In addition to
your wedding bands and photos, your wedding guestbook is something you'll have
and cherish forever. For most traditional wedding guestbooks, guests simply
sign their names — with some opting to leave a note or words of encouragement
for the newly-married couple. If this seems a little too traditional or mundane
for you, there are other things you can do instead of a basic guestbook.
Mad Libs Guest Book — ‘Guest Libs'
Offer wedding advice to the new couple by
playing Wedding Mad Libs! It's fun for the guests — place one game at each
person's seat in the reception hall so they can fill it out during dinner or
dancing. The bride and groom can make a book out of everyone's cards or simply
get a great laugh a few weeks following the wedding!
2
Vintage marriage advice postcards
Newly-married couple Kendra and
Dave's favorite pastime is traveling. For their wedding, they purchased vintage
travel postcards and had each guest write down their best marriage advice on
one card. The maid of honor mailed one card each day following the wedding to
the couple. Kendra and Dave loved reading the advice and placed all the
postcards in a photo album as a keepsake.
3
A memory book
Instead of having guests just
sign the wedding guestbook, have them write down their favorite memory of them
and the bride or groom. This provides the bride and groom a chance to reminisce
about old times as often as they pull out the guestbook!
4
Quilted memories
At a recent family reunion, everyone
signed one pre-cut piece of fabric each that was later sewn together to create
a beautiful quilt. This idea works wonderfully for wedding guestbooks, as well.
Choose colors to match your home and leave the quilt on display!
5
Polaroid photo book
Enlist your bridal party to
capture Polaroid photos of all the guests. Have the guests place the photos in
an album with a message to the bride and groom and their signatures. This is a
fun and inexpensive way to create a guestbook that allows the bride and groom
to relive their special day!
6
Fingerprint canvas
Have each guest place their
fingerprint on a large canvas. Guests can make a ‘family tree' out of their
fingerprints (each print is a leaf) or randomly place their print anywhere on
the canvas as a form of abstract art. Later, display this canvas in your home,
which will serve as a memory of your wedding day each time you pass it.
7
Sign a frame or meaningful object
Purchase a large photo frame
that each guest can sign and place your favorite wedding photo in the center.
If you don't like the idea of having guests sign a frame, have them sign any
object that is significant to you and your spouse. Ideas include a guitar, a
nightstand or piece of old furniture, a wooden initial, a puzzle or even a few
wine bottles.
8
Date night jar
Have guests jot down romantic
ideas of things to do on date night, sign the card and place in a large Mason
jar. The new couple can refer to this jar and pull out an idea any time they're
feeling bored or looking to do something fun!
9
Recipe for a perfect marriage
This one's simple yet too cute
not to consider. Provide each guest with a blank recipe card and have them
create a 'recipe' for a perfect marriage. Ours would be equal parts laughter
and love, sprinkled with compromise and rolled in with forgiveness! Store all
'recipes' in a recipe box to pull out whenever your marriage needs a little
extra TLC!
10
Letters to the bride and groom
Purchase a blank guestbook and
glue miniature colored envelopes onto the pages. Have guests write sentimental
thoughts about marriage on note cards and seal in the envelope. The couple then
opens one per day (or week) until there are no more. Guests can write quotes,
lessons learned on marriage, their favorite thing about being married, well
wishes to the couple or anything else the couple may find useful.
