alternative guestbook | caitlin elizabeth photography | wedding ideas

i know the blog has been FULL of wedding-y things this week. no, i'm not a newlywed.  no, i'm not getting married soon. no, i'm not even engaged.  BUT i have about a hundred friends who are all engaged and getting married this summer and next - which is SUPER exciting and has me constantly looking for things they might like.  an interesting trend  i'm noticing on the blogospheres these days is this idea of an 'alternative guestbook.'

i've been to PLENTY of weddings where folks have one of those white books with lines for everyone to sign in on and write a brief message to the bride and groom.  believe me, there is NOTHING wrong with that, it works! but i also am fascinated by the OPTIONS couples have.  there are some seriously creative folks out there:  i've seen polaroids that people take at the wedding and write on then hang on a 'picture wall,' wine corks that you can write messages on, engagement photos bound in an album with page margins for leaving well-wishes, jars to leave a note in that the couple takes on their honeymoon, wishing trees, puzzle pieces that guests sign, rocks to write on that later go in the couple's garden, squares of fabric that are later made in to a quilt... really there is NO limit to what counts as a guest book!

if you know nothing else about me, know that i am IN LOVE with the hand written word.  and SO last saturday i decided to set up my own take on an 'alternative guestbook'

the premise is simple: love notes and quotes, message in a bottle style

guests have slips of paper they can write tidings of joy and happiness, or their favorite quotes from love songs and stories, past or present :) and really, this quote from john donne sums up quite well why i think that writing love notes is such a perfect idea for a guest book instead of just signing your name on a line:

"sir, more than kisses, letters mingle souls, for thus friends absent speak" ~john donne

once they write out their love note, they can slip it into a bottle, which can be saved to open on a later date or buried in true 'time capsule' form.

to give this presentation a little more height/variety i incorporated books - these include 'southern tales' which is a book comprised of short stories written by southerners and 'love poems'

 

 there are about a bajillion bottles like these in various shapes/sizes/colors at the local thrift store.  i've also seen them at flea markets and you can often find them in yard sales for next to nothing!  but each one is interesting, with it's own style and story. 

shakespeare will always hold a very special place in my heart - these little red books? they're acts from some of my favorite plays :) there are so many good quotes! 

"let us go hand in hand, not one before the other" ~shakespeare, comedy of errors (act V scene 1)

"when i saw you i fell in love, and you smiled because you knew" ~shakespeare, hamlet (act II scene 2)

"may your tears come from laughin, you find friends worth havin, with every year passin, they mean more than gold..." ~lady antebellum, never alone

do those wine bottles wrapped in twine look familiar?! you can find out how to make them HERE since they were my most recent PINday craft!  if you get a chance, check out the PINday board and 'like' or 'repin' whichever craft you want to see featured on the blog next week!

there are so many interesting options for brides regarding ANY facet of the wedding day.  guest books shouldn't be left out!  it comes down to what YOU and YOUR HUBBY-TO-BE want!  obviously if you don't particularly value the written word, this wouldn't be for you.  if you are a more tech-y pair, you could get your guests to video blog for you, or if you're into music, get each guest to select a song and have a 'wedding day guest-book-playlist' - are you pickin up what i'm puttin down ya'll?!  make it personal!

BIG ANNOUNCEMENT coming up on the blog next week.  as well as my ALL TIME FAVORITE DESSERT RECIPE. swing back by sometime, there'll be something new to take a gander at ;)

words. [personal]

i've never been a science person.  memorization just isn't my thing. that test in AP chemistry where we had to memorize polyatomic ions? you don't even want to know how many times i took that before i passed.  it was embarrassing. for serious.

and math? well... i just couldn't see the point.  i know it's useful for some folks, but really? i do NOT need to know how to set up proofs to function on a day to day basis.

(tehehe... function...)

now, history and i got along fairly well, but again, memorization... it seriously hindered our relationship.

so i graduated with an english degree.

collective response: hold up say whaaaaa?!!

this'll probably come as a shock to some of you - i mean, as long as we're being completely honest, i'm a terrible speller, tend to use entirely too many adjectives, have a general lack of enthusiasm when it comes to punctuating things correctly and only capitalize when absolutely necessary...

but i really like words.

and writing.

more specifically: handwritten words.

when i was in elementary school i wrote letters to my best friend, even though i sat next to her in all of our classes and saw her five days a week.  at GA camp, i wrote to nana and pop-pop every day - even if it was just to tell them that my swimsuit bottoms had fallen off when i dove off of the side of the pool.  i gave my christmas list to santa in paragraph form. when my long-term high-school sweetheart broke up with me, to get over it i wrote.  in college, when i needed a distraction or i didn't know how to handle something, i picked up a pen.

point being [pun totally intended]: i've always been a writer.

i recently received a PACKAGE of letters (yes, a package - there were a total of 8 i think) and it was one of the best surprises ever :)  there is something about the written word - it's personal and touching.  so inextricably you. so undeniably yours.  there is no getting away from it.  and every mark has a story that goes with it.

and that is why i write.

notes to myself, letters to others, thank you cards, on my hand, in my journal, on mixed cd's and scraps of paper... anywhere really.  the margins of my books are littered with questions, comments, doodles, punctuation marks.  if there are post-it notes within arms reach, you better believe that the top one has something, anything, written on it. 

in a lot of ways photography resonates with me just as deeply as writing.  through both i create.  through both i tell stories.  but through photography, i express what, occasionally, words cannot.

caits