Katie SheetsOne of the best ways to remember your wedding is through a special guest book. However, couples are coming up with more fresh ways to keep track of all their guests than just a list of signatures.
Polaroid cameras were most popular in the 1970s, but have since experienced a resurgence, with many people purchasing their small cameras and instant photos. Using Polaroid photos and cameras at your wedding are a quick, easy, and fun way to capture candid moments of the event.
In this article, we’ll describe all the steps in how to make a Polaroid wedding guest book.
What is a Wedding Guest Book?
A wedding guest book is traditionally a large book with empty pages in which guests can give their signature, marking that they were at the event, and potentially leave a short message.
Although guest books are sometimes used as important historical artifacts or statistic keeping for websites, a wedding guest book is pretty simply just to remember who was there.
In the age of social media at weddings, remembering who was at your wedding is easier than ever, as there are often hundreds of pictures to prove it. However, it’s normal to want to have a keepsake with a more personal touch. Therefore, couples are coming up with more creative guest book ideas.
Making a Polaroid Wedding Guest Book
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If a Polaroid wedding guest book is the type of souvenir you’re looking for, then there are a few steps to take in making it. It is a DIY process, so keep in mind that you will have to do a lot of the heavy lifting in terms of putting it together.
It is also important that you maintain your Polaroid wedding guest book by keeping it in a cool, dry place and opening it relatively often. It would make a great book to put on your coffee table, for guests to look at and reminisce and for new friends to feel the experience of your wedding.
Polaroid Cameras
The first thing you’ll have to do is get a Polaroid camera, or a few Polaroid cameras. They come in several types and colors, however most have the same look and shape. They are instant– the pictures come out right away, and the color takes about a minute to come in fully.
You’ll also need Polaroid instant film. These come in specific sizes based on the type of camera you have and also come in color or black and white, so you can decide what kind of aesthetic you want your guest book to be.
Instructions for Guests
The next thing you’ll need is a sign with instructions for guests, so that they take the picture correctly and put it in the book instead of just taking it home. This is best achieved by having a specific table where the camera, sign, and book are.
Polaroid cameras are very easy to use, luckily, so your guests shouldn’t have any trouble taking some great photos. Be sure to set it up in an accessible way and to stock the cameras with enough instant film (which will also need to be periodically changed, so you might want to leave instructions for that as well).
Picking Your Book
Next, you will need to pick out a guest book. It will have to be large, like a scrapbook, and have spaces to contain a lot of Polaroid photos with little notes. You also may want to choose a book that has a similar aesthetic to your wedding, in colors or flowers.
You could buy a book specifically for Polaroids, or a book you could tape the photos to yourself. Stores like Michael’s tend to have a lot of stationery and scrapbooking materials, whereas companies like Papier have pre-made guest books that you can personalize.
Arranging Your Photos
Try to think about how you would like the photos arranged. If you’re asking guests to insert the photos into the book themselves, then they are just going to put them in order of who took them. There are benefits to this, as it may feel more organic.
However, if you would like to put them in a specific order, then you’ll need to have a basket for the polaroids, which you can then put together later. The benefit to this is that you will know where each person’s picture is.
Signatures and Notes
If you want your guests to leave signatures and notes, you’ll need to include that in the instructions and have a pen accessible. This is fun because you can get heartfelt messages from people you care about stored in one place.
However, if you think a picture is worth a thousand words, then just have them add their signature onto the white edge of the Polaroid. This will create a cleaner look in the guest book and will eliminate the possibility of a guest writing something unsavory in the keepsake book.
Cost of a Polaroid Guest Book
The cost of a Polaroid wedding guest book ranges. The guest book itself can be anywhere from $30-100, depending on the level of DIY you’re willing to do and how much personalization you want. It is best to explore different places to buy guest books before committing to one, so that you make sure you’re getting exactly what you want at a reasonable price.
Polaroid cameras run from around $60 into the hundreds. However, a cheaper option should be fine for what you’re trying to do.
The instant film is under $20 for a pack, however a pack only contains 8 photos, so if you’re trying to get one of each guest, you’ll have to do the math based on how many guests you’re having.
More on Wedding Guest Books
For more Polaroid products, check out their website. If you want to do a wedding guest book but don’t think Polaroids are for you, this is a list of 20 non-traditional guest book ideas.
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