A Few Wedding Guest Book Activities

A Few Wedding Guest Book Activities

Presented by Honey B Wackx

If you are a non traditional bride then alternative guest book suggestions may be something you have been thinking about. However traditional brides do not need to have traditional guest books. Sure, you can purchase a standard guest book and ask your guests to sign it, but there are many more guest book-like activities that are more unique.

We’ll move from the popular to the least known. A popular option allows wedding guests to sign a photo of the bride and groom. Simply take a photo of the bride and groom and have it matted several inches larger than the photo itself. Put a frame around it, but do not include the glass or Plexiglas frame. You’ll add it later.

Some people prefer to use “bulldog” clips to hold the mat together instead of putting the image in the frame. The image can be framed after the wedding if desired.

Most couples choose a beautiful picture of themselves for this picture/guest book option, but if there is a formal engagement photo, this is an excellent way to preserve that photo and show it to your friends and family.

If the photos are taken before the wedding with the bride and groom in wedding attire you can certainly use that photo. Many couples choose to leave the mat empty or they put a temporary picture in the mat and add a wedding picture later.

Be sure to have a handy nice marker pen and put the picture on a sturdy easel or table where guests can see it.

Another option other than having an image of the bride and groom to sign is if guests are provided with a picture of themselves! Simply use a digital camera and assign someone the task of taking pictures of guests arriving at the reception.

Once the image printed on your printer (photo printer preferably), provide a Sharpie or other marker pen and they can sign the picture, leave a note to the bride and groom or hand draw a silly picture. It can be just what the guest wants it to be. This is a unique and personal way for guests to “Sign In” at the wedding.

Whoever is responsible for taking pictures should also consider putting them in an album of some sort. A scrapbooker could provide a special memory book with the pictures in it, or the photos can simply be placed in an album and later presented to the bride and groom.

Many wedding guests do not give much thought to the guest book. They zip past the guest book more concerned with their cocktails and hitting the dance floor. If this poses a problem, you could provide a “traveling” guest book. Send every invited guest something to sign or decorate before the wedding.

In this “traveling” guest book scenario there are several options. One of the easiest is to send each guest a small piece of paper and ask them to write something meaningful or thoughtful for the bride and groom on it. The pieces of paper are returned before the wedding (to ensure a better response, also provide a self-addressed envelope) and can be compiled in a manner suitable for the bride and groom and presented to them on their wedding day.

If the guest list is a particularly close group of friends or associates, there is another option that is even more meaningful. Again, in a scrapbook fashion, send each guest a piece of paper to sign or decorate. The paper should be the size of a photo album, so it might be 6 x 6 piece of paper, a piece of paper 8 x 8 or even 12 x 12, if the guests are up for this larger size.

In a letter that arrives with the paper, the guests are asked to create a memory page for the bride and groom. They may include photos, quotes, trivia, or combine all these with stickers or embellishments. It is a nice, meaningful, and personal. It is a great way to include guests who may not be able to attend the wedding, but still want to be part of it.

Consider these rather different ways to have wedding guests mark there presence at your wedding. You will be remembered not only for your wedding, but for the unique way you handled the guest book custom.

Honey B is studying how to be a success in Online Marketing so she can augment her income or quit her job.