While we do want to remember who attended our wedding with some form of guestbook, traditional bound guestbooks have fallen out of vogue. They have a tendency to look boring and since they typically contain a list of names scrawled out they are typically stored away and not looked at again for years and years. Break the pattern and choose unique, fun, and functional guestbook option. Browse through the 12 suggestions below to see if anything fits your wedding style!
Calendars
Have your guests flip through a wall calendar for the upcoming year and sign on their birthday. This is a great way to keep track of when your friends and family have a birthday coming up, no Facebook notifications needed! You can make this guestbook idea extra special by ordering a calendar made up of one of your engagement photos for ever month from sites like Snapfish and Shutterfly.
Have your guests write out well wishes, hopes for your future, and marital advice on cards or nice stationary. Let them know that these notes will be stored in a “time capsule” container which will be open on your wedding anniversary (first year, fifth year, tenth year, your choice). Place a vintage blue ball jar, tea tin, or apothecary jar on the table to collect the notes.
Meaningful Wall I
Purchase a large, home I-worthy letter that your new last name will begin with. Check around at local thrift store, antique stores, and auctions for a great vintage feel like the one seen here. Other great wall I choices could be vinyl records for music lovers, a poster of a landmark from where your wedding will take place, or a mat board to go around one of your wedding or engagement photographs. You could also commission a local artist to draw up a photo similar to this wedding poster by Alexander & Co.
Canvas Mural
Buy a large stretched canvas and a variety of paint markers. Use a pencil to divide out squares leaving at least one per guest who has said they will attend your wedding. Encourage guests to decorate their square with a drawing and well wishes. Keep in mind this is a very messy idea for a guestbook so you will need to have a well stocked clean-up station nearby!
Coffee Table Book
Do you and your iancé share a passion for a particular artist? Does a certain special photographer speak to you both? Pick up a coffee table book of images that are meaningful to you as individuals and as a couple that you know will be flipped through frequently throughout your life together to be used in lieu of a boring, blank guestbook.
Jenga
If you and your future spouse are young at heart and love to play board games together, you may want to try a Jenga guestbook. Set out the game and have each guest sign a block and put it back into the box. You might want to stack up the blocks so your guests can play a bit of Jenga when they go to sign their block. Check out this example of a Jenga guestbook.
Toying Around
Games aren’t the only way to incorporate your young spirit into your guestbook, try picking up a toy to have your guests sign. A great choice is the Munny series of toys which were made to be customizable. Get a couple of them; decorate them to look like a bride and groom being sure to leave enough blank space for guests to sign, or better yet, let your guests do the decorating!
Collections
If you have always dreamed of starting a collection, why not start by building one up and incorporating it into your guestbook? Pick up old a bunch of vintage postcards like the ones shown here by searching eBay or local antique stores. Old ink can be removed from the back of old postcards with a cotton swab and rubbing alcohol or you can leave it as-is for added charm. Matchbooks are another great idea for the collection option. You can have your guests sign inside of old matchbooks like this example which will later be displayed in your home in an apothecary jar and can be pass down from generation to generation.
Mad Libs
Go mad with mad libs as your guest book. Print out pages of creative prompts like the one seen here or if you aren’t into mad libs, try a guestbook form encouraging your guests to give advice, well wishes, and suggestions for your future together instead of simply writing their name in a book.
Guest Quilt
Have your guests sign quilt pieces or an already stitched together quilt so their warm wishes can help you warm and snuggly. Another fun idea would be to let your guests know ahead of time that you will be making a quilt guestbook so people can bring their own pieces of fabric to contribute to make it even more special! You can see an example of a quilt guestbook here.
Photo Booth Guestbook
If your wedding photographer will be setting up a photo booth at your wedding (or if you set up your own DIY photo booth, provide a few chalkboard variations and multi-colored chalk. Put up signs to encourage your guests to have their picture taken and to leave you well wishes in photo form. If you have video capability, consider doing a video guestbook within a photo booth setting like the one in this video by Hello Super 8.
Instant Photos
While Polaroid has ceased to make their own film, instant photographs continue to gain popularity with Fuji Instax swooping in to fill the void left where Polaroid used to be. Similar to the photo booth idea, you can either provide chalkboards for messages to be included in the photograph or have guests sign the back or edge of the photograph. You can see an example of instant photographs being incorporated as guestbooks here.
Recipe for Love
Last, but not least is asking your guests for their “recipe for love” (or recipe for a long, happy marriage). Provide recipe cards for your guests to fill out with their wedding advice and set out some cookies or mini-pies for your guests to take along with them after they sign to keep with the baking theme! You can see an example of the “recipe for love” idea here.
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- Going Non-Floral: Unique Wedding Centerpieces
- Going Non-Floral: Unique Wedding Bouquets
Don’t these ideas sound more fun than a traditional guestbook? I love to attend weddings where the couple has let their true personality shine through in touches like a different and special guestbook! Can you think of any other ideas that I left off of this list?
