Wishes in the Well: Guest Books

Steve made us a wedding webpage when we got married back in the "good ol' days". We thought we were so ahead of our times by having an online RSVP on our website. People seemed to appreciate it, or at least that's what they told us. If only we had Facebook and Twitter, we could have done so much more! If you're addicted to Social Networking sites like Twitter (like me! Please stalk me @lzeidner), you'll understand why it peaked my interest.

I recently came across this post on The Knot's blog. According to the post, Dave and Chanelle signed up for a unique Twitter account and invited their guests to sign into the account and tweet throughout the event. Friends and family could leave well wishes and also provide live updates throughout the entire night. It sounds like a good way to invite guests to participate in a unique way. I can only imagine what some of it could look like:

I'm sure it was a smashing hit for Dave and Chanelle (unlike my convoluted imaginary tweets here). There's going to be a writeup in the Fall/Winter 2012 Ohio issue of The Knot, so I'll be looking it up to see what they thought of their Twitter guest book. Other creative ideas I've seen and thought up for individualized guest books:

• Thumbprint tree - you draw the trunk and branches, and your guests leave their inky thumbprints and names as the leaves.
• Photo book - Have your guests directly write in a book filled with your engagement photos. You can find these on Shutterfly.
• Favorite book - Even better, find a favorite picture book and have your guests sign that.
• Wine corks - Probably only enough room to write their names, but then you can keep your corks in a jar or mount them in a wine cork frame.
• Typewriter - Everyone loves a good, vintage typewriter these days. Have your guests type out a short message to you and your newly minted spouse.
• Cute cards - Have your guests write on pretty paper cards and later compile them into a scrapbook.
• Audio recorder - Leave a few .mp3 recorders around and have your guests tell you how much they love you. You can even leave a list of prompts and questions.
• iPad - Wary about an audio recorder? Have your guests leave video messages via iPad.

Phew! Now that my brain is a-rollin', I'm going to keep my camera handy at future weddings and will gather guest book ideas on Pinterest. You can follow my Wishes in the Well board and also feel free to send me (via Twitter!) any creative and unusual ideas you have. The more extraordinary the better, I say. Let's do it!

Sincerely,
Leigh