Wedding Will you have a guest book?

[zoebartlett]

What are you doing for your guest book or are you skipping this? We were going to get a coffee table book of some sort but then we realized that after looking through it a couple of times, it would most likely gather dust on our bookcase. We considered doing the framed matted picture of some sort, but it probably won''t be something we''ll want to have hung up for a long time (and where would we put it?). With everything we''ve come up with, we''ve quickly found reasons why we wouldn''t do it.

Then I realized that we don''t have to do a guest book at all. As my mom put it, if what we want is documentation of our guests, we''ll get that through photos. She had a point.

What are you doing or why have you decided not to have a guest book?

 

[indypitty]

Since we are having a destination wedding in Mexico, we decided to use postcards for our guest book. We found vintage Mexican postcards and will have our guests write us messages on those. We will probably put the postcards in an album with some of our pictures, so we can read the messages whenever we look at the pictures. Here are some pics of what we are doing:

This sign will be on the table:

 

[indypitty]

The postcards will be in a small white wooden box. Here are what some of them look like:

 

[SarahLovesJS]

Love what you''re doing indypitty! It''s going to be so beautiful. We''re doing something kind of similar. We''re going to have little cards out about the size of place cards for people to put their "well wishes" on and then drop them into the container. The container will be a large crystal bowl, or a tea pot, or something else (haven''t decided yet). I am currently searching for a great looking pen. If anyone has any suggestions, that''d be great! I want something pretty that has a stand, but those tend to come in sets with guestbooks and since I don''t want a guestbook then it''s hard to find just a pen.

 

[anchor31]

Yes. It''s boring, but it''s easy and unexpensive. Those are pretty much my two main criteria these days.

 

[indypitty]

I need a cool pen, too! I saw some at Michael''s that were covered in beads that were really neat looking, but they had blue ink. For some reason I really hate blue ink.

 

[SarahLovesJS]

Date: 6/21/2008 10:12:15 PM
Author: indypitty
I need a cool pen, too! I saw some at Michael''s that were covered in beads that were really neat looking, but they had blue ink. For some reason I really hate blue ink.

Oh yeah..hmmm..me too. I always pictured black ink.

 

[Courtneylub]

Date: 6/21/2008 10:05:58 PM
Author: anchor31
Yes. It''s boring, but it''s easy and unexpensive. Those are pretty much my two main criteria these days.

Anchor...easy and inexpensive is the way to go! I''m in the same boat. A simple guest book and I''m not going to stress about making sure everyone signs it.

 

[pichuchy21]

We are doing the signature wedding plate. I was going to make it myself, but got frustrated with my handwritting looking funny. We bought a signature ceramic wedding plate from walmart and bought a little stand to hold it up once we bring it home. All under 20 bucks

 

[Sha]

Why wouldn't you want to keep the framed mat up for long?

We used the mat to frame our wedding photo enlargement. It's perfect! Everytime we look at the picture we also have a chance to remember all the blessings of those who shared in our special day. Why wouldn't you want that hanging in your house forever? I think wedding photos are a fixture in most married households, anyway...and you can always put it in the living room and dining room. It can be a nice conversation piece as well.

 

[Gypsy]

I agree with your whole post. My personal opinion is that they are dust catchers and the photos will be enough. We aren''t having hundreds of guests, so it''s not like I''m worried I''m going to forget or overlook anyone.

 

[violet02]

I put this in another post as well....

We''re doing a photo guestbook. I am having a woman on Etsy make one for me with special photo pages and a place to write in them. My stepbrother is bringing his portable photo printer and taking digital camera photos then printing them out and affixing them in the book for me. It should be nice. The book maker is using the same paper as my wedding invitations so it wil match.

Anyways really wanted a photobooth but they were too pricey to rent.

I wanted to add though that I in the latest issue of In Style Weddings one of the suggestions (50 ways to personalize your wedding by famous wedding planners) was to have people sign scraps of fabric and then have a cool quilt made out of it. I thouht this was a neat idea since my grandma is really into quiliting and made me something cool like that once with photos.

 

[zoebartlett]

Gypsy, I saw a post you wrote in another thread about how you''re not having a guest book, and that''s what prompted me to write.

I should have said that I do love the ideas that everyone has. I''ve written about this before but my sister did the postcard thing at her wedding two years ago. She and her husband asked everyone to write their wishes for them etc. on a postcard. At the end of the day, someone collected the postcards and mailed them out, one by one (or a few at a time) as the next year went on.

When they had gotten all of them, I think they put them in an album or something. If we did this, I would think about framing them in clear frames, so both sides could be visible if we wanted. I do like that idea, but it leaves work for someone to do -- having to remember to send them out. I know we wouldn''t have to do it that way, but I think it would be fun to receive a postcard or two each week or so throughout the first year of marriage.

We''re considering this idea, but we''re just not sure. Gypsy, is there another reason (that I haven''t mentioned) that you''re not doing a guest book?

Anyone else?

 

[Sabine]

Although I like the idea of guest books, whenever I''m at a wedding, I ALWAYS find myself at a total creative loss of something touching, personal, yet humorous to say. I end up writing the obligatory patent phrases, or at worst, just sign my name. They make me feel inadequate

. And in case I''m not alone, I didn''t want just a book of people displaying their momentary lapses in interesting ideas of things to day to us. But of course, I wanted to do something, so I went with Mandarine''s idea of having guests sign river rocks (and they are so small that people won''t have to feel bad about not knowing what to write to fill them up) and we will use those as decorations in vases.

 

[winston26]

River rocks? That''s a unique idea. What do they look like exactly?

I attempted to have someone take each guest''s photo as they came in and then ask them to sign a notecard....was going to later print them out and paste the card next to their photo in an album. It was a total bust and I regret not just getting the "boring book". The guests for some reason all went to the reception early, and the friend wasn''t even there to take the photos yet. I had given the box of notecards to the venue to put on the table with a pen at least, but they never bothered to open the box so no one even saw the cards until the friend got there! And......the cards I did get are extremely lame!! I question if the bartenders were writing crap at the end of the night......"shop at Target", "YMCA", "Shout", "don''t be a fool, wrap your tool, Trojan", "may you never go hungry--remember there is plenty of roadkill", "marriage is like KFC, eat it while its fresh", "uncle bruce loves you like a boxer Mike Tyson" and pearls of wisdom from his boss...."stay dry". I''m not even going to make the album. grrrrr

 

[Gypsy]

Not really. I always forget to sign in as a guest... and when I do sign in, well, it's a little bit of a chore. My heart isn't in it, I guess... so I figure most people feel the same way. I haven't been to a wedding yet that has any of these unique ideas... so I don't know as a guest how I'd react to them, but I do love the creativity of the folks on here.

Plus, I'm just not the most organized person in the world. I've already lost my favors for this freaking wedding and can't find them... and I'm afraid it would be another thing to keep track of when moving, etc and worry about damaging or losing. (MUST FIND THE FAVORS). And as terrible as it sounds I'm not a cozy decorator, I'm more a hotel room decorator streamlined, uncluttered and a bit impersonal so I wouldn't hang or keep out anything that personal if I did a picture or a plate. And little bits of paper in a lovely wishing well are just a present for Hally... and asking to break my vaccum once she shreds them. So I guess I'm just really unsentimental about it all. Sorry.

 

[Stephanie]

We haven''t made a final choice, however, we are leaning towards not having a guest book at all. I''m having all the RSVP''s sent to my house and the guest list in is my hands so I know who is coming and who isn''t - why do they need to sign something? Now, there are some amazingly creative ideas for guestbooks, but I just really don''t want to worry about it or to have to appoint someone else to worry about it.

 

[swimmer]

I went to a wedding once where the photographer took everyone''s photo as they came in and all the guests signed on the book where their photos would go. Nice idea huh? It was a pretty painful line as we were baking in the sun, but if you somehow had your guests stagger their arrivals and none are single it would be nice. I was uncomfortable and annoyed at having to stand there for a photo alone like it was my HS senior picture while 40 people stared at me, eager to get inside and out of the sun... This is 6 years later and I still think it was a poorly thought out detail.

We figured that with our blank response cards (They only had please reply by...) we got lovely notes from everyone. Someday I can paste them into an album with loose photos, but will it be better than the photographer''s album? not sure.

 

[Kismet]

We didn''t do a guest book. We had sheets of note paper and pens at every table with the intention of telling people that they could write things on if they wanted to. However, things didn''t really work out that way. Part way through the evening my younger brother proposed a limerick contest and that''s what ended up happening. Each table was challenged to write a limerick about me and my husband and then read it out loud to the room. I now have a file of personalized limericks and some of the best photos of the evening were of the tables putting their heads together to figure out what to write. Limericks probably wouldn''t work for a very formal affair but some sort of structured or themed writing might work better than "here''s a blank piece of paper, write whatever you want."

 

[Stephanie]

Date: 6/23/2008 9:40:37 AM
Author: Kismet
We didn''t do a guest book. We had sheets of note paper and pens at every table with the intention of telling people that they could write things on if they wanted to. However, things didn''t really work out that way. Part way through the evening my younger brother proposed a limerick contest and that''s what ended up happening. Each table was challenged to write a limerick about me and my husband and then read it out loud to the room. I now have a file of personalized limericks and some of the best photos of the evening were of the tables putting their heads together to figure out what to write. Limericks probably wouldn''t work for a very formal affair but some sort of structured or themed writing might work better than ''here''s a blank piece of paper, write whatever you want.''

I bet that had to be the funniest thing!

 

[little miss sunshine]

Good post... I am probably not doing a guest book... I am totally un-creative and have left all the crafty stuff to do last, if at all... I agree with others that the photos will be enough!
I like all the creative ideas, but for me it would be one more thing to organize and also to store.

 

[april diamonds]

I guess I must be the complete opposite. I had TWO "guestbooks". haha

The first one was the traditional Chinese red cloth that just sits on a table and people just put their names down.

The second was a scrapbook. My sisters and I had premade small 8x8 scrapbook pages. And the whole night my wonderful sister took pictures of everyone and printed them on this little portable printer we had brought with us. People could then have a photo and a page to sign, and we also had stickers out for people to decorate their pages if they wanted. If they didn''t get a chance to take a photo they were still encouraged to write on a page at least.

Since I''m an avid scrapbooker this was one my pet projects. I have to say that it was totally worth it because the guests had a lot of fun, and took some hilarious pictures and wrote some really nice stuff. Some people even asked to be photographed more than once cause they wanted more than one page in the book!

 

[lurkinglurker]

I''m thinking of making a big blurb photobook with different pictures of us on one side of each page and the other side will have lines for the guests to sign. I think this would be really neat for us to have, but I''m wondering if that would seem a little self-involved to guests? Like "please sign our guest book which is filled with pictures of us that of course you want to look at"?

We also wanted to do a photobooth but don''t have the budget, so my sister is going to take digital pics of all the guests holding a sign that says "Congrats X and Y" and then I will make these into a photobook later. I stole that idea from the offbeat bride site.

 

[Pandora II]

When I was hoping to hire the silhouette cutter I was going to have a guest book to put all of them in and just get people to sign under their image. But the budget didn''t allow for one in the end sadly.

We''re now not having one at all - I can never think of what to write at all, and the one''s friends have had where you stick polaroids in etc just ended up a nasty gluey mess.

Also, it will just end up being another piece of tat round the house that I don''t have room for and yet can''t bear to throw out!

 

[bee*]

Date: 6/21/2008 10:05:58 PM
Author: anchor31
Yes. It''s boring, but it''s easy and unexpensive. Those are pretty much my two main criteria these days.

I agree. I am going to have one as I really want to read the messages that people will leave.

 

[ladypirate]

It''s a ways off still, but I love the idea of sending out scrapbook pages with the invitations and asking guests to decorate them with photos, notes, etc. and bring them to the wedding (or mail them back). That way people can get a bit individual and creative with it and they don''t have to worry about doing it at the wedding itself.

 

[lovesparklies]

A couple of my friends have gotten pretty coffee table books with artistic photographs of the city where the wedding was held and used that as the guest book. One couple might have even gotten a cook book from a famous restaurant they often go to in the city. It''s great because you can leave it sitting out and look at it whenever you want unlike most traditional guest books. This idea works best if you''re in a big city or any area that is historical or touristy because it''s more likely that they have books about them, but if I can find a book that makes sense for where I''m getting married, that''s what I plan to do! Or maybe I could make a book on kodakgallery.com or one of the other photo sites using pictures of all the places my fiance and I have lived and visited together.

 

[Krissie]

Gah, I don''t know about this one. D''s uncle gave us a small guest book that I would feel obligated to use, were we to have one. But I don''t like it, and it''s very "Hallmark" if that makes sense. So I''m inclined to forego it, or just have it on a table for the cocktail hour at our reception.

 

[zoebartlett]

Date: 6/22/2008 9:03:34 PM
Author: Gypsy
Not really. I always forget to sign in as a guest... and when I do sign in, well, it''s a little bit of a chore. My heart isn''t in it, I guess... so I figure most people feel the same way. I haven''t been to a wedding yet that has any of these unique ideas... so I don''t know as a guest how I''d react to them, but I do love the creativity of the folks on here.

Plus, I''m just not the most organized person in the world. I''ve already lost my favors for this freaking wedding and can''t find them... and I''m afraid it would be another thing to keep track of when moving, etc and worry about damaging or losing. (MUST FIND THE FAVORS). And as terrible as it sounds I''m not a cozy decorator, I''m more a hotel room decorator streamlined, uncluttered and a bit impersonal so I wouldn''t hang or keep out anything that personal if I did a picture or a plate. And little bits of paper in a lovely wishing well are just a present for Hally... and asking to break my vaccum once she shreds them. So I guess I''m just really unsentimental about it all. Sorry.

I hear ya. Same with Sabine''s comments. I''ve signed the "typcial" guest book, but when it comes to writing anything creative, I''m always at a loss for words. I usually und up writing the standard "wishing you a lifetime of happiness" type of comment. It''s definitely sincere, but I never know how to expand on that. I also get what you''re saying regarding displaying personal items. We''re actually the same way. All of our friends have a lot of pictures in nice frames all around their houses, but we don''t. For some reason, we stick to candle holders, pottery -- things that are nice but not personal to us.

 

[CrownJewel]

Date: 6/23/2008 11:52:56 AM
Author: lurkinglurker
I''m thinking of making a big blurb photobook with different pictures of us on one side of each page and the other side will have lines for the guests to sign. I think this would be really neat for us to have, but I''m wondering if that would seem a little self-involved to guests? Like ''please sign our guest book which is filled with pictures of us that of course you want to look at''?

We also wanted to do a photobooth but don''t have the budget, so my sister is going to take digital pics of all the guests holding a sign that says ''Congrats X and Y'' and then I will make these into a photobook later. I stole that idea from the offbeat bride site.

Lurking - you should definitely do it. I just went to a wedding where the couple set up a photo album on a table and asked the guests to sign that. The photos were from an engagement photo session they had by the beach. The photos were beautiful, so cute, and everyone loved looking through it. There was a line! She had them in an archival photo album with black pages, and used photo corners to hold the photos on each page. She provided 2 metallic pens, and people wrote on the facing pages, as well as around the photos. Just be careful that your pens dry quickly so they don''t mar your photos when someone flips the page.