A guest book is such a special part of your wedding, something you’ll treasure and look back on for years to come! Yes, you have a photographer who will take a thousand photos that will hang on the walls of your home, reminding you every day of your perfect day, but there is just something extra special and more intimate about a guestbook. It’s a place where your beloved friends and family can write messages to you, encouragement, date ideas, and more that will make you laugh, cry, maybe tug at your heart strings, or inspire you every time you read it. It is a special and treasured possession that you and your forever will hold onto until death do you part. So, how do you make something that sounds as “simple” as a guest book into a forever treasure? To help you answer that question, here are some of our favorite guest book ideas we have seen at The Barn!
THE TRADITIONAL BOOK
You can never go wrong with a traditional guest book—just sign on the line! For a more modern twist, customize the cover with your names, maybe add a photo, and keep the pages blank for guests to get creative and write their personal notes.
THE PHOTO BOOK
Guests love flipping through your photo books! To turn a normal photo book into a guest book, just make the margins wider, or add in some blank pages to give your guests enough room to write their sweet notes. If you don’t want the risk of your guests writing on top of your photos, there is always the option of pairing it with a traditional guest book.
POLAROIDS/PHOTO BOOTH
Instead of putting together a photo book of the two of you, make your guests do the work! All you need is a Polaroid camera and a backdrop. Or, you can work with your decorator/florist to create a designated space for guests to take their photos. The Polaroid camera will print out a photo right after it is taken, then your guests can tape it in a blank book, and write a little note beside it. If you like this idea but don’t love Polaroid cameras, we have seen couples rent photo booth services at their wedding. We have a couple names of local businesses who do this, so if that is more your style, we can get you in contact with those vendors.
VOICEMAILS
This one is one of our FAVORITES! We know some cool vendors who will rig up an old rotary phone with a recording device, so when your guests pick up the phone, the device will start recording! And when the receiver is placed back down, the recording will stop—how cool is that? A guest book that you can listen to over the years, hearing the actual voices of all your cherished loved ones as they relay their wisdom on to you.
BIBLE VERSES
We see this one pretty frequently too—buy a new bible (it works best when it’s a journal bible) and ask your guests to highlight or underline their favorite verse! Then they can sign their names in the margin and write sweet notes of encouragement, too.
GAME BOARDS
It’s always fun to take a favorite game and turn it into a guest book! The most common ones we see are Jenga and Corn hole, but almost any game you think of can be turned into a guestbook. It’s so special to be able to play your favorite game with your favorite person for the rest of your lives, with elements that reminded you of your wedding day, and the personalized touch from all of your friends and family.
INDEX CARDS
We’ve seen so many versions of this guest book—you can really turn it into whatever you want! Leaving prompted index cards on your welcome table for your guests to complete is fun for everyone involved. You can ask them to share a favorite memory they have with you, a fun date idea, or some words of wisdom—the possibilities are endless! You can have a basket for these cards after they have been completed, or you can use a blank book and have your guests tape them in.
FAMILY TREE
Family trees are so unique and intimate! Buy a framed photo, sketch, or painting of a tree and ask your guests to fill in the branches! It’s easy to incorporate into your home decor, where you can look at it every day, and remember the best day.
ESTABLISHED SIGN
Another guest book to hang on your wall! Get a custom-made sign with your first names or your last name, maybe add some little details that mean something to you and ask your guests to sign it. If it’s big enough, you can ask them to leave a little note next to their names as well, but for smaller signs, maybe accompany it with another guest book for personal notes.
OTHER UNIQUE IDEAS
Like I said before, we’ve seen a lot of guest books come through our doors! You can really bring in anything that means something to you guys, and turn it into a guest book… Like favorite records if you’re into music, or animal skulls if you’re more into the western vibe. We’ve seen both of these at weddings before, and we love how unique they are!
We hope this gives you some ideas for your wedding guest book! If not, we at least hope it gives you a bit of inspiration to use in creating your own, never-been-done-before, idea. We can’t wait to see what you come up with!
Cheers,
The Barn at Aspen Acres
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