loved it to. I got ours on etsy... here is a link to her shop... Wedding Guestbook Tree  
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    Coalette2013Coalette2013 member
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    My mom is really into quilting, so she had the idea of doing a wedding quilt. So instead of a guest book, we had a small table set up with the wedding quilt squares and fabric pens. Just about every guest signed a square and the quilt turned out lovely.
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    mrsallenbymrsallenby member
    First Comment 5 Love Its Name Dropper First Anniversary
    @wilcogirl the tree looks super cute! @Coalette2013 my mom quilts too... what a fabulous idea! I love the things that you can incorporate into everyday life :)
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    novella1186novella1186 member
    First Anniversary First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its
    @Coalette2013 My mom made a wedding quilt for a family friend. (The family friend requested it because she knows my mom quilts). It turned out really nice, and it's definitely something people would use, so I think it's an awesome idea. 

    We still don't know what to do for our guest book. I saw a photo somewhere of a canoe paddle that the guests signed because this went with the wedding theme. But -- I may be weird-- I don't like the way things look with random signatures all over them. It reminds me of sports memorabilia or something. 

    We might do a piñata or little wooden chest and have all the guests write us a note and put the note inside. Then we break it open on our first anniversary and read them all. I've seen a few different versions of this where guests are asked to write predictions, wishes, words of wisdom, or something like that. 

    I don't know. The whole guest book thing just kind of turns me off. Not that I don't appreciate having it as a memory, but no married person I know ever looks at their guest book or knows where it is for that matter. 
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    mrsallenbymrsallenby member
    First Comment 5 Love Its Name Dropper First Anniversary
    @novella1186 that's my opinion of a guest book too. I like the idea of remembering who shared this special day with us though which is why I thought the bench was fun (although I see your point about the sports memorabilia thing) because it's something I'd see everyday and remember that all those people cared enough about us to want to share our wedding day with us. I'm not set on the bench though, I think the framed tree is super cute as well. I would just like something different. It doesn't even have to be a new or unique thing.
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    Alikat9614Alikat9614 member
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    We also got ours on etsy- it is Up themed and guests sign the balloons. On the top it says "Our Greatest Adventure." We love Disney and movies, so it was perfect!
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    theartistformerlyknownastheartistformerlyknownas member
    First Comment First Anniversary First Answer 5 Love Its
    My brother tried having a big wood slab with his last initial carved in it for people to sign... but he also started a giant family feud just before the wedding and uninvited nearly all of us. So when my aunt got a wee bit over-served, she told him exactly what she thought of his actions... in Sharpie on that slab. She later thought better of it and scribbled it out, so now there's a giant brown blob of Sharpie scribbles on it. Can't say I didn't laugh pretty hard about that.

    So I would just suggest not pissing off any lightweight drinkers if you plan something like this. ;)
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    casey8784casey8784 member
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    My friend in LA had a little wooden bench, first time I've seen one. It was interesting.
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    badbnagdwaybadbnagdway member
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    I saw a fun wedding suggestion of having guests sign jenga or jenga type blocks. We love to play games together so I think that would be pretty cool. I think the bench sounds great.
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    jenijoykjenijoyk member
    First Anniversary First Answer 5 Love Its First Comment
    edited August 2014
    I love all the alternative guestbook ideas! We're going with a wooden board from etsy... it came a few weeks ago and it's lovely! (And the artist was super accomodating with sending multiple proofs and changing the colors and font around to be us what we wanted.) It fits our wedding theme and our home decor, so I'm excited to hang it up somewhere in the house after wedding. We went with the stained wood background, and the outline of the State of California in gold. I bought a few gold paint pens for guests to sign with this week so I'll try them out on the back and see how they look (hopefully they'll look a little less intense than black sharpee). We'll see!
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    Denise40Denise40 member
    First Comment First Anniversary 5 Love Its Name Dropper
    Coalette2013 said:
    My mom is really into quilting, so she had the idea of doing a wedding quilt. So instead of a guest book, we had a small table set up with the wedding quilt squares and fabric pens. Just about every guest signed a square and the quilt turned out lovely.

    That sounds like a great idea!
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    JCbride2015JCbride2015 member
    First Anniversary First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its
    I love the bench idea!  As long as you don't anticipate moving around a whole lot, what a great addition to your home.

    FBIL had a ceramic platter with Sharpies as well as a traditional guestbook, and a photo booth guest book.  Three was a little much, but the platter and photo booth are great options individually.

    We are doing one of these, I think:
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    "I'm not a rude bitch.  I'm ten rude bitches in a large coat."

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    Denise40Denise40 member
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    JCbride2015 said:
    I love the bench idea!  As long as you don't anticipate moving around a whole lot, what a great addition to your home.

    FBIL had a ceramic platter with Sharpies as well as a traditional guestbook, and a photo booth guest book.  Three was a little much, but the platter and photo booth are great options individually.

    We are doing one of these, I think:
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    I seen those at a bridal extravaganza last week.  Those are really nice.  I was thinking of one of those, but mine will be a small wedding and that is too big for me.  I may check out the website and see if they have a smaller size.
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    jamihellerjamiheller member
    First Anniversary First Comment

    I saw an adorable adirondack bench (loveseat) in natural wood, that guests signed in sharpie (you could paint it in your wedding colors and have guests sign in the metallic sharpies) and the couple used it in the backyard of their new home.

     

    I am thinking about using this idea! Good Luck!

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    mrsallenbymrsallenby member
    First Comment 5 Love Its Name Dropper First Anniversary

    Thanks for all the great ideas everyone!!

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    LittlePeachBlossomLittlePeachBlossom member
    First Anniversary 5 Love Its First Answer First Comment
    Honest question with no snark intended... what do you plan to do with this after the wedding? It seems like something that will be a nuisance after the honeymoon phase from the wedding is over. I just don't see it looking pretty for long-term decoration. But then maybe I don't have a creative eye. Really, was just wondering. 
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    mrsallenbymrsallenby member
    First Comment 5 Love Its Name Dropper First Anniversary
    @littlepeachblossom If I did go with something like the bench I'd probably put it on a porch or maybe in a mud room or something of that nature. FI and I are going to be building our house soon (already have the land) and so it would really depend on what sort of spaces we have in the future. I think if you put a clear coat finish on it that it would more than likely hold up-- however I've never seen one after the bride and groom took it home (only saw a photo from a stranger's wedding) so I don't know exactly how it would hold up in the long run.
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