Guestbook or No Guest book

There are tons of really great alternatives to guest books. Off the top of my head, here are some I've heard of:

-A photo matte - have guests sign the matte and then the photo will be added later, so you have essentially a signed frame

-guests sign small stones, which are then put into a vase to decorate your home

-photo booths - guests get one copy of the photos, the couple gets the other

-guests fill out a small note with well-wishes or advice, which get put into a box. The box is opened on the couple's first anniversary.

-The giant letters that people use as wall art - have your guests sign that

-thumbprint tree art

And of course, if you don't want a guest book or don't see any options that you like (Google 'alternative wedding guestbook' for more ideas) you sure don't have to have one.

We were going to do the plate, but it wouldn't have been enough room on one plate, we didn't think. We ended up getting a guest book that matched our flutes and cake knives. Barely anyone signed it. It truly wasn't worth it. I'm not going to do anything with it.

I originally wanted one, but changed my mind. Im sure I'll know who was at my wedding. I don't need to see their signature to remember. Also, they remind me of funerals.

I like sealing advice up for the first anniversary. That sounds fun. Then I could scrapbook it with photos afterwards. I love to scrapbook LOL

Nah, not doing one.

Nope...not money I wanted to waste. We are having a photo booth that gives us copies of all photos taken in a book on site and guests are able to write messages and things next to their photos...thats the closest we're coming to having one

I hate guestbooks, however we are doing an alternative. We're having people "mail" us a postcard. I bought a small mailbox and a ton of postcards off of amazon (5 bucks for a pack of 20 of them I think) and they will fill that out with a message for us and put it in the mailbox. That way I can keep them tied up and tucked away. I can see us reading through those vs just a bunch of signatures in a book.

We're doing one (FH really wanted one) but picked something that will be framed and hung on the wall in our living room.

I debated the same thing over and over. I went to talk to my parents who have been married 45 years this year and they have NEVER looked at their guest book, so I decided that I am going to not have a guest book. I think after the wedding I will just do something with my photos that will remind me who was there.

We are doing one but it's included in the package with our photographer. It was one less thing that I needed to worry about.

JaKLyn - I LOVE that. My FH is obsessed with Doctor Who.

Are they just signing around the balloons?

I have a Shutterfly code and I found a guest book that is more like a "write some advice and stuff" book. I am having a smallish wedding though; we are only inviting 75. Maybe it isn't worth it? I just liked it as well because I was going to use a lot of our engagement photos in it so it would be a printed copy of those as well.

I'm doing a plate that will become a decoration in our kitchen. I think just a plain guestbook is pointless

@Mary they'll sign on the balloons ideally. If some sign around it oh well.

@Mary, I think the shutterfly book would be fun. For my parent's 30th anniversary, I got a mailbox and asked people to leave advice or a funny memory of them. My parents still have everything that everyone wrote. It was really fun to read the next day.

We're doing a photobook on shutterfly for our guest book.. They have lots of cute and fun options! Other people I know who have done this have used their engagement pictures, but we used pictures from our entire relationship to date. I'm really excited for it!

We are going to use a signature tree from Peachwik. I wanted something we could hang on the wall.

My niece made our guestbook. It was ordered from Mixbook, she used pics of us during our relationship and inserted pages for advice & quotes, not just signatures. My H and I had a blast reading what everyone wrote in the book. My sister took the time to pass the book around during our reception to make sure everyone got the opportunity to write in it. It is something that we will personally cherish for years to come!

I got a "free" (paid $10 for shipping) shutterfly guestbook with my Macy's registry and I LOVE it. I was like you and thought it was a waste of a money until I saw that coupon and thought I'd give it a shot. I used my engagement pictures and I literally looked through it everyday for a week after it arrived. Like others have said it has fun things like "what advice would you give" "what should we name our kids" etc. I really hope people actually sign it at the wedding.

I agree with a literal guest book being a waste, I want mine to be something we'll look at, so we're trying to decide between three different things.

-A Bible, where our friends can highlight their favorite verse and leave a note what it means to them or what their prayer for our marriage is. (I think all but one or two guests are Christian)

-A calendar, where people sign their name on their birthday. Super cheap and useful.

-A selfie book. Our guests take a selfie with a Polaroid type camera and sign their name and well wishes next to it.

I'm with @Maltese - our guestbook is our photo booth book. I prefer to look at people's pictures and written greetings, and it's another fun way to look back on the wedding day down the road.