There's nothing wrong with setting out a traditional guest book at the reception for friends and family to sign, but the truth is, you'll probably slide it onto a bookshelf and never look at it again. Here, a few options that double as home decoration
Jason Walz
If your wedding has a theme, extend it to the guest book. For example, for a seaside exchange of vows, place a bounty of shells on a table with a gold-leaf marker and a footed glass bowl. Guests can sign the shells and place them inside the bowl.
Prop a canvas from an art-supply store on an easel and place paint, brushes, and felt-tip markers nearby for guests to sign and illustrate. You'll take home an original piece of art.
Place a variety of note cards and paper on a table so guests can write you short letters. Open them on your first anniversary.
Provide a stack of construction-paper strips (like the kind used in grade school to make paper chains) and ask each guest to write a message on one link that he or she then attaches to the chain. Beginning the day after your honeymoon, remove a link and read it together to relive your big day.
For a destination wedding, hang a vintage map of a region (see www.vintagemaps.com) in a special place at the reception and ask guests to sign it. Frame the map and hang it in a place of pride at home.
Purchase a bisque platter from a local pottery shop and ask guests to sign it with a special pencil or marker (ask the pottery expert for advice), then return it to the shop to have it glazed and refired. Hang it on a wall, or rest it on a key piece of furniture.
Provide smooth rocks from a sentimental location (perhaps the lake where you first vacationed) and ask guests to sign them with paint-style oil markers or enamel-based metallic pens (check with supplier). Place them in a glass cylinder, then display.
