When I set out to plan my wedding, I had probably only ever thought about three of the components involved: first, the man I was marrying, second, the fact that I wanted him to wear a gray suit (what can I say, he looks good in gray!), and third, the guestbook.

 

I have absolutely no idea how the guestbook made its way into that list before details like my dress and the venue, but I do know that the thought was sparked when I attended a dear friend’s wedding…two years before my own. She’d set up a traditionally-inspired guestbook with blank pages and pens, but had topped each white page with questions and prompts for her guests that varied in topic from date night ideas in their particular city to tips for conflict resolution.

 

I was intrigued.

 

Since then, I’ve seen booths set up with Polaroid cameras intended for guests to snap a photo of themselves to leave for the happy couple, elaborate framed paper trees with leaves as symbols for each guest and the very traditional guestbook with lines for name alone.

 

It has stuck with me that your guest book is one way that you can interact more intimately with your guests – giving them, on a day in which you have little time to actually sit down with them and chat, the chance to engage with you personally. One of my favorite parts of attending a wedding is getting to tell the bride and groom how completely excited I am for them and their future together, and having a guestbook in which your friends and family can love on you a little is a perfect way to do just that!

 

So what did we end up choosing for our guestbook? Well, while I’m kind of obsessed with the Polaroid and photo booth option, my husband and I decided to embrace our Colorado mountain wedding fully and leave postcards of our lovely state on each dinner table, asking guests to write their names and wishes and drop them all in a mailbox on their way out there door. Bonus: postcards also served as a small decoration for each place setting!

 

And, by the way, as a bride, reading those postcards from our guests has been one of my favorite ways to remember just how much I loved our wedding.

 

With all the great ideas out there, from photo booths to mad libs, and the elegance of a traditional book somewhere in between, what’s your guestbook going to look like?

 

Photo Credit: Angie Wilson Photography