Wedding Wednesday: The Guestbook

Of all the wedding planning secrets I kept, I played none of them closer to the vest than the guestbook. I told a few people, but only because I could not keep such a great idea locked up inside myself for so long. And, I needed to hear others tell me what I great idea it was, just to stroke my ego.

I did my best to keep it under wraps because I did not want to see it all over Pinterest before the wedding could even happen. Maybe that sounds silly, but I just wanted to have one element in our wedding that was completely our own idea.

Early in our wedding planning process, I thought about our guestbook and the myriad of possibilities that lay before us. Guestbooks have come a long way from being an actual book, and there are tons of creative ideas out there--champagne bottles, finger paint, etc. Like I said, for this one aspect of the wedding, I wanted to come up with something that I had never seen before.

To start off the brainstorming process, I thought of all the guestbook ideas I really liked. Basically, I loved the ones that could easily be displayed in a home. To narrow that down, I thought about our wedding theme (winter chic, remember?), and as I considered this, the greatest guestbook idea EVER popped into my head (well, maybe not greatest ever, because it obvi would not work in certain seasons). We set out Christmas ornaments and sharpies, and instructed guests to sign or write a message on the ornament, then hang it the Christmas tree that was set up in the ballroom.

This idea went over really well. Everyone loved coming up with a message to write on the ornament, and it fits with us as a couple because Matt and I LOVE the Christmas season. It's also a tangible way for us to be reminded every year, when we decorate our tree, how special that day was and how loved we truly are.