Saturday, September 8, 2012

Polaroid Wedding Guest Book


My absolute favorite element of our wedding was our Guest Book. We had heard of Polaroid guest books but I couldn't find any instructions online.  So in the true spirit of winging it, I had to figure out how to put one together and make it efficient for the day.  Thus, I am passing it along to all of you!

We bought our Polaroid camera and extra film off of Amazon.  I mean, honestly, where else are you going to get one these days?  Plus we got to pick out the one we wanted at a good price.  You can find our exact one here:
Polaroid 300 Instant Camera
Polaroid 300 Instant Camera Film (5 Pack)

Materials
Cardstock
Printer
8"x8" Scrapbook
Photo Corners (I used these)
Glue Stick
Embellishments
Pens (for your wedding day)
Photographers (for your wedding day)
Sign (for your wedding day)

Here's What You Do
 Select Your Guest Book
Ours was baby blue to match our wedding colors.
We chose "Guest Book" for the window.
You may want to do a monogram
or a picture.

Create Your Title Page
An engagement photo and some unique
embellishments will make it special.

 Create Pages
Print off the template on your paper. {Printable Below}
Cut to size (1/4" from each side, 3" off the bottom).
Adhere Photo Corners to fit in boxes on pages.
Some  photo corners may be self-adhere
but I used a glue stick just to be safe.

How It Works
 
Utilize one or two family members or friends
(we used our two 17 year old cousins).
Have one person take photos of couples/families as they enter.
Have helpers tell guests that guest book will be available during the reception.
 Helper inserts photos into photo corners.

At Reception
Have book and pages laid out on table with pens.
Our sign said
"Please Find Your Picture and Leave a Note for the Bride and Groom"

Do you have film leftover?
Do what my family and friends did...
Take awesome pictures!!!
My guests ran around with our camera taking candid reception photos
and then slipped them into our extra guest book pages.
These are an amazing addition to our book and make it so special!

13 comments:

  1. I have seen quite a few and ALWAYS love the results :D I am quite smitten with the idea, but am curious - did it cost very much and how much film did you purchase in relation to the size of your wedding? I was looking at the more vintage polaroid cameras but am afraid buying film may be really expensive. I really appreciate your help!

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    Replies
    1. Hi Alicia - Thanks for stopping by! We loved this idea for our wedding and I hope it inspires you for yours. We had 120 people at our wedding (so smallish). The camera itself was $70 and the film was about $55 (5 packs of 50 prints!) - both through Amazon. You can find the links above in bold. It served us so well. Please let me know if you have any other questions!

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  2. Hi Jen,
    Love the idea and your templates! I was wondering where you got your album and what brand it is? The help would be greatly appreciated! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Alicia - My apologies for the delayed response. The album is a Recollections from Michaels Stores.

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  3. Hi, I really love this idea, but I couldn't se how to bound the pages, or did you stick the pages on? Any help would be great. Zoe

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Zoe - Thank you for the question. The scrapbook has binders built in. After the pages were completed with signatures, the pages were slid into the plastic page protectors that come with the scrapbook. You can buy additional page protectors if needed (I did). They are always located right near the scrapbooks they fit in at any craft store. Does this help? Thanks - Jen

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  4. Hi Jen,
    I love this idea. I am doing this for my mom's retirement party, and would love to use your template, but is there any way to change the wording? Since it's not for a wedding, the wording doesn't fit. Thank you in advance for any help!

    Ashley

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  5. Hello, thank you for sharing your photo guestbook. I am making one for my niece's wedding and was wondering if it was possible to get the template in an editable format? Thank you!

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