Most couples choose a
nice photo of themselves for this picture/guestbook option, although if there's
a formal engagement photo, this is an excellent way to preserve that photo and
show it off to friends and family. If photos are taken before the wedding with
the bride and groom in their wedding attire, you can certainly use this photo.
Many couples opt to either leave the mat empty or they place a temporary
picture in the mat and add a wedding picture later.
Be sure to have a nice Sharpie marker handy and place the picture on either a sturdy easel or on a table where guests are sure to see it.
Another option is
instead of providing a picture of the bride and groom to sign, the guests are
provided with a picture of themselves! Simply provide a Polaroid camera and
assign someone the job of taking pictures of the guests as they arrive at the
reception. Once the picture is dry, provide a Sharpie and they can sign the
picture, make a note to the bride and groom or hand draw a silly picture. It
can be whatever the guest wants it to be. This is a unique, and personal, way
for guests to 'sign in" at the wedding.
Whoever handles the
taking of the pictures should also handle putting them in an album of some
sort. A scrap booker might provide a special memory book with the Polaroid
pictures in it, or the pictures can simply be placed in a nice album and
presented later to the bride and groom.
Many guests don't give
a great deal of thought to the guest book. They whiz by the guest book table
more concerned with getting their cocktail and hitting the dance floor. If this
is a concern, provide a 'traveling" guest book. Send each guest something
either to sign or decorate before the wedding.
In this
'traveling" guest book scenario, there are several options. One of the
easiest is to send each guest a small piece of paper and ask them to write
something meaningful or thoughtful for the bride and groom on it. The pieces of
paper are returned prior to the wedding (to ensure a better response, provide a
self-addressed stamped envelope with the paper) and can be compiled in some
meaningful way for the bride and groom and presented to them on their wedding
day.
If the guest list is a
creative or particularly close group, there is one other option that is even
more meaningful. Again, in a scrapbook fashion, send each guest a piece of
paper to sign or decorate. The paper should be the size of a photo album, so it
might be a 6 x 6 piece of paper, an 8 x 8 piece of paper, or even 12 x 12, if
the guests are up to that larger size.
In a letter that arrives
with the paper, the guests are instructed to create a memory page for the bride
and groom. They might include photos, quotes, little anecdotal stories, or
combine all of these with stickers or embellishments. It's thoughtful,
meaningful and personal and it's an excellent way to include guests who might
not be able to attend the wedding, but would still like to be a part of it.
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