Should I have two "guest books"?

I would not do this. I had a nice photobook guest book that I spent like $60 on and I had a thumpprint guest book. Barely anyone signed the real guest book and if they did they literally only wrote their names.

^^ What heather said

ETA: I had the kind that you can hang on the wall. All they had to do was sign their name on it. Basically no one did and my Mom ended up carrying it around the reception asking people to sign it lol (which I didn't not know she did nor would I have liked her to)

Formal guest books don't really work anymore, and aren't really necessary in the digital age... think about not having camera phones or digital cameras, and then you need a guest book because you're not sure who all was there. Today, you have online RSVPs, you have tons of photos, FB, and other mechanisms to track it. Most people just sign their names,and you won't ever look at it again.

Consider a wishing tree instead... people take a small tag and write a wish for you and your new husband, advice, or a kind note and they hang it on the branches of a tabletop tree or vase filled with branches... a Dutch tradition I find charming ,and lets people share a sentiment with you that they wouldn't write into a guest book.

I'm going to do a "guest book" tablecloth. I'm going to ask everyone to sign their names on the table cloth and then I'll embroider them onto it in the months after the wedding. I saw it on pintrest or somewhere and remembered that as a kid, my grandma had done that with the Thanksgiving tablecloth. It was so fun to reread everyone's names every Thanksgiving. Plus it will give me a project for after the wedding when I get all sad about not having any more projects to do!

Agree with Heather-- keep it as simple as possible, b/c guests will only do one or the other, and so then you'll have two half guest books rather than one (mostly) complete one.