Inspiration: Make a Customized Guestbook

Guestbooks have traditionally been used for weddings, but they can also be used for bridal and baby showers, and graduation, anniversary and retirement parties. Most guestbooks are purchased at greeting card stores or party outlets and often have padded covers that say “Guestbook.” Most are nothing but plain pages filled with lines for guests to fill in. They’re nice, but impersonal. There’s just not much pizazz to them.

With photo book applications, you can custom make a guestbook for yourself or your guest of honor. In advance of the event, ask invitees to send you photos of themselves with the honorees or provide you with short, typed stories. Both photos and text can be imported into a photo book application. Choose a great photo for the cover and enter the event name and date. You can even try to coordinate colors with the event’s theme. If you’re feeling adventurous, you can scan the invitation or other key mementos to place as images the book. If you have ideas but not a whole lot of design ability, many applications provide templates and backgrounds with text and lines for the “signing” pages of a guest book. When you rev up a guestbook with a little customization, it will become something much more treasured than a traditional, off-the-shelf book of signatures.

Photo of the bride and groom in their customized guestbook.