Hi friends!
As we officially jump into the new year, I know many of you are feeling hopeful and excited about your pending wedding celebrations. Beyond committing to forever with your partner and hosting one of the most beautiful celebrations you’ll ever host, you will get to reunite with all of the friends and family members you probably haven’t seen in person in quite some time. If you ask me, 2021 will be the year of weddings that celebrate the gathering of guests almost as much as they celebrate the couples themselves!
With that in mind, there are so many little ways you can add to your guests’ overall experience and make them feel truly loved and appreciated for making it to your big day. One of my favorites happens to be the guest book. When you put extra thought and creativity into it, the guest book transforms from a simple (and sometimes forgettable) party tradition into a timeless keepsake that highlights just how much each of your guests impacts your life.
So why not give your group a special way to shine? Here are five fun takes on wedding guest books to consider for your 2021 wedding celebration.
1. Pretty Puzzle Pieces
Hop on a fun site like Etsy and grab a customized wedding day puzzle where the majority of the pieces are blank by design to leave room for the notes and signatures of all of your guests. (The bigger the pieces, the more room for your loved ones to share their thoughts with you.) Then soon after your wedding, you and your partner can take an afternoon to put the puzzle together, creating a beautiful visual memory of your big day. You can even glue the pieces together and have the puzzle framed for a unique piece of home decor!
2. Years of Sage Advice
Place a small book at each table, and ask every guest at that table to write the marriage advice they most want to share with you and your partner on their own page. Each table’s book can then serve as a single chapter in your entire collection of guest advice, with the table numbers automatically ordering the chapters for you. After your wedding, you can bind them together (or simply store them in the same place) and read one chapter of advice on each anniversary until you run out. It’ll give you a tradition and fresh wisdom for years to come, as well as keep your loved ones close to your heart.
3. Make Some Music
For the musically inclined couple, you can display a favorite instrument like a guitar in a special spot at your reception and ask your guests to sign an open space of the wood. If it’s unfinished, you can even seal all the signatures into the design after your wedding, making sure they never fade. So then, whenever you go to pick it up for a fun strum on a Sunday morning, you’ll automatically reconnect with all of the people who helped make that day so special. Talk about some creative inspiration!
4. Cozy Up with a Quilt
Swap pieces of paper for a pretty collection of fabric swatches and ask your guests to share their signatures, best wishes, and words of wisdom on a square of their choice. After the celebrations come to an end, you can get the squares stitched together into a beautiful wedding quilt, commemorating the love of everyone in attendance. The quilt can then serve as the accent throw in your guest room so when your friends and family come to visit, they can relive those moments with you, too. (Just be sure to grab a handful of quality fabric markers so the signatures don’t fade too dramatically over time).
5. Go Vintage with Some Polaroids
Instead of handing your guests a book full of photos of you and your partner to sign, have a couple of Polaroid cameras at the ready for them to snap images of themselves! They can then write their notes of love and congratulations on the white strip at the bottom of the photo before taping them into the previously empty guest book pages. This way, when you look back on your wedding day, you can enjoy the full presence of each guest alongside their signature — their smiles, their outfits, and the energy they brought to your special moment.
How do you think you’ll get creative with your wedding guest book? I’d love to hear your ideas in the comments below!
