Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Guestbook Ideas and Alternatives

This day in Age the Wedding Guest Book is viewed by some as silly or obsolete. Most wedding guest books are put away in a closet to collect dust and never be looked at again. However most brides would like some way to remember all the people who showed up for her special day. Well here are some alternative ways to do this.


One Idea is to buy an unfired platter or bowl from a pottery shop in your town and have everyone sign it with a pre glaze pen. Then you can have it glazed and fired as a keepsake and conversation piece.


Another idea would be to take quilt squares and have the guests write messages or just sign names on each square. Then have a quilt as a guestbook. There are many varying ideas on this as to how to have them sign. One opinion is the simple cloth marker is great for them; Others want to take the time to go over the signatures etc. with embroidery or cross stitch so that the signatures stay bold, there are machines out there that can do this or you can do it by hand.


A lampshade to be signed is also a novel idea not used often, but something that could be kept around the house.


Buying or building an un-finished wood table and having the guests “Sign” with a wood burning pen is a good idea for a rustic home, or you can even have it finished afterward for the polished look.


Having a wishing well with blank cards around it for guests to write their “Wishes for the couple” or advice on the cards is a great idea. There are many variations on this such as having the guest pick a date for you to open the card (something special like their birthday or whatever they choose). Or you can choose to open them on your first anniversary and remember your wedding day, another option is to open them immediately and incorporate the cards into your wedding day scrap book.


A fun and casual way of doing this is to put papers at each setting, or a large notebook or art pad to pass around (or at a specific “signing table”) and leave markers, crayons colored pencils and pens. Then ask the guests to each take a sheet of paper and write a message to you, it can be advice or wishes well or whatever they feel like writing to you as the couple. These are great to put in the larger picture albums with pictures of that guest next to their page, or can be bound together in an album of their own. This is also an idea for something that can be left out as a coffee table book etc.


Also you can buy a table book of something or somewhere that is special to you as a couple and have the guests sign around the pictures like a yearbook or anything and then leave the book out at home for anyone to glance through as they please.


Another fun option is to buy one of the gigantic Mavericks of wine and have silver or gold pens to have all of the guests sign the bottle and label.


A very popular option is the wide matte picture frame, in which you have a double or triple wide matting put on a picture of the couple, or a picture that means something to the couple.


All of these ideas are designed to keep a “book” special to you and an every day thing for your family. There are many more possibilities out there and you can find one that’s specific to you and your fiance’s personalities. The option of the traditional guest book may also be what you are looking for as a keepsake for generations to come.

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