{ideas| guestbooks and more}

What are guestbooks? Do I have to have one? Brides always wonder if guestbooks are necessary for their wedding. It's always nice to have something at your wedding where your guests can express themselves as they write down their sentiments and well wishes for you on your special day. Guestbooks doesn't always have to be in the form of a book. It seems like one of those things that most brides wait until the end of their planning phase to pick up a guestbook to use. From the wishing tree to the puzzle guestbook, I'm sharing with all of you a few of my favorite guestbook ideas:

Envelope Guest Book

Transform a store-bought album into a guest book that has a handmade feel. Use double-sided tape to affix envelopes in assorted sizes and colors to the pages of a plain-paper photo album or scrapbook. Leave cards and a pen on a table for guests to write wishes. When they're done, they can tuck their cards inside the envelopes for the bride and groom to enjoy later.The bright hues of these small gift cards can't help but beguile the eyes of wedding guests; their small size gives well-wishers just enough space to write a sweet thought, quip, or hope; and the envelopes, allowing for privacy, encourage them to get a little sentimental.

courtesy of Martha Stewart Weddings

 Hearts

I love this idea and wish we could have done it for our wedding. Let your wedding guestbook be a conversation piece for your family & friends as they sign the hearts of this art piece.This unique wedding guestbook comes in a 20x20 white shadow box frame with recessed glass that comes ready to hang or can be placed on a mantle. The example above has 3D hearts for signatures and a light yellow heart which includes the bride and grooms initials and wedding date on a white background.

photo courtesy of Etsy

Puzzle Guestbook

This is a unique guestbook alternative that would be fun not only for the guests but also for the couple to put together after the wedding.  A wedding guest book puzzle is a very personal work of art, a family heirloom that will be treasured forever, and an enjoyable, memorable experience for everyone.

photo courtesy of Etsy

Wishing Tree

A wishing tree is a great addition to your reception venue. Guests can write their notes and wishes for the couple on a card stock that can be tied or clipped to the branches of the tree.

photo courtesy of Style Me Pretty

Wishing Stones

Wishing stones are an Irish wedding tradition wherein they have their wedding guests write their best wishes on smooth stones. You can put together a wedding guest book table with plenty of pebbles and a glass vase filled up with water. After the guest signed with a permanent marker, they can put the stones inside the vase. This represent and bring back the tradition of throwing stones into a river or pool.

photo courtesy of Pinterest

{bridal show | bridal show aboard the queen mary | long beach}

Hello All! I'm fresh from my recent bridal show aboard The Queen Mary last Sunday. I had such an awesome time getting the opportunity to meet the hundreds of brides that attended the event and their fiances/family members. I met some great vendors as well that I'm looking forward to working with in the near future. I was really limited to the table space in my booth so I wanted to maximize the space and be able to showcase my work. Flower Allie was so generous in providing 2 arrangements for me to use in the table scape and I incorporated my favorite Moroccan lanterns from Z Gallerie along with a sample table setting. A big THANK YOU goes out to Bridal Showplace for organizing a successful bridal show, Allison of Flower Allie for coming to my rescue with the most eye catching arrangements, the brides who stopped by my booth to chat and share their wedding visions (I was really excited to see so many prepared brides with their name labels to put in the vendor sign up sheets :)) and most of all, thank you to the best assistant ever who was super helpful and supportive!