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Home » DIY Wedding Ideas » 27 Guest Book Ideas

27 Guest Book Ideas

May 12, 2022 By Jamie Dorobek 51 Comments

If you’re in market for a guest book, this list includes 27 unique guest book ideas covers everything from wooden oars to a guitar. Guest sign in books are a fun addition to any event and a great way to personalize a graduation, wedding, or baby shower. I also love that a guest book can often double as an activity at the event.

27 Clever guest book ideas for every occasion

*This post contains affiliate links.

What is a guest book?

Generally, a guest book is a place for attendees to write well wishes to the guest of honor. A typical guest book would be white and have lined pages inside. This is a list of non traditional guest book ideas. When considering the guest book, ask the question:

What does the guest(s) of honor love to do?

Does she love playing scrabble or going to the lake? Have guests sign an oar, anchor, or buoys! If you have a game lover on your hands, have guests sign the back of a game board or a Jenga set. My goal when coming up with new guest book ideas is to create a useful memory.

Wedding Guest Book Ideas

I divided this post up into 3 sections, but you can adapt most of these guest book ideas for any event. For instance, a quilt guest book is under the wedding guest book ideas list, but it would also be adorable for a baby shower. Just make the quilt baby sized. A t-shirt quilt guest book would be super fun for a highschool graduation party. The graduate could take her sign in book/quilt to college!

1. Jenga

I love the idea of making a giant backyard Jenga set that way you have more room for guests to sign and what a fun backyard game!

wedding guest book ideas

2. Sign our quilt

Jennifer and Clayton had the quilt already pieced together and ready for guests to autograph with fabric markers. Talk about a wedding guest book you will cherish and use forever? This is the winner! See more wedding and quilt details at The Plunge Project.
Wedding guest book ideas

3. Rocks

I write on rocks as souvenirs from vacation, but it works just the same as a guest book! All you need is a bowl full of smooth river rocks, a white paint pen and a glass vase to toss the signed rocks into.

4. Calendar Guest Book

I love the birthday calendar as a wedding or graduation guest book! When the event is over, the guest of honor has a calendar filled with all of his or her friends birthdays! Here is a gorgeous personalized wedding calendar guest book from Etsy.
Wedding Guest Book Ideas

5. Champagne Bottle

Consider buying a magnum bottle of champagne or wine, and then have guests sign their names. A magnum is double the size of a standard 750 mL bottle of champagne. Have a few gold paint pens available for guest to sign the bottle.

6. Game board

Scrabble, Clue, Monopoly, or Life would all be great game boards to serve as a unique guest book. Have a few permanent markers handy and let guests sign any where on the game board.

7. Turn photo strips into a scrapbook

This idea works great if you have a photo booth or even a Polaroid camera on hand for guests to use. Have a basket full of a props and a hand full of markers and this interactive guest book will make itself! Another great option is downloading the Simple Booth app and have an iPad set up on a tripod!

8. Fingerprints

All you need for this guest book is ink pads and a pre made drawing. Check out this Etsy seller for fingerprint guest books. There is everything from a simple family tree design to a lion complete with a finger print mane for a zoo themed wedding.

wedding guest book idea

9. Metal Letter & Paint Pens

I have folks email and ask me where to find metal letters all the time! You can find most metal letters on Amazon. Here is a very similar letter “S” on Amazon. See more details from this beautiful wedding at Style Me Pretty.

sign in book

10. Guest Log

This print screened guest log was oringially created by Baumbirdy, but no longer sold on Etsy.

Unique Guest Book Ideas- a guest log

11. Plates

Grab a few plain white plates in varying sizes to have guests autograph with metallic paint pins at the party. After the wedding, hang a plate collage in your dining room. These plate hangers from Amazon are the best.

12. Wooden Oars

Just add permanent markers and you’ve got yourself a unique guest book that’s perfect for the water lover. You can find inexpensive solid wood oars on Amazon. For more details from this gorgeous wedding, check out Style Me Pretty.
guest book

13. A wooden bench

The wooden bench wins most functional wedding guest book award! But, it a bench isn’t practical for your life, consider a small end table or even a chair? You can get the solid pine bench seen below on Etsy.
Wooden bench guest book

Baby Shower Guest Book Ideas

14. Wooden blocks

This was the guest book used at my baby shower for Maxwell. We had each person decorate one block for each letter of the alphabet. The best part? My son still plays with these blocks today! We used 2 in. wooden blocks and paint markers. You can find similar blocks on Amazon.
Baby shower guest book idea

15. Personalized note cards

If you’re hosting a baby shower, the mom to be note card is perfect for giving the new mama baby advice like favorite children’s book, but can also doubles as a guest book. After the shower, punch a hole in the corner of each card and use a ribbon to string them all together. Print the free printable personalized mom to be note cards here.

Unique Guest Book Ideas for a baby shower

16. Thumbprint guest books

I used this at my best friend’s baby shower. The little note read: Please “leaf” a Thumbprint and sign your name! After the event, you could frame the print and mom to be can use it as nursery decor.
Leaf a thumbprint guest book

17. Mad Libs

Get the free printable baby shower Mad Lib  C.R.A.F.T.
Unique Guest Book

18. Doodle in a person

I used this guest book at a book inspired baby shower I hosted for a friend. I had it on a desk as guests arrived and it proved to be a fun ice breaker activity for everyone. Each guest personalized a simple doodle character with colored pencils. Since the shower I was hosting was book themed, I had each guest add their favorite kids book in the flag above.

Creative baby shower guest book idea

19. Baby’s 1st Alphabet book

My sister in law had this adorable Baby’s First Alphabet book set up at her baby shower and it proved to be such a fun activity for everyone. Here is the free printable template we used.

DIY baby alphabet guest book

20. Favorite Book, Bible, Atlas, or Dictionary

A dictionary would be perfect for a graduation or wedding. Invite guests to circle a word that describes the couple or graduate and leave a note. I love the idea of a favorite kids book for a baby shower guest book. Here are few of my favorite baby shower guest book ideas:

  • The Giving Tree
  • Oh The Places You’ll Go
  •  Where the Wild Things Are
  • The Wonderful Things You Will Be
  • Guess How Much I Love You (used below)

guest book ideas for a baby shower

Graduation Guest Book Ideas

21. Matted Picture Frame

You can’t go wrong with having friends and family autographing a matted picture frame. It’s classic, inexpensive, and a beautiful memory that can hang on your wall. You can find an 11×14 black frame matted to fit a 5×7 picture on Amazon. That means the mat has enough rooms for signatures!

22. Chalkboard Messages

A photo booth doubles as a fun activity for guests at an event, but it can also be turned into a guest book.

Guest book ideas

23. Guest Log

If you’re looking for an inexpensive, unique option guest book option, this guest log is perfect. All you need is a tree slice and  You can use a real tree slice from your own back yard or buy a 13in slice on Amazon.guest book

24. Guitar

Or any musical instrument for that matter! What about a banjo, ukulele, or a violin? As you can see the guitar guest book was used at a wedding, but would make such a fun guest book for a musical graduate. For a baby shower, I love the idea of guests singing a child’s ukulele with the thought that one day the child can use their baby shower guest book! (Image via Full Bouquet)
 Guitar guest book

25. Collaborative art peice 

Divide a canvas up into squares and encourage each guest to paint or color a square to make a large art peice the guest of honor can use in their home.
Spray bottle painting and syringe painting

26. Globe or map

If the guest of honor loves to travel consider a globe, map, or atlas as a unique guest book idea. Here is a white 8 inch globe that would work well as a guest book.
guest book ideas
Which guest book idea is your favorite? What did you use at your wedding or baby shower? The ideas are seriously endless. What about baseballs, records, a surf board, wooden tree swing, or a picnic table!
If you’re in party planning mode, here are 3 more posts you don’t want to miss:
  • 24 food station ideas
  • 16 party bars
  • 29 DIY wedding bouquets

Filed Under: DIY Wedding Ideas Tagged With: baby shower, guest book, inexpensive wedding ideas

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Comments

  1. Susana says

    May 20, 2020 at 3:19 pm

    I love all these ideas! My fiance and I love to travel. We love the globe idea, but aren’t sure how many signatures will fit on which size globe. Do you have any ideas?

    Thanks!

    Reply
  2. Donna Biggs says

    May 10, 2020 at 4:02 am

    Thank you for these fabulous ideas, love the guitar guest book idea!

    Reply
  3. HappyBirthdayCakes says

    July 29, 2017 at 5:33 am

    We just had a regular guest book at our wedding (it was in 1995 before anyone was doing anything cool) but I love these ideas. I still have guest book in my house now for overnight guests and might switch it over to one of these fun ideas!

    Reply
  4. Djkihekic says

    July 2, 2017 at 1:47 am

    hahgsgdnna – google.com google.com – hywyywkkkkkkzzzzsssss

    Reply
  5. Michelle says

    April 26, 2017 at 1:42 pm

    So many cute projects! I love the coloring in a character idea. The postcards are great too – totally simple, but beautiful! xo

    Michelle

    Reply
  6. Vicki Kitchens says

    March 13, 2017 at 10:42 am

    We used your guitar guest book idea this weekend at my son’s proposal/engagement party! It was a huge hit. He is a guitarist in our church’s band and plays for a few other churches as well. We hope to be able to use it again at the wedding reception!

    Reply
  7. Nancy says

    September 13, 2016 at 7:28 pm

    Unique ideas! I especially love the globe! Thanks for posting..

    Reply
  8. Jacquie says

    May 31, 2016 at 7:57 pm

    Hey there! I’ve been reading your blog for a while now and finally got the bravery to
    go ahead and give you a shout out from Humble Tx!
    Just wanted to say keep up the great work!

    Reply
  9. scrapbooking paper says

    November 14, 2015 at 5:39 am

    I love this! Such a cute idea 🙂 Thank you for sharing.

    Reply
  10. marcy says

    February 3, 2015 at 7:20 am

    I love the metal “S” what kind of metal did you use?

    Reply
  11. Raquel says

    July 29, 2014 at 9:46 am

    Awesome round up! I am helping someone plan her wedding and am going to use these!

    Reply
  12. yearbook ideas says

    December 29, 2013 at 4:19 am

    thanks for sharing ..it looks simple but nice

    Reply
  13. Denise says

    May 28, 2013 at 2:32 pm

    Great Ideas. We did a map of the US for our son’s graduation. People put names on post it tabs and placed where they were from. We had different colors for places he himself has been, etc.

    Reply
    • birthday stationary says

      August 26, 2013 at 4:20 am

      hhmm… ilike your idea…thanks for that

      Reply
  14. Marianne says

    May 13, 2013 at 5:07 pm

    Love the globe! Perfect for the traveling couple :-). I also included it in my roundup of unique guest book ideas: http://peachofmind.com/10-alternative-guest-book-ideas/

    Reply
  15. Deanna says

    March 17, 2013 at 10:16 am

    We had our wedding in October, because I love the Fall. I wanted ALL decorations to be able to be reused every year. I figured spending the money, need to be able to reuse. Anyway, our guest Book was a Decorative Pumpkin, I got at Hobby Lobby (and for 50% so paid $15 for a $30 pumpkin) plus I put on our last name initial and asked people to sign! It was perfect fitting for my Fall themed wedding! We’ll be putting it out every year for the fall season!

    Reply
    • Jamie Dorobek says

      March 18, 2013 at 10:03 am

      That is such a good idea! Thanks for sharing 🙂

      Reply
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Hi, I'm Jamie!
I Create Really Awesome Free Things for your home, wardrobe, kitchen, and kids in Austin, TX with the sometimes help of Andy!
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