NOTE: This is a “reprint” of my blog post to Kodak’s previous “A Thousand Words” blog.
A Photo Guest Book is a great way to remember a special party or gathering such as a rehearsal dinner, house warming party, costume party, baby shower, etc. The result is a wonderful memory book – it’s like real-time scrapbooking where the scrapbook is complete by the end of the party!
Here are some basic archive-quality materials you will need:
- Photo book
- Photos
- Pens
Optional items include the following:
- Paper for writing notes on
- Glue sticks
- Other embellishments (e.g., stickers, scrapbooking cutouts)
It’s great if you can easily print pictures at the party. Using a portable printer makes printing digital pictures at parties pretty simple. Many full-size printers also allow you to connect your camera via USB cable and then print directly from the camera, without the need for a computer. If you don’t have a way to print digital pictures at the party, here are some other options to consider:
- Use a Polaroid camera;
- Have guests leave a blank page for their picture and then write their note on the facing page. You can add pictures after the party, when you have a chance to print them.
I like to have guests write their note on a separate piece of paper rather than directly in the book. This allows multiple guests to write notes at the same time. It also gives guests an easy “second chance” if they feel like they made a goof on their note. Cutting 8.5″ x 11″ paper into quarters makes a great size for notes to include in a compact photo book (e.g., one designed to include one 4″x6″ photo per page). Glue sticks will be needed to paste both pictures and notes into the photo guest book. Using repositional glue sticks vs. permanent glue sticks allows guests to easily move things around.
Here are some pictures from my wedding photo guest book, using photos that were taken the night before at a luau.
We had double prints made – using one print for the photo guest book and one print to be used as a photo favor. For the photo favor, we put each photo in a paper novelty photo frame. It may sound a little hokey, but my mom still has her photo favors in her room – with the paper frames and all! When my husband and I flip through our photo guest book, it reminds us of the special time we spent with friends and family, celebrating our big event.