Yes, the guestbook gets its own post. From start to end, this thing took a lot of time, a lot of love, and it absolutely had it’s fair share of frustrating moments. So I have to do it justice.
Plus, I’m kind of obsessed with the way it turned out!
All photos by Exclamation Imagery unless otherwise noted.
If you recall from wayyy long ago, I started out with my bum traced drawing of the UP house, with the intention of having it eventually be turned into a fingerprint guestbook. It was fairly decent on it’s own, but not perfect by any means. As luck would have it, once I turned to the ’bee for advice, fabulous hive member Miss.E helped a sista out and was able to vectorize the image for me. And it was perfection.
personal images
From there, I was having a helluva time trying to do decide whether to color in the image to mimic the actual UP house, or have it mimic our venue’s color scheme (since peachplum09 so kindly pointed out that the two look very similar…how did I miss that?!).
personal images
In the end, it was a tie. I asked real life friends, I asked you guys, I asked myself about every five minutes.
Ultimately, I went for sentiment and decided on the green to represent the Vandiver! So I went to Vistaprint, uploaded my design, placed my order, got my package…and it sucked. I mean…it really sucked. The quality was horrendous. My original traced drawing looked better. Seriously.
((I would totally insert a picture here to show you just how bad it was, but I’m pretty sure I threw it out in a matter of minutes. Just trust me on this one.))
I don’t know what happened, and I briefly panicked (and got mad that I spent $30 on something useless). So I turned to the manstore (kinda like manwhore, but more store-y) I always turn to in a crafting crisis (that would be Michael’s), bought a frame and some poster board, printed out my own copy of the house, oh-so-carefully cut it out, and glued it to the correctly sized poster board. Then I free-handed some stickers at the bottom. Wham, bam, thank you ma’am.
Not too shabby for a complete DIY, right?!
So for the wedding, we had this baby out during cocktail hour, then moved it to a small table at the reception just in case there were a few stragglers who still needed to print it up.
You can also glimpse our UP inspired card mailbox here, too!
I also made sure there was a sign next to the frame to clue people in as to what they should be doing. And, since I was still really torn about the whole color-of-the-house thing, I decided to make the sample house on the sign in the actual colors of the UP house…best of both worlds!
personal icky cell phone pic
Overall, it turned out to be a hit, and we now have it proudly displayed as part of our living room decor.
another personal icky cell phone pic
Now I do have a few tips, in case you’re planning on going the route of a fingerprint guestbook:
1. In addition to having a sign with instructions, be sure to get your bridal party and/or family to start off the fingerprinting at the rehearsal dinner the night before the wedding, or while getting ready the morning of. It (hopefully) ensures that guests will figure out what to do a bit more easily!
personal cell phone pics courtesy of Foxy Mama
2. Have Wet Naps for people to wipe the ink off their fingers, and a small trash bin for them to throw used ones away. This way, no one has an excuse not to do it!
3. Speaking of which, if you have any guests who have a super fancy job that they can’t always talk about.. they won’t put their fingerprint on your guestbook. We definitely learned that one.
4. Also, people still don’t always get what to do, even when you tell them. We had a lot of “floating” balloons.. and some genius thought it would be super fun to put their fingerprints in the windows of the house. (Something Foxy and I are still kind of annoyed about, to be honest!)
But anyway. I still think it came out pretty spiffy!
(The other slightly annoying part of all this is that someone evidently took my artwork a few months back and tried selling it as their own on Etsy, until a group of us contacted her & reported her behavior to the site. So.. don’t steal my artwork. Kthanks.)
Would you consider a fingerprint guest book? Do you have any other tips for future brides about them?
Miss a recap? Catch yourself up!
It’s Wedding Week! – The week of the wedding started out pretty hectic, but we made it through (relatively) unscathed.
We’re Cool People (who had to deal with a slight change of plans) – On Friday, we made our way to the venue, had a relatable moment on the radio, and learned about some last minute changes that we made an effort to take in stride.
Practice Makes Perfect.. And Crabs Don’t Hurt, Either – After most everyone was settled in on Friday evening, we had our rehearsal followed by the best dinner ever – a Maryland crab feast!
Rise and Shine! – Wedding morning was soon upon us, and I woke up at the crack of dawn ready to get prettified.
Pretty Women – Over the course of the next several hours, myself and the girls hung out, got our hair and makeup done, had a photo shoot, and drank champagne.
Dressing Up – Soon enough, it was time for me to slip into my dress!
Dapper Dudes – At the same time, Foxy and his guys were ironing and getting into their suites – and Foxy was opening his wedding day gift!
The First of Many Looks – We had our first look, and both felt so much better after being able to see each other for the first time that day.
A School Bus Photoshoot – Our vehicle of choice for the day was a school bus, which we turned into a photo op both inside and out!
Smiles and Sun – The photos continued by the lighthouse and pier.. with sunglasses and a few funny stories along the way.
ALL The Family – We then met up with family at the lock house for even more pictures, and I started getting a bit antsy and having problems with my dress.
And Then There’s Us – I kinda-sorta-maybe forgot all about couple and bridal pictures. Thank goodness for our amazing photog reminding us!
Final Touches – Slight chaos then ensued in the minutes before the ceremony started, consisting of me getting sewn into my dress and the boys getting their bouts pinned on at the last minute.
And So It Begins – The guests arrive, the wedding party lines up, and the ceremony space is revealed – complete with programs, white knots, and bubbles!
All I Want Is You, Will You Be My Bride? – The time had finally come – we all made our way down the aisle while my stepdad and stepbro played and sang a beautiful, acoustic version of “All I Want Is You”.
Take Me By The Hand and Stand By My Side – In other words.. the ceremony!
Bubbles and Bustles and Beverages, Oh My! – Bubbles are blown, my bustle is tied in, and cocktail hour commences with lots of love, hugs, and drinks.
I did something similar for my house warming party (I drew our house!) and I can’t believe how many people didn’t get it. I had us and our close friends do it first but we got so many people who put their print in our windows and made bushes out of their finger print ect. HELLO?! do you not see my vision! too funny!
I think tip #1 is so important. We did the same thing and had our family and bridal party add their thumbprints a few days before. It was then super clear to the rest of the guests what they were supposed to do. I’m bummed for you that someone inked up the windows! What were they thinking? Makes it unique I guess! We only had one “floater” thumbprint on ours, but thankfully it was pretty light and not too noticeable. You never know what you are going to get with this type of guestbook! (And your drawing is super adorable.)
I love it – so sweet and whimsical! And I love all of the wedding stuff that can be re-used/displayed around the house.
Looks super cute.
If the finger prints in the windows bother you, and you don’t mind losing those two, you could always cut out another house and glue it down instead. Maybe on top of the old one so you don’t ruin the paper underneath. Just a thought.
I love this idea!! I once dressed up as the Up House for Halloween (yes 30 balloons and all). I would have been annoyed with the window fingering printing guest too!
If it makes you feel better we had TONS of floating balloons! Luckily, we didn’t have a house on there for them to put their prints in the windows! I love how it turned out!
You are such a skilled DIY’er! This came out beautifully and despite the floating fingers I think it still looks like a lovely keepsake. Oh and tip #3 totally had me LOL’ing. I would have never thought of that!
I was recently reading a book about how to cope with overwhelming emotions and it read, “If you’re in a painful situation and your emotions are going to overwhelm you and possibly make things worse, then often it’s best just to leave.” This reminded me of the many times I’ve left a party, a camping trip, a get together with family, or a friends house because I suddenly became profoundly depressed, with a sickening ache deep in my stomach. I would feel an almost uncontrollable urge to cry, but if I was unable to get away I would just shut myself out from everyone else and be silent, saying I was tired if someone asked if I was okay. Many times I have said goodnight to retreat to my room and cry. It is this side of me that I am ashamed of and have always tried to hide. To this day I hide my depression from my friends and sometimes family, so that I can have normal relationships with people and not be given special treatment. I feel shy and embarrassed in public, it is hard for me to look people in the eyes. When someone who cares asks me whats wrong I can’t be real because I would be too emotional. I want so much to be close but I’m afraid and ashamed of who I am. I feel inadequate and unwanted. I feel like no one would want to be with someone insecure, hurt, and depressed. I keep finding out how much depression has been affecting every aspect of my life and been the driving force behind my biggest problems. It makes me want to feel like I’m a victim and its not my fault, and to forgive myself. For some reason I continue to feel like I am fundamentally flawed and should be rejected. I crave having a girlfriend to hold me and to be close to, and I feel ashamed of this desire, like it is childish or taboo. I do not feel like I am Okay the way I am, and even though I am aware of all the ways my thinking is flawed I haven’t been able to feel differently. I can’t lead a normal life when I feel like crying every day.
Thanks – Gareth Ackanowledge
Random, floating thumbprints seem a lot more prolific than one would think. My friend had a really beautiful bike and balloons guestbook, but even after the first few people all put their thumbprints by strings, by the end of the night, there were thumbprints all over the paper. I felt so sad–and I wonder of some people are just a little mean spirited.
I love your house, and you did a great job with it. I’m glad there weren’t too many renegade balloons. 
I like your tip on getting the families/wedding party started at the rehearsal dinner. We are doing a typewriter, so we won’t be able to lug it down there that night, but I think we will definitely ask the party to go upstairs and do their thing after pictures.
It turned out so cute, wayward thumbprints aside. It was my first time participating in a thumbprint guestbook, and it was so fun!
I think it looks great. Maybe adding strings to some of the floating balloons will make them look like a celebration rather than a slight mistake.
@jbarker09: That’s part of the reason I had our sign telling people what to do have a copy of the house WITH balloons on top.. oh well!
@Mrs. Sunhat: Eh, I just say it adds to the character. 
@Mrs. Wallaby: I’m actually surprised at the amount I’ve been able to “repurpose” – at least for now!
@emmerbug: Foxy recommended the same thing, and I had intentions to, initially, but I’m more or less ok with it now. And hey, at least the window prints are light and sort of blend in with the house!
@Miss Squirrel: AWESOME COSTUME!!
@Mrs. Buffalo: I mean.. balloons *do* float away.. we can say they are the ones that were let go..?
@Miss Mongoose: Thanks!! And yea.. totally didn’t even think about it until it was brought up!
@Holly: It definitely helped to have a few people start it off .. even if you only have two or three people do it, I’m sure it would move things along!
@Mrs. Pony: Glad you loved it too! Your thumb pic is one of my faves re: the guestbook!
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Mrs. Fox, Washington DC/Havre de Grace, MD Age and Occupation: 26, Massage Therapist Fiance's Age and Occupation: 28, Field Support Engineer Engagement Date: April 18, 2010 Wedding Date: June 2012 Venue: Vandiver Inn About Me: I’m a dancer turned massage therapist who was born and raised in New York. Alas, true love has brought me “south” where I still maintain my penchants for pretty shoes, wine, crossword puzzles, cherry blossoms, and the Mets. I own more sunglasses than a normal person should and don’t eat red meat (though I make up for it by eating my weight in sushi). I tend to be a big planner who likes to get things started early, but generally end up being indecisive and procrastinating when it comes down to it. I have a (not so) secret crush on Chris Carrabba, but my loyalty and love ultimately goes to the future hubs, of course! Together, my Foxy man and I love to discuss (read: debate) politics and current events, have Mario Kart and Scrabble duels, and just laugh. A lot. We’re hoping and planning for a laid back, fun, summery, rustic vibe to our June wedding that will be genuinely “us” – that is, if we finally make some decisions. Huzzah!
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