Polaroid Guest Book- dos, don'ts and other mishaps!

I'll admit that FH and I have taken cute Polaroids of ourselves home with us instead of leaving them in the guestbook.

This was solved at one wedding by having everyone take two photos. But even then, not everyone went to the table and signed, and I didn't see any of the older crowd there taking selfies. Many people may not want their picture taken, so it might be best to have people sign a guest book. You could still have a Polariod scrapbook on the side!

Ours was fine but not that many people did it. In retrospect, I would have just gotten a regular one.

Following

My sister had one that she also made into her wedding album once she got her photos from the photographer. It was a album binder so she had plenty of space and just used card stock and protector sheets for them. She had the guestbook/Polaroid scrapbook pages at the end where people placed their pictures and wrote a few things.

I liked the way it looked and how she combined the professional with the Polaroids so I will likely be doing the same.

ETA: I should also mention that I was the MOH, and as I went around to mingle with people during the reception, I asked everyone if they had gotten the chance to use the Polaroid camera yet. Most hadn't so my reminder got them to go sign the book and take a picture.

Following. I plan to attempt this too.

Our wedding will be mostly adults with 4-5 kids ages 1, 3, 5, 10, 16), my little brother being the oldest of the kids at 16yrs old. He loves to help out and took over my FujiFilm Instax Mini8 at our engagement dinner last year and took shots of everyone. Like the PP said, he took 2 of everyone, one for us and one for them to keep.

The wedding will be a little different because I would also like them to sign our guest book and insert their poloroid picture. I have attached a photo of our custom guestbook created and sold by Liumy on Amazon. I also plan to ask my little brother if this is something he would like to do again, if so I'm lucky. But, if not, I plan to display framed directions telling my guests how to snap a photo and sign our guest book:

I found this set up/design on Etsy but I decided to DIY one similar to this:

You Smile

We Snap (You Snap) undecided

You Sign

We Cherish

I also plan to frame directions showing guests how to change out the film. I really hope my brother will want to do this again, but I am also planning on him not wanting to. Not that he has expressed that, but that he is 16 and may change his mind at any given time. So I am just preparing myself for both possible scenarios.

Look into more products that produce instant film. If you're worried about people wasting film, or taking too long to get that "perfect shot," look into printers that hook up to smart devices rather than an instant camera. That way they can take a picture on their phone (or one provided by you) and pick which they want to print over bluetooth, then attach it where ever you're asking them to.

https://www.amazon.com/Fujifilm-INSTAX-SHARE-SP-2-Printer/dp/B01GTKG6RA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1490118290&sr=8-1&keywords=instant+film+printer

https://www.amazon.com/Polaroid-Mobile-Printer-Printing-Technology/dp/B00TE8XKIS/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1490118290&sr=8-3&keywords=instant+film+printer

Also, Polaroid has a digital camera that prints film. So again you can see it before you print.

Also, I've seen a few tips on getting a guest book like PP have said where people who don't want to take a picture can leave you a message.

Take a little time and leave a note on the top of the first chunk of pages saying something along the lines of there being plenty of room to leave a message/note.

We had one at our engagement party, it was kind of a mess and not everyone signed it.

Unless someone is going to stand next to the guestbook and guide people, I don't think it's worth the trouble.

Mine is so cute, don't get me wrong! But I spent hours putting it together after the party and we only had ~45 people.

Sounds interesting, but maybe complicated.

In this day and age I feel like guestbooks are antiquated. Even photo-type guestbooks. Why spend money on something that is likely going to sit on a shelf and get dusty. If you want people to sign something, I much prefer the idea of them signing something you will display or use constantly. I work of art, a photo mat, pottery, etc.

I had one at my wedding this past weekend. a lot of people ended up doing it I made sure to have plenty of film so if anyone wanted to take extras home they could. My guestbook was from Liumy on Etsy. It has little pockets for the pictures. I got white pens because the paper was black and for some reason most of the guests didn't realize they were supposed to write on the page and they wrote on the little pockets. I will probably end up moving the pictures to another album because I'm so annoyed by how it looks.

Hello! For the brides, that have ordered their guest book from Liumy on Etsy, do the pictures stay in the little pockets? Is there a chance of them falling out? Just had this though as I am debating whether to get the book from the Liumy with the little pockets or just get a regular guest book and get the self adhesive photo corners that I would just stick on each page to indicate where the picture should go. Thank you!

All the pictures have stayed in the pockets so far.

Polaroids are tough. We've been to many weddings and we normally as guests will just keep the polaroids for ourselves since we like them. We'll take an extra to leave with the guestbook though. There are a lot of complications— running out of film, people not knowing how to replace the film, feeling like it's something they need to do, then if you want them to write something its oftentimes redundant than what they write on a card.

We considered photobooths and polaroids for our wedding and ultimately did a jenga guestbook which they just needed to write their names (and advice), or whatever. It was very easy and a lot of people didn't do it cause they were dancing.

I've also been to weddings where they have a check in area that you write in the guest book, and then more stuff to write for advice, and other types of things. Honestly, writing one card is enough instead of writing the same thing every time, unless there are different prompts.

I wanted to do this too! I just love the idea but I have also heard that it is hard so I now I'm rethinking that Idea.

I'm surprised by all the complications that people are reporting! I went to a wedding last summer that had a polariod guest book and it was awesome - simply a camera and guest book sitting on the typical guest book table. There were no directions or people directing, but it was intuitive enough that none were needed. Simply take a photo of yourselves, use the glue stick sitting on the table to glue it onto a page, and write a little note. I'm guessing they had a few people in the bridal party checking on the film every now and then to replace it if needed. As a guest, it was super fun! And as a bride, I plan to do the same for my wedding coming up.

I have been in love with the idea of having a polaroid guest book. I think I will go ahead with it.

Can anyone recommend a moderately priced polaroid camera?

We bought this camera!

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06WW64YM6/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

And this guest book:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07CJ4NVRW/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_image_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

When we get ready. As we are waiting to start, I'm going to have my bridesmaids and groomsmen do it first, to start the book off so people see an example page or two. I'm trying to get enough film so people can take one home and put one in the book. Even if it doesn't turn out like I thought, I think it is better than the standard old guestbook. At least when I feel like it I can look back on the pictures of my crazy friends and family.

I like these other options from Etsy.

-Catch This Moment. Features lines on the pages. I figured people love to follow lines, and it's self explainatory. https://www.etsy.com/listing/709832816/wedding-album-with-foil-gold-lettering?ref=user_profile&pro=1&frs=1

-Portside Paper. has nice designs https://www.etsy.com/listing/687503131/wedding-guest-book-wedding-guestbook?ref=user_profile&pro=1&frs=1

But after reading a few responses, I'm debating on having this idea at wedding. I've also thought about doing a shutterfly photo guestbook with photos of us and our guests from the times we've hung out.