Wedding Wednesday: The Guestbook

Chances are, you probably haven't given much thought to the guestbook at your wedding. In fact, it may be something you don't ever give any thought to--after all, it isn't very difficult to buy one of those fancy little autograph books for people to sign as they are coming into the ceremony and/or reception.

But let's be real--are you ever going to pull that book out again and look through the list of signatures of people who attended your wedding? Probably not. Because ultimately, the guestbook is nothing more than a list of names, only valuable if one of your guests becomes famous and you can sell their signature for something. Sure, some people might leave a little note, but chances are, they've already written a note into their card and won't take the time to put something in the guestbook.

Does this mean that a guestbook like that is necessarily a bad idea? Certainly not. But be realistic with it--you probably won't ever do anything with it again. If you're okay with that, perfect. But there are lots of fun, creative ways to turn your wedding guestbook into more than just a book full of signatures--something you will actually be proud to display and cherish as a reminder of your wedding day. Need some ideas?

Love the idea of having people sign wine bottles! And they could easily be repurposed into flower vases or something after the wedding. If wine isn't up your ally, consider something more suited to your tastes--how about having your guests sign a slice of wood?

You know all those beautiful engagement photos you took? You know you are going to display some of those in your house after the wedding--why not have your guests sign a mat around the photo? Any time you are having a bad day you can walk by and read the sweet messages left by your guests (and as an added bonus, if you use the right kind of matting, you can replace the photo with a favorite wedding photo down the road).

I'm a big fan of monograms, so I love the idea of taking your married initial and having guests sign that. The possibilities are endless for displaying this in your house!

So long as you aren't inviting any guests that are trying to hide out from the law and keep their fingerprints from becoming publicly accessible, it's becoming a really popular idea to ask guests to "leaf" a thumbprint on a tree. Love that this couple made it look like they had carved their initials into the tree!

If you are planning to print a nice photo album for a coffee table book, consider turning it into your guestbook as well. You can pre-print a book with engagement pictures (or other random pictures of you as a couple), leaving blank spaces for people to sign, or if you are a do-it-yourself kind of person you can just have people sign blank scrapbook pages and incorporate them into a scrapbook of wedding photos. Either way, whenever you pull out the book to look through the pictures you'll also get to read the nice messages from your guests.

Don't see anything you like? There's lots more possibilities here!

(All images from Style Me Pretty)