victory #16: our guestbook

Ohmygosh I love how our guestbook came out!  Like - love love it!  Wahoo!  A friend of mine had their engagement session printed up into a photo book and had their guests sign that.  Perhaps you've seen that at weddings?  Well, wouldn't you know I somehow got a code for a *free* photobook?  I  think I got it from signing up for something somewhere along the way...perhaps at a bridal convention?  Anyway, we ordered a Shutterfly photo book of our engagement session last Monday.  And it is just spectacular. It's totally narcissistic...yes yes...I know...but...whatever.

Originally, we were going to go along with the whole "Polaroid Picture" guestbook - an idea I found in blogland and became instantly addicted to.  I even got myself a dope Polaroid camera!  But as our guest list slowly increased...I realized we needed a LOT of film.  More film than we could really afford.  I had no idea how pricey polaroid film is.  Whoa.

I was a little bummed that this wouldn't work out - I thought the idea was RAD!   Up until last Monday we were still gonna go for it.  But...the reality of our budget hit me...as I realized there were other things that we could use that money to pay for.  It's SOOOOO easy to want to give into the whims of the wedding world.  It's hard to pull away.

There are about a zillion different places on the web to make an engagement photo book.  Some photographers sell them along with the engagement session - but from what I've seen they can be rather expensive.  I used Shutterfly, and it was easy - and the product came out beautifully!!  I've ordered photo books from Kodak before too, and they had beautiful cover options, but I liked Shutterfly's paper/layout design selection better.   Those are my 2 cents.  (Plus, with my coupon code, I only had to pay a few bucks in shipping...which rocks my face off...and by making a new Shutterfly account, we automatically got 40 free prints or something amazing!)


Did you have a guestbook?


*note:  I appreciate all the nice comments some of you left for me yesterday.  REALLY.  Little funks are few and far between, but when they hit...it just effs up the whole day.  Today I looked in the mirror and felt like I was glowing :-)  And the huge zit on my chin was gone.  Ha!!  I love you bloggy friends.

their wedding tree

I squealed today. Yes, it does happen often. Yes, even in public. I get excited...easily. But obviously...this wedding tree idea is the most scruptious design I've seen in a while and therefore a squeal was more than appropriate.

Thank you .c is for charmed for posting such a treat! Check out the entire pictorial here.

diy: polaroid guest book

Lillian and Leonard photography

So, I've seen the polaroid guest book idea out there - and I honestly love it. I've seen them with great props like fake mustaches and goofy glasses...great fabric backgrounds...funny quirky backgrounds, etc. I like it. No, no...I actually love the idea. It removes the anxiety that comes with guest book signing...makes it more fun, enjoyable, a pleasant experience for once (I'm not suggesting that other people experience anxiety about such things...but I know that I do...and I can't picture having my guests partake in an activity that makes me squeemish myself.)

Now if I can only find my mom's old polaroid....hummmmmmmm.

Oh, and my favorite concept is using the gilded frames...

Lillian and Leonard photography

Whitebox

The Knot.

Martha

journal club

Lacunawork - antiqued wood and recycled paper (pretty much divine)

So - I'm having a moment thinking about guest books. Do you hate writing in them? I do. Maybe I just get all antsy standing in line. But I know we will probably want one at our wedding too (it's a vicious cycle).

I like many of the ideas I'm seeing in blogland. However, I have yet to see a really fun guest book in a real life wedding that I attend. The gigantic white satin wrapped book is there at the front of every church...with the feather pen...waiting for me.

What about using a journal. A wicked COOL journal. One that will fit on a bookcase comfortably. One that will be both beautiful to look at and run your fingers over. I dig.

DestinysCove - this one has a Celtic design (did I mention My Guy is VERY Irish??)

Gardenologykc - these have turquoise nuggest embedded in them...hippie cool

Sprouting Oxygen - recycled front cover decor

Pica Pica Press - what about an old leatherbound journal? this one has serious personality.

SumpinElse - this handmade wooden slat journal can be custom created (a bargan at $15!)

greentrikepress - check out these upcycled encyclopedias into journals...nifty.