Wedding Blog
I’m not sure that I want to go the traditional route with the guest book, but I have not really decided what I want to do either. Here are some things I’m considering for our guest book.
Using our engagement pictures as a photo book for guests to sign:
I definitely like this idea, and it’s a high contender. It’s a shame that people will only see one of our engagement pictures on the save the dates we send out.
A wedding bench for guests to sign, just like Miss Apple Cider:
I like that we would have something in our house that all our guests have left a sweet note on. But I definitely don’t know how to whittle a bench or do any sort of woodwork, and I don’t know that this will really go with the “theme” of our house, but it is definitely a cute idea.
Genealogy tree book from Melangerie NYC:
Everyone can write a little note, to be placed in a genealogy tree book that we could frame later. It shows how everyone at the wedding is connected to Mr. Fro Yo and me, and we also get a note from them. This is definitely a sweet idea, and one we can hang somewhere in our house to have always.
Manzanita guest tree
How could I not throw this in as one of the options considering my love (ok, mild obsession) with manzanita trees? I even found a how to! This is a VERY high contender. AND if we’re unable to afford manzanita trees on every table, this will still allow us to have one that serves a very special purpose. And really, how could you pass it up and not leave a note? It’s so gorgeous! I would probably then take all the notes off and put them in a scrapbook later. I could still keep the tree somewhere in our house (maybe).
Which guestbook style do you like best?
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i love the photobook, but that’s probably because i am obsessed with making photo books on blurb! But knowing your love for manzanita trees, i think that is the best option for you. you could always do a photobook and have it near the tree so that guests could look through it while they write their notes!
i love the photobook…but we ended up doing a poster print of a wordle cloud with our names, and wedding date, and lots of wedding words….and then we put it in a HUGE frame, and peeps will sign it, like a traditional photo signature mat….but cooler =)
@thefuturemrsjewell: I never thought about having BOTH. Good idea!
I’m having the same dilema… I have a photobook, but it’s just too pretty to write in 
I am a big fan of the photobook idea - because it is a good way to show off engagement pictures … but I am DEFINITELY all for the manzanita tree guestbook! It’s fresh and fun and really elegant, too!
I love the photo book and saw it at a recent wedding. The only concern was that most guests signed on just a few pages (instead of turning the page, they wrote in small cramped handwriting). So if you do this, have a bridesmaid turn the page to an empty one every so often. This way people will fill up the entire book instead of trying to fit it in on a few pages.
Just an idea!
I LOVE the manzanita tree idea…and that way you would just HAVE to incorporate the manzanita into your wedding!
I like the photobook, but gator has a very relevant comment. Another consideration is the size of your venue. If you’ve got some size to fill, then go with the manzanita tree.
My best friend used her engagement photo book as her guest book and everyone really liked looking through the pictures– plus no matter what your decor is, the album will always be an appropriate coffee table topper (you can’t always say that for a wood bench or geneology tree)
The photobooks are nice but we found that with my brother’s and SILs no one signed that book. I guess they were afraid to write in it. It was really nice though to have all their e-pics displayed.
I love the idea of the book I think it would be great for people to see and comment with in the book.
I also agree with Vintage2010 it may be a issue to force ppl to write in it.
I am also considering a larger very large serving plate that can be used to write on and then glazed. Check some of your local pottery shops alot of them have this option.
We’re doing the photobook, I got it for a song on shutterfly.com! I liked the idea of having a book of our engagement photos and figured having it filled with our guest’s well wishes was even better!
I love the photobook idea.
For our guestbook, I am doing an altered children’s board book that my fiance and I have painstakingly sanded down and prepped. I started painting and collaging in paper for it last night, and let me tell you, this is the DIY project that will kill me or drive me insane. I should have gone the photobook route instead!
I almost did the manzanita tree. We’re using our photobooth instead. Our booth comes with a person to man it the entire night, and as guests come in, it prints doubles of the photos they take. The guy pastes it into a blank scrap book and the guests sign next to their photos. Obviously as the night progrsses the photos and teh quotes get better and better..hahah!
Looooove that manzanita photo you attached though. It makes me want to reconsider, but sadly, 11 days is definitely not enough time. That does give you an excuse to use the brances you love so much though!
We’re doing the book of photos (though we’re using non-engagement photos as well). We’re also doing a “wishing well” where people warm the rocks with their well-wishes during the ceremony, write a short wish on them, and then toss them into a pool of water.
love the photo book! but to be honest, my photographer is amazing (and expensive!) and the thought of a several hundred dollar book being riffled through all night and possibly damaged makes me sick to my stomach, so i think i’m going to do the one photo with a huge matte to sign.
The photo book is really starting to take over. Like someone mentioned above. What i really like about the books, is its a more practical way to review comments & photos, whereas the large photo mat is a bit cumbersome. You could do both - book & photo mat. You can purchase affordable photo books, as there are many different varieties and styles.
Best,
Karen
Blush Photo
We are putting our own twist on the wooden bench idea from Miss Apple Cider. I am going to purchase an unfinished cedar chest and have guests sign the lid of it.
We will also be able to keep all of our wedding keepsakes in it after the wedding.
we are planning on a photo book (I’ll make a blurb one) , and like Jenniphyr we are going to put other photos in too - from childhood, growing up with our families, travels and then when we get together onwards then our engagement pics.
I have thought about including a photo of everyone who’ll be at the wedding in there, but not sure how practical that is - not a huge wedding, but heaps of scanning in!
@dec09bride: That is super sweet. I love that idea!
The Event Lady of Florida likes the Manzanita Tree (Apple Tree), as a sign in option. It really serves a dual purpose; it is a beautiful decoration when used as a centerpiece, one per guest table; or simply magnificent if used as a stunning piece on your gift table at the entrance of your reception.
Later you can decide where to keep the dedications… choose the most significant ones, and place them in a wedding or quince memory shadow box.
We are doing the photo book for everyone to sign. It will be photos of us as kids, during our relationship and engagement photos. Everyone will sign like they would on the matte of a frame. We are so excited about this because I think this might be something we actually look at in the future.
I’m partial to the Wish Tree, but then again, we just had one at our wedding! We made it ourselves, out of dead branches we collected from around home, plaster of paris, and an urn from Hobby Lobby. I covered the plaster of paris with lime green reindeer moss. All in all, I spend under $20 for the tree. The tags and ribbon were around $20 as well.
We did a portrait mat for people to sign, but I LOVE that tree idea. It’s so glam!
Oh- almost forgot to give you a bit of caution… If you do the tree, be sure you have a large open vehicle to transport it it, or your beloved branches will get broken. Ours made it to the reception just fine, but when I wasn’t there to protect it during clean-up, it got a bit manhandled, and I ended up throwing it away. 
(Plus my urn cracked down the side from the plaster; I should have lined it with some sort of cushion!)
Wow I had never heard of a Manzanita tree before but it’s beautiful and very glamorous! I’ll probably end up with the “traditional” photobook idea, as you said it would be a shame to hide all the engagement pics.
We’re really considering the photobook (as long as we can find a good pen) because it would make a great keepsake.
I’d never heard of the tree before — but I love the idea, especially if you can’t use them at each of your tables. What a great way to make it a focal point!
We did something very similar to the manzanita tree. We got married on December 12, so we had a little Christmas tree for people to hang their cards on. Not everyone took advantage of it, but it was pretty cute. Lots of well-wishes, sweet marriage advice, and one from a high school friend that said “Have lots of sex”. It was so much fun to look at them afterwards, and we used them as Christmas ornaments for our very first Christmas.
Our photographer will be making a guest book from our e-pics. The best advice I’ve read on these is to get you wedding party & immediate family to sign it at the RD. That way guests know they should also write in it & can see examples.
I like the idea of a photo book, but why couldn’t you have a different photo on each page for them to sign??
I’m doing a small book that will have some scrapbook pages up front, and then the rest of the pages will have little envelopes I made with tags that slip into them for guests to sign.
Looks like the photobooks are a huge hit everywhere. I currently work at Adesso Albums that sell all kinds of photobooks.
If you are interested I could give you all a 10% discount on the albums @
Another great idea is to take instant pictures of your guest and let them sign under their picture, so the album will look elegant and have all the pages filled! And you don’t have to worry about your engagement pictures being damaged.
I like the idea of having a engagement photobook out for guests to look through, even if you don’t use it as a guestbook (maybe I’m just biased because this is what I’m doing!). I think it would be great to pair that with the manzanita tree notecards as your official guestbook. I’ve always thought those trees look stunning and as one of the first things you see, I think it would set the tone for the rest of your reception.
Since we are doing a photobooth, we will use those pictures to put in the scrapbook and serve as the guest book.
@abrideagain: i never thought of that! good call on the page turning!
@kmattso2: Yes, my reference to people seeing just one photo was the photo we will use for the save the dates.
@El Capataz: We thought about doing that too!
I really wanted to use a big fat frame for guest to sign, with a picture of us, so later on we could frame a wedding picture in that. but I’ve seen so many cool options, def not an easy choice! 
That tree is gorgeous! If we don’t do the photo booth then it would probably be the guest book of engagement pictures or the frame option.
I just have a simple guest book. I really liked the idea of getting a wood bench, but that doesn’t really fit into our apartment!
I like the idea of the photos with the trees together.
I LOVE… ahem.. have a mild obsession with manzanita trees as well. I’m in Hawaii and literally went on a hunt for affordable (including shipping) branches for our wedding. The most affordable ones I found were from http://www.manzanita.com. I’m getting 60 branches + a sandblased branch (for our wishing tree) for only $600. Yeah.. sticker shock, BUT that includes shipping to Hawaii and we can save $40 if we pick it up from the dock rather than have it delivered to our house. That said, since you are on the mainland, these would probably be A LOT cheaper for you.
Good luck!
@thefuturemrsjewell we are most likely going to have both. i’ll be making a photo book on blurb of our engagement and non-pro pix, and then use the manzanita tree for.. umm.. something.. hehe. i don’t care, i just want one! LoL
I made a photo book too. We used shutterfly, and I love it. I was happy to hear the idea because I hadn’t gotten around to putting our e-pics in an album or book, so this will be perfect, plus (as others have mentioned) a great way to show off our e-pics. We used a black background on all the pages, made evry 3rd or 4th page totally blank, and got silver, white, and gold pens for people to use to sign. I am so excited about it!
GREAT idea getting the wedding party and family to sign at the RD to get it started.
I love the first option, mainly because I want to do it too! I love our engagement pictures and want to show them off!Although the manzanita trees are gorgeous. You could always do the manzanita trees and then use the photos as part of your table numbers like Mrs. Kitten, Mrs. Champagne or Mrs. Tiramisu!
Is their a specific site your thinking of using if you doe the photobook?
The manzanita tree is gorgeous (go this route if you don’t have any other trees), & I love the genealogy tree, but many leaves would be on the ground unless everyone was somehow related to you. We did a photo guestbook using photos of us on our travels, our families and our bridal party. -A cheap and wonderful keepsake. The bench is great too if you have a place to put it. My sister and brother have a bench my parents made that would make a great “guestbook”
I love the guest tree (and actually featured it on my blog about a month ago), but I would not know what to do with it after the wedding! It’s gorgeous, though!
There are so many great alternative guest book choices out there. I like the manzanita tree idea.
i haven’t posted this on my blog quite yet (i need to get the photos loaded) but at many german weddings, they take pictures of the guests holding a gold-spray painted vintage frame (so it looks like they’re in the frame) and the have them sign the guest book. later, the photos are pasted into the book with the entries, and also mailed to the guests with their thankyou cards! keep an eye out for the full posting on my blog…
I love the bench and cedar chest idea. I wish I had thought of that earlier.
We are doing postcards and having friends and family put them in the mail throughout the year. We used vintage DC postcards as our save the dates so the left over ones are being used for out “guestbook”.
I love the idea of using your e-photos in a photo book. This way it will actually stay out & be looked at fondly instead of shoved into a box somewhere like I assume most plain guest books are. The bench idea is pretty awesome as well
Lesson
They were doing an egg-drop project, modeled after the Mars rovers, and their teacher had them each write questions to Steve Squyres about the rover mission. ,
Howard,I stand corrected and clarified on the 401ks, but I wonder: do a lot of employees have options now flooded? ,
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Miss Frozen Yogurt, Dallas
Age and Occupation: 28, Special Projects Coordinator
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Equity Trader
Engagement Date: March 19, 2009
Wedding Date: April 2010
Venue: Marie Gabrielle, Dallas
About Me: I was born and raised in Texas, and have lived in several of the cities across the state, but I currently reside in Austin. I went to college in Boston and have a special place in my heart for the Northeast. I love reading, shopping, wine, reuniting with college friends that are scattered across the country, reality TV, trying out new recipes, and attempting all the DIY projects that come along with wedding planning. I'm a "bleeding heart, save the world type" and thankfully my job allows me to work on legislation and policy to help out those in need. I met Mr. Frozen Yogurt in a bar, though he doesn't even drink! And now we are planning a modern yet vintage wedding in Dallas while dealing with the trials and tribulations of first time homeownership.
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