How to Create a Wedding Guestbook

A guestbook is one of the loveliest keepsakes of your wedding day, recording all of the people who were there and their wishes for your success. A wedding guestbook can be much more than signatures and you can create one easily with just a little preparation and foresight.

Things You'll Need

• Guestbook
• Note cards
• Pens
• Photos
• Disposable cameras
• Keepsakes
• Tape or glue

Instructions

1. Select a book with blank pages. Many guestbooks have lined pages where people can sign their names, but if you want them to leave lengthier messages reflecting on the day (as well as adding photos and other mementos), then a blank guestbook works much better.

2. Distribute note cards during the reception. You can place them in a nice holder near the buffet or leave them on tables, along with pens to for people to sign them. You can buy note cards at any stationary store, and find high-quality paper to give them an air of elegance.

3. Ask people to sign a note card and leave a little personal message at some appropriate point in the reception. The card gives them room to leave a more personal message and allows you to arrange them later in the guestbook any way you like.

4. Take photos of each of the wedding guests. They don't need to be formal shots, but it makes a nice addition to the guestbook when you create it. Send the photographer around to collect pictures of everyone, or ask the guests to take pictures themselves with disposable cameras left at the table.

5. Collect modest keepsakes from the wedding reception to include when you create your guest book. These can include pressed flowers from the bride and groom's table, a copy of the invitation or RSVP card, a doily or napkin from the catering company and note cards or wrapping paper from the presents: anything that isn't perishable and can be easily placed in a scrapbook.

6. Group the note cards with the photos of whoever wrote on them, so you match up the message with the person who wrote it.

7. Arrange the pictures, note cards and keepsakes in the guest book however you like, securing them with tape or glue as appropriate. You can create pages to match your tastes, grouping signed note cards by table, by familial relationship, alphabetically by name or however else you wish.

Tips & Warnings

• If you want to have a more traditional wedding guestbook as well, which guests simply sign when they arrive at the reception, it shouldn't be too hard. And if you do two in this manner, you can make sure both of them are the same style, creating a matching set.