WEDding WEDnesdays: in lieu of a guestbook...

...we offered several other means for our wedding guests to write us whatever they felt like sharing--marriage advice, demands for offspring, drunken anagrams, or simply their John Hancock.  I think one of the best ideas I had, and still receive great reviews on, was the comment cards I made and had placed at each guest's seat at the reception.  I used the same recycled cardstock paper that I used for all the wedding paper goods: save the dates, invitations, RSVPs, table markers, etc. (all of which are another post), and printed at the top of each card, "Dear Gabriel and Cassi:" in a cool font called yippy skippy.  :)  This not only gave guests something to do between the ceremony and our arrival at the reception, but also allowed them the freedom and time to write.  

  
I've always disliked the herding-cattle routine of quickly scribbling "Congrats! Love, [enter name]" in the guest book as you're walking through the door of the reception, all the while preoccupied with scoping out the room and buffet status.  These cards were the perfect anecdote, and they were a huge hit.  I'm working on displaying all of the cards on our entry way wall that I painted with magnetic primer.  Here's that WIP (work-in-progress):

I've brought out the stack probably twelve times since our wedding and read each one, sometimes crying, sometimes laughing out loud, sometimes crying while laughing out loud. 

Another cool thing we had for people to write all over was Gabe's guitar.  He's got several, since he's a musician, so he chose one of his acoustics for people to 'decorate.'  It was placed on the gift table and people wrote on it at different times throughout the night.  Every time he plays it, it makes us smile. 

[Fischbein Photography]

Also on our gifts table was a bulletin I made showcasing gifts/activities people had already purchased for us via our honeymoon registry, along with a sheet encouraging ideas and recommendations from our guests for our honeymoon to the Napa Valley and surrounding areas.  I knew we wouldn't be able to get many chances to talk in depth with our guests who had visited the valley, so they were able to put it in writing, which we thanked them for later.

[Fischbein Photography]

The watercolors kind of warped the paper, but at that point in the planning stage, I was so over all my projects that I didn't care.  Brides, you know what I mean?  The "Honey, how do feel about eloping?" stage that usually kicks in just weeks before the big day.  

The guests placed their finished comment cards in my old vintage train case that I lined with muslin and tacked a comment card with a giant arrow facing down to the inside open lid, on display at the gifts table.  I tried to make things as easy as possible.  By the way, the crayons (photo #2) were meant to keep the kids occupied at the table, but some funny adults used them to write on the comment cards.  Here's their original intention:

[Fischbein Photography]

I designed and printed up these placemats on regular printer paper, then bought a couple 99-cent 24 packs of Crayolas and tied a strip of leftover muslin to five different colored crayons for each kids' place-setting.

Oh, and that's Taylor, our flower girl and good friends' kid--although there's an ongoing joke that she is actually mine and Gabe's lovechild.  She has all our features combined, but actually looks a great deal like her mama.  ;)

So much to share, but I'll have to refrain 'til next week.  Happy hump day!