Guest book or picture frame?

We are going to get a picture frame. About 11 X 13 frame with a 8 X 10 mat so there is plenty of room for everyone to sign.

I guess it depends on what it is that you wish to have remembered most. Some guest books are just a place for people to sign their names, others have space for people to leave personal messages. If you are just looking for signatures, then maybe go with the frame... that sounds like something you will hang and see on a regular basis.

If you are going for messages, then do the book. Your guests will have more space to write what's in their hearts.

Personally, I'm a book lover... I'll be making my own guest book

Even both options are very nice, I think you should go for one only. If you are having a lot of guests, sometimes the guess book misses some signatures. I prefer the picture frame with a nice photo from the engagements shoot.

I was planning to do the picture frame until I read some posts about making a book on Shutterfly. I've been trying to gather up pics to use to make the book. I actually think I will go with the frame still, because I think it will look nice hanging up in our place. And then the book I'm making online can be a keepsake for us, and, if I can get it done in time, something for the guests to look at.

There was this frame I saw that i think we are going to do. A little expensive but pretty. It was some type of alloy and they give you a diamond tip pen. The guests engrave their messages. They are not overly noticable from far away. As you get closer to the picture you can see the messages. I thought it was cute.

I am doing both! B/c my guestbook is more of a story telling page for each family to fill out about the bride and groom. And I wanted the frame to display and have a cute reminder to look at everyday hope that helps

For our Wedding we did a Picture frame. We actually made it a couple project! Can't remeber the exact size of the canvas & pic. We did a decorative trim, adding butterflies and feathers, the wording was in glitter. Our colours were green & yellow, it came our really nice, the guest signed with sliver markers. Everyone commented on how nice & unique it was, and it means so much more to us since we did it ourselves.

It is now hanging were we can see it everyday. You can't get that with a book!

I went to a wedding in June, and when we went to the church where the wedding was held, we signed a guest book, then at the reception, we signed a plate which they had fired and it was a keepsake of the people that attended the reception. So, I guess both are fine.

Wow, some very good ideas. We did see the picture frame with the diamond pen, which looks really nice. We read some reviews for some people who got it and said it was tough to write on.

I came across this link which seems like a great idea for a guest book as offers more personalization for guests:

http://www.guestbookstore.com/index.html

Ask your photographer about making a guest book with your engagement photos. They are very popular in our studio. They should be very reasonably priced. We also make signature boards with photos. But one inappropriate comment could put the photo in the closet forever.

We're doing both. We are having the guest book at the ceremony and the picture frame at the reception.

We went to a family wedding last night, and they had a AWESOME guestbook full of baby pics, high school pics, and couple pics for people to sign....it was way cool!

Congratulations on your upcoming wedding Sara. I have seen a trend for couples doing both. Like a previous poster stated, they are using the guest book for the wedding and the frame for the reception. Couples usually put the guest book away after the wedding, but the frame can be a special keepsake to display after the wedding.

We are doing the sign in board for our wedding. We are having over 200 guests so we got a big one, 20x24. I like the framed picture better because we can hang it in our house and always look at it. If we got a book we would just set it somewhere and probably never look at it again.

The best I've seen in 13 years of doing weddings, was a scrapbook were someone had a Polaroid camera and guests took pics of eachother, but it in the book and them wrote next to it. How fun to pull that out on your first year anniversary. If I can find a Polaroid camera that is what I'm doing. Good luck.

Rmlubell is right on! IF you do a guestbook PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do not buy a plain old book from Target for people to sign in on. NO ONE looks at those books after the wedding is over. There are GREAT options out for boutique-like books that your photographer should provide you (emphasis on "should"). The picture with a mat around it works nice as well. We've found that signing picture mats work better at the reception than before the wedding. Reason being, guests tend to be seated more efficiently when standing in a line, like the line they'll stand in to sign a book. If you are signing a picture before the ceremony you could have a mess of people all over the place... just a thought.

A book can be beautiful, especially if it has pics and stories about how you met, your courtship, the engagement, pics of your parents' and grandparents' weddings, etc...

How do you know how big of a picture mat to buy? I've seen different sizes and don't know what to get for 85 people.

I got an idea from Martha Stewart that I liked. I went to michaels and bought a large glass bowl that looks like a huge brandy snifter. I then went to an office supply store and bought scalloped edge cards for the guests to write a nice note for us and then drop it in the bowl. At the end of the nite my MOH can gather up the cards and FH and I can read them on the way to the honeymoon or when we get back!

Oh, I like that idea Libragurl! I was worried that even a signed frame would end up getting put on a shelf eventually. Notecards will be great, they can go in a scrapbook after the fact. Cool!