Out of many traditional pieces of your wedding day, the guest book surely is an important one! It’s a chance for all your guests to wish you well, and it’s a wonderful keepsake of your wedding. Why go with a traditional wedding guest book with well wishes from loved ones addressed to the newlyweds? Most of those guest books turn into keepsakes that sit on your bookshelf, never to be opened again. Consider one of these creative wedding guest book alternatives if your style is a bit more fun and you’d like a more meaningful guest book option instead!
Poster or Canvas Print
What better way to memorize your wedding day than with a poster or canvas print that your guests can sign? Use your favorite engagement photos or even pictures from when you two first met. Place your wedding date on the canvas to make for a guest book that you can also display in your home after the big day.
Quilt Squares
Want some fun ideas and love a good DIY project? Let’s get crafty! Set out fabric squares that match your home decor for your guests and loved ones to write their words of wisdom on. After the wedding, you and your partner can have a DIY date night. Or, if you are not the DIY type, have a professional stitch them together for a guest “book” that you can use for years to come!
Thumbprint Tree
Create your own wedding tree with this unique wedding guest book alternative! Order an image of a tree and customize it with your wedding date. Leave different colored ink pads nearby with instructions for guests to leave their fingerprint and name on one of the branches. Now you have a “family tree” keepsake that you can hang to remember who was there on your special day.
Pro tip: Leave out hand wipes for your guests to clean off their fingers with when they’re finished signing!
Jenga Pieces
Game fans? Put out some Jenga Blocks, along with Sharpie markers, and ask that your guests each sign their name on one side. You’ll have a great reminder of your wedding day every time you have game night!
Globe
For world travelers, how about a globe guestbook? Monogrammed globes are available, but a standard globe works just fine too. Purchase a light-colored globe and have your guests sign near their favorite destinations. You’ll have a decorative memento for your home and a bucket list of trips for your next adventure.
Puzzle
Without your loved ones, your marriage puzzle isn’t complete! Have each guest sign the back side of the puzzle pieces on a customized puzzle with a photo of you and your partner. It’s another date night idea! Put the puzzle together and reminisce on your wedding day while reading the well wishes your loved ones left you.
Plant Pot
Do you or your new spouse have a green thumb? Use this eco-friendly and unique alternative guest book, a plant pot! Have your guests sign it and then display it proudly inside or outside your home!
Pro tip: Are you following the tradition of planting a tree together during your ceremony? Make this signed pot its forever home!
Leave Messages on a Bottle
No, we didn’t mean “message in a bottle”. This guest book alternative is a great option because it can also work as your table centerpiece! Place a bottle of wine on each table and use a customized wine bottle label with a number. These numbers should correspond with an anniversary year for you and your partner (5-year anniversary, 10-year, 15-year, and so on). Have markers available on each table for your guest to sign the bottles and leave their message. Enjoy the wine and the messages on the bottle when you drink them for each anniversary year.
Wine Corks in a Shadowbox
Afraid your loved ones can’t resist your bottled wine centerpiece? No problem! Have your guests sign the cork from their bottle and place it in a monogrammed shadowbox. Don’t want the shadowbox? There are plenty of other fun ideas for the corks after your wedding! Make your own cork tray! Use it for serving or maybe a pot mat to save your tables.
A Yearbook Guestbook
A super unique guest book idea would be something like a yearbook. We don’t mean have a book published with all your guest’s headshots placed throughout. This idea is a sure way for loved ones to leave their mark on your wedding memorabilia. Place an instant film camera, like a polaroid, next to a simple book. Guests can snap their photos and stick them on a page above their thoughtful messages. You could also have a photo booth placed next to the book to add more variety throughout the book. This way you not only have a few fun polaroid pictures, you’ll also have a plethora of family memories. You may also end up with wedding photos that would not have been taken by your photographer. It makes for a great coffee table photo album that others will enjoy flipping through when they visit. You can also get a feeling for how much fun others had at your wedding as well.
Mad-Libs
If you’re following wedding trends than Mad-Libs may have popped up on your radar. You can print out templates yourself or have them made for you. They can range from advice to what your wedding guests wish for you in 10 years. Some may be serious and I’m sure a lot will be funny but if you have a crazy family beware! These can get hectic!
A Backyard Bench
For a larger than life guest book alternative, purchase a bench that can sit in your backyard or on the patio. Leave markers nearby for your guests to use and write their words of wisdom down. After the wedding, seal the surface of the bench. You’ll be able to enjoy the messages from your special day for years to come.
Sign Your First Dance Song
Music fans, rejoice! Find a vinyl record of your first dance song and have your guests sign it with metallic markers. After the wedding, have the record framed and use it as a decoration piece in your home. This is a creative guest book design that’s sure to be a conversation piece in your home for years to come.
Underwhelmed by the idea of a traditional guest book? Regardless of your personal style, there’s surely an alternative and unique idea for a wedding guest book out there that suits you. Have other ideas for a guest book alternative? Share it in the comment section below!
Erika focuses on email marketing, copywriting and merchandising at Zazzle, but she has a secret obsession with all things wedding! During the week you can find her writing punny subject lines while also pinning the latest wedding trends, and outside of the 9-5, she is usually cheering on the San Jose Sharks, reading a good murder mystery, or hunting for the best Philly Cheesesteak in the Bay Area.
I’m liking the idea of a “date night” idea jar where guests write ideas on little cards, and put them in a special tin or jar. A friend also had guests sign a large blank photo mat. At the wedding, it had a favorite photo of the couple inside. After, the printed a wedding photo at the same size and hung it in their house. Almost 20 years later, it still looks great, and they walk by it every day!