Is a guestbook really important?

Guest books are kind of lame and dumb. If you do anything I like the idea of a canvas or art with a wedding picture and hang it. But guest books, I don’t see a point.

I understand why people chose to have them, for us it’s going to be something we skip! We’ll have photos and cards anyways so I don’t need the book

I wasn’t sure what to do. My FH wasn’t a fan of alternative ideas so we compromised and made a book of our engagement photos with it. There’s space for ppl to write things.

I wasn't sure what to do but knew I didn't want an actual book. My FH and I landed on this. The ETSY vendor was great to work with and it turned out exactly as I hoped it would.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/194172465/wedding-guestbook-custom-wedding-guest

I agree that it's pretty unnecessary when people do nothing but sign their name and add the generic congratulations. I really like your thoughts on asking them to write something more in it. Not everyone will, but I think if they know it's ok to take up the extra space, some will.

I always loved looking through my parents' wedding guest book and seeing who shared the special day with them and what they wrote, so I want that at my wedding. I lucked out and found a basic lined guest book for $5 and will be requesting that guests leave a piece of advice along with their names.

If you don't want an actual book you could even do something like those little cards that say things like "Advice for the Mr. And Mrs." and place them at the tables for people to fill in throughout the night.

I made a shadow box with tags? They can write messages to us then put in shadow box! It says SHARE YOUR KEY TO SUCCESS

I'm a huge fan of hearts so this is perfect for me. I am doing a traditional guestbook also just for address info for thank you notes

Same! I wasn't into a decorative guest book, no offense to anyone who choose to display theirs, so we went with a jenga set and people are going to sign on the blocks. I think it will be cool to have the game around and even for our future kids to see.

We have a gold dipped wine bottle that people can sign with sharpie. That way we can display it in our house

I got a wide white photo mat and had people sign that. It was something I really wanted but it's not super important if it isn't important to you!

We plan to do something like this.

I'm not sure why it isn't uploading the picture.

We are doing a photo book with our engagement pictures and probably some other pictures that has plenty of room for people to sign. I want something that can be displayed later on, and I love looking through pictures!

Maybe try alternative guest books so that you can use as home decor after? Like a frame that people sign or art piece where people leave finger prints to make a tree or something or heart drop frame where people sign hearts and drop them in a frame that you can hang later.

We went with a canvas that we had people sign (picture of us from our e-shoot) and we love it!

A cool idea I saw was using a nice leather bound calendar book and having people write their names on their birthdays, then every year when you contact that person to wish them a happy birthday it will bring back fun memories of your big day too!

Nope. Wouldnt waste the money.

I like the polaroid guest books. Having photos in it will make me more inclined to flick through it and read people's messages.

As cute as I think most of the alternative options are, I feel like after a while it wouldn't match my style anymore and feel more like clutter than something I want displayed. I need something that I can put away without feeling bad

Not worth the money. We used an art canvas my hubby’s mom gave him (before she passed) & let people sign it. We’ll frame that.

I also like when couples have a photo of them you can sign (the matte part). Clever!

I wanted everyone to sign a guitar that we could hang in our house but my FH (who plays guitar in a band!) didn't like the idea and just wanted a traditional guestbook. I of course didn't want to spend a ton of money on a book we'd look at once but I ended up getting a book with photos of us in it with space for people to sign for free so that thankfully solved that dilemma.