Guest Book

If you ask anyone who just got married about their wedding day 9/10 will say "It's the fastest day of your life!"  It's true! The day goes so quickly.  Luckily I was told this several times before I got married, so I made sure to stop throughout the day and take it all in. 

Get to your ceremony location early enough to watch your guests walk in.  Take a moment to scan the crowd during the ceremony.  Stand back for a moment at cocktail hour and watch everyone.  Sit down for a minute during the reception and watch everyone dance. (so this one didn't happen because I was dancing the whole time!) but you get the point.

Another fantastic way to remember your big day is to have a guest book.

When I hear wedding guest book I think of a padded book with lined pages that goes on your coffee table for a year and eventually becomes a dust collector.  I was so happy to discover the trend of wedding guest books has evolved into creative and fun pieces that serve a purpose.  

There are so many ideas for brides to choose from.  It is important to decide how the guest book fits in with your theme and the purpose it will serve once the wedding is over.  Here are some ideas I found when looking for wedding guests books.

• Puzzle pieces
• Heart cutouts (from paint samples) framed
• Fingerprint tree
• Flower pot
• A collection of engagement pictures in a book (shutterfly is great for this)
• Picnic Table
• Adirondack Chairs
• Bench
• Globe
• River rocks
• Jenga game pieces
• Anniversary Wine Bottles
• And my favorite....

Alphabet Wedding Guest Book
 It is a one-of-a-kind piece of art and the ideal keepsake.  Etsy has a ton of these, but since I love DIY projects and being creative I took the pictures myself.  What made the piece really special was the pictures were from the town I grew up in.  If you decide to make an alphabet wedding guest book keep these tips in mind:

• All the pictures have to be the same way (vertical or horizontal)
• There should be consistency with the pictures.
• Have a theme, steel objects, country items, etc.
• Make sure you take the picture of each object from the same distance.
• Get the picture framed 2-3 months before the wedding
• Request to have the glass put in the frame after the wedding
• Use a photo safe, acid free, archival quality, lightfast, waterproof, fade-proof, non-bleeding, odorless, smear proof pen.  (seems like a lengthy list, but remember you want this to last and look good hanging on your wall)

Once you put all your hard work into your guestbook, you want to make sure all your guest's sign it.  You can assign a trusted friend or family member to keep an eye on the guest book.  Remember all those friends and family members that say "I want to help, Just let me know how!"  I used my Aunt Tania who did an amazing job asking each guest to sign.   They don't have to stand their all night, but just have them be the advocate for you guest book!

Have your guestbook in a convenient location
 where everyone will see it & sign it 

There are tons of new ideas for wedding guest books.  You don't have to use them.  Let your mind run wild.  Brainstorm with your mom and bridesmaids to come up with a wedding guest book that will fit your theme and personal style!

Transportation

Dressed in the most gorgeous gown, make-up on, hair done and feeling oh so special.  The limo pulls up, you climb in with your friends and there it is..  duct tape covering a crack in the seat.  You think, well hopefully nothing else goes wrong.  But it does.  Halfway to your destination you see 3 spiders crawling around.  Gross!  And to make it a little better (catch my sarcasm) the windows aren't sealed tight so there is just enough breeze to mess up your $50 up-do.  

Ok so it wasn't terrible, but it certainly wasn't what I pictured for my senior prom.

So when it came time to find a limo for my wedding I didn't want to make a big mistake again.
I asked some friends that had recently gotten married for recommendations and did a lot of research online looking at prices, testimonials, types of vehicles, etc.  I made sure to meet with the limo service and see the inside of the limo.  You want to make sure they are in good condition and see if you can fit your whole wedding party in the car.  I thought a 12-passenger would fit my 12 person bridal party.  Boy am I glad I had Matt (6'-6") climb in the limo because we totally needed the 16-passenger limo!  Things are always different in person.

You may ask yourself, do we need a limo?  They are so expensive.

I knew I wanted to get a limo for a few reasons:

 *To make the day feel more special
*To keep the whole bridal party together from the ceremony to pictures and to the reception site
*To share a special ride with  my girls on the way to the ceremony 
*To have fun and party with the whole bridal party on the way to the reception
*I knew my dress was too big to fit in a little car
*I didn't want to make any regrets

**My brothers had never been in a limo before (what a cool experience to give them!)


We felt offering a shuttle from the hotel to the reception site was important.  Since we had set a block of rooms at the hotel we wanted to offer a shuttle as a courtesy to the guests who were traveling far and didn't know the area.  We also wanted to make sure our friends, who we knew would drink, had a safe way home.

A lot of hotels have a van that they use for shuttle service.  Try to get a deal.  For example, ask if you get 15 rooms booked by a certain date for 50% off the shuttle price.  If your hotel doesn't have a shuttle service you can rent a car through a car service.