10 Clever Guestbooks That Look Nothing Like Guestbooks

Your wedding is about having fun and celebrating love, not about forcing your guests to come up with really profound statements they know every other guest will read. It’s time to lighten things up. Here are 10 creative ideas for adding a spark of whimsy into your guest book.

1. Guest Blog: One for the techie generation! Everything is online now, so create an online forum for your guests to post their love notes to you! You can also create a hashtag and use it on all existing social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook and Twitter allowing you to see your guests tweets, pics and updates while they were at your wedding! (Photo: David Stubbs)

2. Magnetic Poetry: Make it a fun game! Set up a huge magnetic board and leave a ton of magnetic poetry on a table with some paint pens. Let guests pick out fun sayings with the magnets and sign with the paint pens. (Photo: Gabriel Ryan)

3. Lipstick Mirror: Grab an oversized mirror at Ikea, set up a table next to it with a bunch of bright lipsticks! Watch your guests kiss and sign that mirror all night. So festive, plus super handy for all your ladies. (Photo: Sarah K. Chen)

4. Graffiti Wall: If you have an open air venue, this is a super fun way to incorporate a little street art craziness. Grab a 4×8 sheet of OSB wood from Home Depot, offer lots of colors of spray paint, and let your guests tag up that wall with their well wishes! Pro Tip: Make sure you set this up away from the dinner as the fumes can kill an appetite. Also, remember to offer some wet wipes for painted fingers! (Photo: Katie McGihon Photography)

5. Blank Puzzle Guestbook: Grab a blank puzzle at an educational store or on Amazon. Have guests write their message on the puzzle piece then put it together for a fun activity and keepsake! (Photo: Gabriel Ryan)

6. Mailbox Guestbook: For a little bit of old school whimsy, source an old mailbox and leave guests blank paper and envelopes to write private notes to the two of you. Open one each day during your first year of marriage. (Source: Marit Hanson Weddings, Photo: Kimberly Potterf Photography)

7. Chicken Wire: Loving the look of this art installation meets guestbook! This wedding had a circle theme so for the guestbook area, the couple asked guests to write a note and curl it up into a framed piece of chicken wire. A great art piece to take home after, and a gorgeous piece of decor at the wedding. (Source: Green Wedding Shoes)

8. Thumbprint Portraits: We know, we know. The thumbprint tree guestbook idea has been popping up all over Pinterest for the last few months, and it’s so darn cute. This take is a little more traditional and challenges your guests to a little creativity. (Source: Pearl’s Events Blog)

9. Typewriter Guestbook: Second to last but certainly not least, we have the typewriter. Yes this one has been done kind of a lot… but it’s still really cute! Could be a fun one to combine with an old mailbox for a bit of correspondence nostalgia. (Source: Chandelier Events)

10. Photo Guestbook: Photo booths are all the rage at weddings these days, so why not combine everyone’s love of hamming it up with your guestbook? This is a great way to make sure you have a fun photo of every guest along with a few words from each of them. Hang to display at the wedding or leave a photo album for people to fill up. (Sources: The Sweetest Occasion and Emmaline Bride)

Did you have a non-traditional guestbook at your wedding? We’d love to see photos – send ’em our way via Twitter, Facebook, or good old fashioned email. And if you have any wedding-related questions, be sure to leave us a note in the comments below. Mazel tov!

Jesi Haack is the Owner and Lead Designer behind Jesi Haack Design. Her signature is creating stylishly dramatic events that capture the flair of each of her wonderful clients and creatively communicates their story to their guests.