Five Guest Book Ideas for Your Wedding (Updated for 2024)

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A guest book is essential to any wedding. It’s a keepsake item of who attended your wedding and their good wishes to the newlywed couple. Everyone selects a wedding guest book, but that doesn’t mean yours has to be boring. You can buy or create your own, matching it to your taste by selecting elegant details, matching it to your wedding theme and colors, or by personalizing it with photos. There is a wide range of guest book options available so take the time to choose the one you truly love, starting with these five ideas.

Elegant Wedding Guest Book

Depending on your wedding style and individual taste, an elegant wedding guest book might be the best fit for you. If you are going for elegance, choose guest books decorated in lace, satin, or pearls. Your guest book could match your wedding colors or keep a simple elegance with a white guest book. An elegant wedding guest book is appropriate for any wedding ranging from black tie to rustic.

Lace Guest Book: If you are thinking about selecting an elegant wedding guest book, consider this beautiful lace one. The combination of lace and burlap is simple yet beautiful, perfect for a rustic wedding theme.

Lace-Guest-Book

Leather Guest Book

A leather guest book is traditional, simple, and long-lasting. It provides an old-fashioned feel in a stylish manner perfect for a couple with vintage taste. Leather decorations look appropriate with any home décor so you can cherish a leather guest book by using it as a chic addition to a tabletop, bookshelf, or amongst a stack of photo albums to keep your happy wedding memories close by and on display at all times.

Monogram Leather Guest Book: This monogrammed leather guest book is perfect for any wedding with its personalized detail and handcrafted exterior with recycled paper inside. Preserve your guests’ signatures and notes for decades to come in this traditional and sophisticated guest book.

monogram-leather-guest-book

Photo Guest Book

A photo guest book is a beautiful option for allowing your guests to view happy memories of the wedding couple as they sign their names and write their good wishes for a happy marriage. This is the perfect opportunity to use your engagement photos or choose a few handpicked pictures that capture your relationship together. Photo guest books provide a personal touch by allowing you to create your own unique guest book.

Purchase a Photo Guest Book: If you don’t like the idea of crafting your own photo guest book but still want to use one, purchase one like this Polaroid Photo Guest Book. This guest book features a silver-plated cover with floral details and plenty of spots for adding photos from your years together or engagement photo shoot.

lace-bouquet-photo-guest-book

Create Your Own: You can create your own guest book by crafting a scrapbook of photos and blank pages or using an online photo book website to design your own guest book and have it printed and mailed to you. Crafting a scrapbook is a fun way to sort through memories and photos, but a printed guest book might be a cleaner option. Try websites like Mixbook or Shutterfly for a customizable photo guest book option.

Personalized Wedding Guest Book

A personalized wedding guest book is a unique and fun option that allows your wedding guests to get a glimpse into your personal relationship. Personalize it to your own tastes and experiences as a couple by using a map, wine bottles, or message in a bottle. All of these clever ideas capture the experiences you’ve had together, hobbies you enjoy, and allow your guests to learn something new about you and have fun with a non-traditional guest book.

Vintage Atlas or Map: Personalize your wedding guest book by using a vintage atlas or map so your guests can sign the pages by highlighting where they are traveling from or destinations they think you might enjoy visiting in the future. This is the perfect idea for a bride and groom who enjoy traveling or vintage books.

Re-Purposed Wine Bottles: Redecorate old wine bottles to use as a guest book for your wedding and let your guests sign the bottles with metallic sharpies. This is a great idea for vineyard weddings or couples who love wine tasting together. You can use wine bottles as table numbers so guests can pass around the bottles for signing during the reception.

Message In A Bottle: This unique idea is perfect for a nautical wedding or for guests who want to save their guest book for opening at a later date. Provide your guests with paper and pens to write out their messages then fold them up and place them in the bottle for you to open later. You can simply let them sign their names and well wishes or put a fun spin on the guest book idea by asking them to give marriage advice, date night ideas, or write nostalgic notes.

Use Wedding Guest Favors as a Guest Book

Get creative with your wedding favors by using them to create your guest book. Wedding guest favors are a great way to thank your guests for coming and it allows them to feel involved in your special day. Wedding favors don’t just have to be something for your guests to take home, they can also be a way for your guests to give you marriage advice, share funny and loving stories about the happy couple, and send you off in celebration. Here are a few ideas for wedding guest favors that can be used as an alternative guest book.

Advice Coasters: Rather than plain old drink coasters have “Advice Coasters” printed for your guests to write their names and marriage advice on. Collect them at the end of the night to save and preserve as your guest book.

Mad Libs: Use a Mad Libs style fill-in-the-blank sheet as your wedding guest book to collect names, advice, and funny stories. Store them all in a photo album or notebook after the wedding as a keepsake wedding guest book. This is a casual and funny way to collect the names of your wedding guests and it will be amusing to look back on years later.

Polaroid Camera: Let your guests have fun while creating your guest book by hiring a photographer to take pictures using an old-fashioned Polaroid camera. Create props for them to take pictures with and have a few sharpies for guests to sign their names on the bottom of their pictures when they’re printed out. Store all of the photos in a photo album to save as your wedding guest book.

Conclusion

Everyone needs a guest book for their wedding, but that doesn’t mean it has to be a boring book full of signatures. Let your guests have fun signing your guest book with elegant, vintage, and personalized ideas. If you’re having a traditional wedding select an elegant guest book, try a vintage or leather guest book if it suits your tastes, or try a unique personalized guest book by using photos, repurposed items, or wedding favors. No matter what type of guest book you choose, it will be unique to your tastes and personal wedding, and provide you with a keepsake item to treasure your wedding guests forever.