Category: Wedding Guest Books

Jenga Guestbook at Wedding in Albany NY

Here is a great simple layout for an alternative for that boring regular wedding guestbook that is fun and you can actually play with! How about a Jenga Wedding guestbook???

Simply enough, this layout is perfect to make the idea happen at your wedding. I saw it at a recent wedding I was the DJ for and loved it!

All you need to replicate this cool layout for your own wedding is a few decorative letters from say a craft store, a number of markers, a basket, and a chalkboard or framed picture for directions.

POLOROID PICTURE GUESTBOOK AT YOUR WEDDING

A few years ago, the digital world took over the photography industry. In the advent of the iPhone, meaning a camera in everyone’s pocket at any given moment, it seemed pointless to carry around a camera that needed film and also film that had to be developed. That took extra time and money that nobody wanted to invest in anymore.

Because of this, traditional camera companies saw a decline in sales. This eventually led to Polaroid facing with astronomically low sales that endangered bankruptcy. They finally decided to call it quits in 2008. The world was saddened in an instant. However, there was niche that demanded it to come back for specific reasons. After popular demand, the instant camera came back in a flash. In 2010 Polaroid came back with their new product, the 300, and that means Weddings have potential for some new fun. As a DJ, I see a lot of things and this activity was fun had by all.

Here is a novel idea of how to create your own Polaroid Photo Booth guest book for your wedding and let your guests have a good time doing so.

You simply set up a board like this, or even a cork board with the date in painted wooden numbers like you can get at a craft store. Then, put out the cameras and let the guest do the rest.

A more durable alternative to paper…

This is a very nice wedding book idea as an alternative to the traditional guestbook that people end up signing and you never end up looking at ever again. Typically that guestbook just ends up in your your attic inside a box somewhere covered in dust.

For this wedding guestbook idea all you need to do is go to your local craft store and find some nice polishe smooth stones. Most craft stores sell som pretty interesting rocks for various crafts and they are usually inexpensive like $5 a bag or so. Next, while you are there, pick yourself up some metalic ink pens for guests to sign the stones with.

The final thing you do is think display. You will need to get a nice container like a bowl or a vase where they can be seen, displayed for years to come so you can remember your special day by looking at all of the signatures of love ones on every stone.

Here are some pictures from a recent wedding at Birch Hill Catering in Kinderhook, NY – about 15 minutes from Albany. At this wedding, they used the signed stones as an alternative for their wedding guest book.

ALBANY WEDDING DJ KENNY CASANOVA PICTURES OF WEDDING GUEST BOOK

HAVE GUESTS SIGN DIFFERENT BOTTLES TO BE OPENED ON CERTAIN YEAR ANNIVERSARIES

At The Altamont Manor in Altamont, NY this past Saturday (a nice little place that I was the DJ for about 15 minutes out of Albany,) I saw a great new idea to try at your wedding. Instead of signing a book that will barely never get read, how about having your wedding guests sign wine bottles?

Here is an interesting and a more creative do-it-yourself idea that throws a twist on the traditional wedding guest book.

HOW TO MAKE YOUR ONE WINE BOTTLE GUEST BOOK –

1) First, purchase four different colored wine bottles.
2) Next, remove the manufacturer’s labels by soaking the bottles in hot water.
3) Clean and scrape off any remaining label remnants with lighter fluid, or a good adhesive remover like Goof Off. (You can also use WD-40  as a cleaning agent.)
4) Create custom wine labels made up with the bride & groom’s names printed on them, and the numbers 1,5,10 and 20.
5) Make a nice display on a small table . Place the table with the bottles and metallic ink pens at the entrance door to the wedding reception. 
6) Add an instructional photo frame, explaining that the bottles will be used in place of the traditional wedding guestbook and consumed on certain year anniversaries.
7) Encourage guests to sign the bottles with silver metallic ink pens, throughout the evening.

WHEN TO DRINK – The idea is that the newlyweds should drink the wine on their first, fifth, tenth and twentieth anniversaries. It should also be explained that the reason for consumption years down the line from these bottles is to remember their friends’ best wishes once again, as immortalized on the bottle in silver ink.

What a great idea! It is like morphing together the traditions of the wedding guest book and freezing a piece of wedding cake to eat a year later.

HAVE WEDDING GUESTS PAINT THEIR WAY INTO YOUR RECEPTION

Wedding guest books are something that can be saved and cherished, again and again, for many years to come. Brides & grooms around the world save these keepsakes and break them out, typically on important anniversaries to reminisce and reflect on their special day. After a recent post on “wine bottle guest book idea,” we thought it might be great to do another post like it. Are you looking for different spin on your wedding guest book?

How about a creative wedding idea that really expresses who your friends and family are? As a twist to different collaborative efforts for a wedding guest book, why not bring out the artists in your friends and family members?

Here is a wedding guest book with no words; a wedding guest book group painting! I was the DJ at a recent wedding at Revolution Hall in Troy, NY (which by the way is a great place to have your wedding.)

At this particular wedding reception, the bride and groom decided to go alternative with their guest book, with a paint brush instead of a pen. With a few simple instructions, they had their guests paint whatever they wanted to represent themselves in a penciled in square on a blank canvas -using no words! You too can do this.

It is very simple and an easy side activity that you can add to your wedding with very little prep.

HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN WEDDING GROUP PAINTING GUESTBOOK

1) Provide a canvas with small penciled off boxes for each guest to make their painting.

2) Add some brushes, glasses of water and paint.

3) Write out some short instructions on a tiny chalkboard. (Decide if you want guests to use NO letters or writing of any kind.)

In the end, the newlyweds now have a great keepsake that they will hang in their new home to remind them of their special day!  You can almost make a game of it, too, in looking at the boxes and trying to figure out who painted what and what box equals which person. Be creative and try this at your wedding! If you you are afraid to forgo the traditional guest book for this idea… DO BOTH!

Message in a Bottle Guestbook

At Indian Ladder Farms in Altamont, NY this past Saturday (a nice little place that I was the DJ for about 15 minutes out of Albany,) I saw a great new idea to try at your wedding. Instead of signing a book that will barely never get read, how about listening to Sting from The Police? You know, having your wedding guests leave you a message in a bottle?

Here is an interesting and a more creative do-it-yourself idea that throws a twist on the traditional wedding guest book.

HOW TO MAKE YOUR MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE GUEST BOOK –

1) First, secure 3 different colored wine bottles.
2) Next, remove the manufacturer’s labels by soaking the bottles in hot water.
3) Too sticky? No problem. Clean and scrape off any remaining label remnants with lighter fluid, or a good adhesive remover like Goof Off. (You can also use WD-40  as a cleaning agent.)
4) Print custom labels made up with the bride & groom’s names printed on them, and the numbers 1, 10 & 25.
5) Create a nice display on a small table. Place the table with the bottles and squares of paper at the entrance door to the wedding reception.
6) Add an instructional photo frame, explaining that the bottles will be used in place of the traditional wedding guestbook and broken on certain year anniversaries to have the messages read.
7) Encourage guests to write their messages throughout the evening.

HOW IT WORKS – The idea is that the newlyweds should read their messages on their first, fifth, tenth and twentieth anniversaries. What a great idea! It is like morphing together the traditions of the wedding guest book and freezing a piece of wedding cake to eat a year later.

SIMILAR IDEA – If you liked this idea, check out our wine bottle signing guest book idea.