DIY Guestbook

So, in an earlier post, I described our wish tree, which will be a lovely addition to our gift table. At the time, I hinted (OK, outright told you about) a DIY guestbook that would allow for a little more creativity for our guests.

There is a wonderful online vendor called the Guestbook Store, which offers great alternatives to traditional guestbooks. While I love their designs, I didn't love the prices... plus, I wanted to use our names instead of the generic "bride and groom." So, I thought to myself, "hey, I can do that," which is almost always what I think to myself when I conjure up new diy projects. I'm about 60% right when I say that to myself. This time; however, I was indeed right. I CAN do that.

So I took inspiration from designs from the Guestbook Store, and got a little more inspiration from clever brides on Weddingbee, and voila! DIY Guestbook pages! I customized them with fun questions about us, and the ubiquitous bird, branch, and snowflake designs and I'm so happy with the results.

Front:
Back:
I plan to place pages on each table at the reception with a note, encouraging guests to fill them out. At the end of the reception, I plan to have members of the wedding party gather up the completed pages for safe-keeping.

I sized them to be 8" X 8" so that they will fit perfectly in scrapbook page protectors. I think it will be a fun addition to the collection of photo albums and scrapbooks about our wedding!

Make a Wish (Tree)!

OK, so I was torn between two guest book ideas. I loved the idea of the wish tree because it is beautiful and it is a Scandinavian wedding tradition, a nod to my Norwegian roots. I found a beautiful photograph in a Weddingstar catalog, featuring a manzanita branch with tissue paper blossoms. I also loved the idea from Martha Stewart Weddings, which provides guests with sentence starters like "Love is..." and "We wish you..."

I decided to combine them into a wish tree, with cards that guests can select to finish and hang on the tree. There will be 3 sentence starters: "We wish you," "Love is," and "Once upon a time."


Guests can complete the cards and then hang them on the branch. I also designed a corresponding sign to place next to the tray.

I even found a beautiful silver tray and silver snowflake pens for the wish tree.

I think this idea will be a beautiful addition to the decor of the reception. What it doesn't do; however, is really provide guests a chance to write more personalized messages. As a result, I've created fun guestbook pages that will be placed on each of the tables at the reception. They are a fun combination of conversation starters and a guestbook. The pages will be sized 8" X 8" so that I can slide them into scrapbook page protectors after the wedding. You'll have to wait for a later post to see those... A girl has to have a sense of mystery after all!