Friday, July 25, 2008

detail post #4: the guest book

Now on to the one DIY project that heard about the most from our guests - our guestbook.

For a long time, we just assumed that we would go to craft store, pick out a cute, relatively inexpensive guest book and say "done". No fuss, no mess, no hours spent on another project. But, then we got to thinking about it....we wanted to have something that wouldn't end up dusty and stored away in a closet or a box somewhere. We wanted it to actually tell the story of our six year relationship and feel like "us". All of this of course meant that another project had to be added to our list. So we made this:




(click any of the photos to enlarge)


Actually, Blurb made this, we just designed and formatted it all. Our book was the smallest (7x7 inches), cheapest ($25 with the help of an online coupon) hard bound option they offered. We were happy with their print quality, the thickness and glossiness of the interior pages, and their easy design and formatting options. If I were to grade them, I'd give them an A, and we'll probably use them again for future projects.

Jesse has probably never thrown anything away in his life. It's a personality quirk that I usually curse but came to treasure during the making of this book. It meant that we still had school ID cards from the year we met, receipts from our first date, notes and letters that we'd written each other, and ticket stubs to nearly every movie, concert and play we'd attended together. And we packed all of that stuff in, surrounded by years of photo booth strips and short written descriptions to give our guests a handy 40 page synopsis of our relationship. We were happy with how it turned out, but even happier with the well-wishes and nice notes that our guests wrote inside (these photos were taken weeks before the wedding - the lined pages are now covered with awesome-ness).

next detail post: misc. last minute design projects

12 comments:

Stefanie K. said...

That's such an awesome idea! My fiance' has a box he calls "the schmoop box" full of letters, notes, envelopes, cards, movie tickets, dried flowers, etc. We have no idea what to do with it all (though we do lots of scrapbooking **talk**). I think we would have felt okay parting with it if we could have photo-documented it somehow. Maybe we still will, even though our "guest book" is done and established. It is still an excellent idea for a coffee table book. I love it!

~Mel said...

congratulations!! it was great meeting you at the philly meetup! =D

Unknown said...

Very cool. Are the lined pages glossy or matte? Did guests have trouble signing here (that is, did the ink set or smear)?

Ms. 122 said...

i love it! we're going to do a blurb book too!

btw: i put a little link love on 122rollcall :)

deanna said...

thanks all! sorry to take so long to reply back. we just got back from our honeymoon.

margot: the pages are glossy and we were afraid that the ink would smear, so jesse bought some pens that claimed to be "smear proof". they worked - no smears for us! i'll post a photo our photographer took of the signed book along with our other pro photos of the reception so you can see.

deanna said...

melanie: it was really great meeting you too! i hope there's another meet up again soon!

Wiggs (The Beholder) said...

What a lovely book. You've inspired me to make something similar to give to my fiance on our wedding day as a surprise. One question - did you just scan in all of your receipts and ticket stubs? Did you figure out a (somewhat) simple way of doing this?

I'm so jealous of you and your hubby's artistic skills!

Dolldine Designs said...

What a great idea! I love it! And your wedding was gorgeous!!!! Congratulations. Do you mind if I put a link on my blog to your wonderful idea?

Lulu said...

This idea is just so beyond awesome. I would love to do the same thing, since I definitely have a dominant "sentimental hoarder" gene... ;) Can't wait to see more detail of the book!
Lulu

Anonymous said...

Hey Deanna!

I need some help with the cover of my Blurb guestbook. Could you email me? Thank you SO MUCH!

lynnandmatthew2008 at gmail

Hannah said...

I super duper love. I hope it's okay to link from my blog (i-doux)

Anonymous said...

Hi, all. My name is Toni. I was familiar with jessedeanna.blogspot.com YEARS ago and recently just got the hankering to return. It's good to be back. Happy reading!
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