Remembering Your Wedding Day: 5 Reviews on How to Capture Your Wedding Memories
Imagine the scene: The wedding day has finally arrived - the day you have planned for months is here. You are ready. Family and friends are gathered and you just can not wait to have fun with everyone in celebration of this glorious day - your wedding day!
During your planning and preparation, you may have imagined blissfully gliding around the wedding reception, stopping to catch up with all the friends and family attending your wedding, being showered with compliments as to what a fantastic day they’re having and how generally fabulous you are.
Unfortunately, the actual reality of your wedding day ends up being somewhat different. A recent Wedding Survey by Instant Forever of wedding day couples showed that 71% of couples managed to spend a maximum of only a few moments of their wedding day with their guests! So how can couples capture the memories of their wedding day with their guests - to enjoy not only in the moment, but for years to come?
There are many options to choose from, but how do you know which one is best for you? We’ve pulled together some options available below and reviewed them - to help you decide how to capture your wedding day memories.
1. Traditional Wedding Guest Book
Guest books are a popular option for weddings. They’re available in a wide range of colours and prices to fit most budgets and many stationers are able to make the guest book to match your wedding stationery for added wedding elegance.
Pros:
- Available to suit every budget and size of wedding
- It’s reasonably simple to organise – you can either ask guests to complete it at their table during the reception or you can set-up a ‘signing table’ - just make sure that your guests know that it is there!
Cons:
- The finished result can be uninspiring to look at – just pages and pages of names and addresses - and doesn’t really capture the special moments of the day.
2. Polaroid Photo Guest Book
Polaroid Guest Books take the traditional guest book to an all new level. Instant Polaroid Photo Guest Books are a unique "marriage" of a photo album and a guest book. There is the fun in taking the instant Polaroid pictures, slipping them into the photo guest book’s specially designed picture slot and having your guests write their personalised messages to the bride and groom on the guest book pages.
Pros:
- Available in a range of colours to match your wedding theme
- A great way to interact with all your guests
- Captures photos of all your guests, along with their personal messages to you about how fabulous the wedding was for them
- It’s an instant wedding memento that the couple can take away from the reception as soon as it’s over - without waiting for processing or photographers’ proofs
Cons:
- It’s slightly more to organise than a traditional guest book. Make it easy by putting a wedding attendant or close family member or friend in charge of the photo guest books to ensure they used and enjoyed by all the guests
3. Signature Frame
Most couples splash out on their wedding photography, so the chances are you’ll probably have some fantastic wedding photographs which you’ll want to display in pride of place in your home. A signature frame refers to the cardboard mount around your chosen photo which your guests sign at the wedding, for you to keep. Once you’ve decided on the size of photo you want, you can buy a mount and frame from any local framing shop.
Pros:
- A great way to display your best couple photos or wedding photos at the wedding
- A great interaction to have your guests sign the photo mount for an instant memento of your wedding day
- Easy to organise, just leave the photo mount on an easel in your reception area with a nice pen at hand for guests to sign
Cons:
- Unless you get an enormous mount, there isn’t much space for your guests to do much more than simply sign their names
- Not enough space for the guests to write a personalised message to the couple
4. Video Diary
Another interesting alternative is the creation of a Video Diary. This can work in a number of ways: 1) If you’re having a professional videographer, they can set up a separate room and camera for your guests to visit ‘Big Brother’ style. 2) If you’re not having a videographer, you can hire video booths, which are a similar idea. 3) Lastly, you could ask a friend to ask each guest a number of questions for the Video Diary, such as ‘How do you know the bride or groom?’, or ‘What are your wishes for the bride and groom?’
Pros:
- Could create some very funny messages, once people have had a drink or two and started to let their hair down!
Cons:
- Can be expensive if done professionally. Prices for a video booth can be costly
- Some guests may be particularly camera shy and not keen on being captured on film in this way
- Needs some pretty involved before-during-after wedding organisation to encourage guests to use it
- Certainly not an instant memento. You may have to wait a few weeks or months to receive the finished video
5. Plate Signing
In a similar vein to a signature frame, signing plates may be more appropriate for you if you’re a big Gordon Ramsey fan (and who isn’t?) and like to spend a lot of time in the kitchen. These plates are custom decorated with your name and wedding date, with space around the edges and on the back for your guests to sign. Once your guests have had a chance to scribble their signatures, you send the plate back to be fired and glazed.
Pros:
- Makes a nice decorative ornament for your kitchen
- Simple to organise, guests simply write their message in pencil or special pen which is then overpainted by the glaziers
Cons:
- Really only enough space for guests to sign their names, so no room for those long rambling stories which make you laugh until you cry
- It can take up to 6 weeks for you to receive your finished plate
About the Author:
Helen Rankin, Founder of Instant Forever - http://www.instantforever.com and distributor of Adesso Albums in the UK and Europe - helps you capture your wedding memories forever. The Adesso Album is the only guest book alternative that captures your wedding event in an Instant in both pictures and words, and preserves it Forever. Capture your wedding in an instant with a Wedding Photo Guest Book
