Wednesday Wedding: Guestbook

Welcome to my first official Wednesday Wedding post! 

First, a little background on my brief history with weddings: I have only been to two weddings in my life, both two years ago, so before planning my own I did not have much experience or knowledge of everything that goes into making a wedding happen, or anyone to exactly guide me through it. I've learned a lot already, thanks to tips and suggestions from some of you, and of course the internet provides endless hours of browsing pictures and ideas. For Christmas my friend Tracy gave me The Knot Ultimate Wedding Planner, which is helpful for telling me when things need to happen, answering questions, and organizing all the details that I didn't even know about.

My feelings on having a wedding pre-engagement were very different from my feelings post-engagement. When it actually became a reality, I got really unsure of if I wanted a wedding or not. I'm not much of a party person, and I don't like attention on me, so I worried I wouldn't even enjoy the occasion. I thought it would actually be a pretty miserable event for me. Especially with trying to figure out the details of Kyle and I getting married, I thought I was starting to see that a wedding wouldn't even be about us, just about trying to please and throw a party for others. So for the most part, for several months up until June really, whenever I would try to get into wedding things again, I just got worried and upset and had to stop before accomplishing anything. I'm not sure what turned me back around, but I'm feeling pretty good about wedding planning now. I guess actually being married already helps lessen the stress, and talking about plans with my bridesmaids and friends helps get me motivated to continue on. Now that I've gotten into the swing of things, it's pretty fun! It's an opportunity to do whatever Kyle and I want, and I hope to give him a really fun and special wedding, especially after his year deployment. 

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So , back to the topic for today! I'm starting off this week with some creative guestbook alternatives I've stumbled upon. Sometimes it is nice to flip through a book for memories, but sometimes you might want something a little different to better suit the personalities of the bride and groom, or the theme of the wedding.

Puzzle Pieces
About once a year I love sitting down to work on a puzzle, so this one kind of appeals to me. I don't think I've actually seen any real wedding examples that use this. The completed puzzle could easily be displayed in a frame and put on the wall to be seen every day, as opposed to having a typical guestbook tucked away under the bed. You could paint pieces before hand to match your wedding colors, but I think I'd leave them plain and use different colored pens. It might take forever to put together, with no picture to guide you, however, and guests would have to keep their well wishes quite succinct.

Leaf Your Thumbprint

This one is kinda different, but more commonly used than I might have thought. Guests stamp their thumbprint and sign their name on what starts out as a naked tree, usually with the couples initials "carved" in the trunk. It's another one that you could frame and display all the time, and you could use whatever colors you want to end up with some pretty funky looking leafy trees. Unfortunately, I've noticed, this idea inspires the happy couple to request that guests "leaf" their thumbprints and sign their name. Oh puns. 

Pictures or it Didn't Happen

This seems to be a pretty popular idea, having a photo booth, or a Polaroid camera available for guests to have fun with. It's a nice way to add some visuals from the actual wedding event to accompany messages and well wishes in a more typical guest book. You could set up an area with fun props for guests to have mini photo shoots (I'm all about thinking of fun activities for guests to do, to keep things interesting and for those who don't feel like dancing). 

"Send" a Postcard

I really like this idea. You know I love postcards, and it would be fun to decorate a mailbox for guests to put their finished messages into (the image of Carl and Ellie from Up comes to mind). Blank postcards or some from various or specific locations could be used. With blank cards, guests could decorate one side (arts & crafts station!) and write a message on the other. I'm not sure how they would ultimately be stored, probably in a binder/book in clear page covers. 

Sign This Dish

"Sign this dish with your best wish." Not sure I like this idea. I wouldn't want to deal with something so breakable and awkward, but I have only seen this once or twice in all my hours of wedding blog browsing.  

- From the desk of Mrs. Sarah McPherson