After your wedding is over there are certain keepsakes you want to keep hold of to remind you of the day – your photos, your video, the dress, maybe your place-cards and, of course, the guestbook. Having those messages and that record of who was there on your wedding day is a lovely thing to look back at, but some couples are now choosing not just to have those messages written in a book but turn them into a piece of art they can have on permanent display as a precious keepsake. But is it better to try out some alternative ideas or stick with the traditional book? Time to meet our debaters and try to find out!
In the Red Corner, fighting for the alternative guest book, probably because she never has any idea what to write in them anyway, it’s Dom “The Tog Bride”.
In the Blue Corner, arguing the case for the traditional guest book even though he completely forgot to get the guest books out at his own wedding! It’s Matt “The Gormless Groom”
Traditional Guest Book Vs Alternative
FIGHT!!
Image Source: Modernkeepsake.com
Dom: Books are the kind of thing that eventually get put on a shelf or shoved in a drawer and forgotten about. What about creating a visual piece of art filled with personal messages that you can hang on your wall and serve as a permanent reminder!
Matt: But if it’s something to hang on the wall then if you redecorate or move house it might just not go, and with something that big you might have to put it away somewhere more permanent and out of sight completely!
Dom: Alternative guest books also create a form of decoration on the wedding day itself and can really help to establish your theme. I’ve seen people using fallen branches to sign, huge posters, actually typing the messages on a beautiful old vintage typewriter… the possibilities are endless and they look fantastic right there on the day itself.
Matt: But you don’t get enough space to leave a proper message with most of these alternative methods. It’s really cool flicking through and reading back what everyone said after the wedding – you don’t want just a signature you want something more personal!
Dom: Depending on what you choose for your alternative guest book you might actually have even more room than if writing in a book.
Matt: With a little forward planning you can get a guest book that has the same look and feel as your wedding album which helps to create a really nice set.
Dom: Alternative guest books are fun for the guests at the wedding too! Ideas like getting everyone to sign a ball which gets thrown around the room or doing video messages or creating a fingerprint tree can be really cool and really encourage people to actually do it!
Matt: You can have fun with the traditional guest book too! What about having Polaroid cameras available and getting people to take their picture and stick it in the book along with their messages? Or ask them to draw a silly picture of themselves as part of the message… There’s lots you can do!
Dom: Everyone likes their wedding to be unique and having an alternative to the traditional guest book is just another little part of that. When people are talking about weddings you want them to be saying “oh so and so had a REALLY cool guest book idea…”
Matt: It’s much easier to pass a book around the tables for people to leave their message than it is to pass around a tree stump or whatever other alternative ideas you might have.
Image Source: Etsy.com
So those are our thoughts but what about yours? Place your votes or leave your comments below!
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