Anyone print their own wedding guest books?

butterflygirl · May 20, 2008

Just wondering what company you use? My cousin is getting married in June and I'd love to have one printed with their engagement pics that people can sign around. Just not having any luck finding a company that does this. The only ones i can find are with Polaroids ...doh!

TIA!

Jen

createnetwork · May 20, 2008

That is a great idea! I am not sure, I know that you can actually get kinkos to lay these out for you on the page and print them, at least they do that for the calendars they will create for you, but I am sure they would be able to do that there. Probably a little pricey there.

Big Mike · May 20, 2008

You could have an album made up (from one of the many album suppliers) and just make sure that you use a paper that is sign-able. You could make the layout any way you wanted to .

amandakifer · May 20, 2008

yep... I do this all the time. I use graphistudio and leave enough blank and white space around the e-session photos for guests to sign. Works great!

butterflygirl · May 21, 2008

Big Mike said:
You could have an album made up (from one of the many album suppliers) and just make sure that you use a paper that is sign-able. You could make the layout any way you wanted to .

I was thinking of doing this with a Zookbook, but I'm not sure if that will work.I guess I'm concerned about bleed through and if signing on the page will affect the other photographs beneath it.

amandakifer said:
yep... I do this all the time. I use graphistudio and leave enough blank and white space around the e-session photos for guests to sign. Works great!

Does Graphi take a long time to come back though? I'd love to give them a try, but I don't want to wait a whole month! :lmao:

Thanks guys for you input! Always appreciated!

Big Mike · May 21, 2008

Graphi does take a fair bit of time.

There are several album suppliers to choose from. Check out Asukabook, Art Leather, Collages.net, TAP etc.

As for bleed through, that would depend on the paper and the pen. I would think that you would be OK with most album paper and a Sharpie.

saltface · May 21, 2008

I did this for mine.
I used Photoshop to create page layouts with faint backgrounds and fuzzed out the edges of the images (they only covered parts of the pages). I then had Kinko's print it on paper I got at a scrap booking store and put it in a large photo album book.
Let me know if you'd like more info.

hedonia · May 21, 2008

Something else that's cool is to have a signature board instead of a guestbook. I've suggested that before to couples who hadn't heard of it, and I had one at my wedding. You can have one made on thick stock with a photo in the middle, mounted to gator foamboard (something like this):http://www.bayphoto.com/catalog/signatureboards.php

Or, you can go all fancy and do what I did: http://www.signature-keepsakes.com/howitworks.htm

Its a big picture frame with a metal mat, and a slot for an 8x10. It comes with a special pen, so that people can sign the metal, and it etches it right in permanently. I hung it on the wall, and its really neat! Since you're giving it as a gift, I think it would have an awesome WOW factor. Just something else to consider =)

scoutwes · May 21, 2008

my wife made one of out wedding and did it through Creative Memories. They have a program that you can download and the place the pictures where you want on the pages. They will then print to book and mail it to you. It turned out very nice as they have many differnt templates to use. Just an idea if you don't want to do everything yourself.

photogoddess · May 25, 2008

Vision Art, Asuka, Shared Ink and Blurb all make books suitable for guest books. Be sure to get Slick Writers (available at Michael's) to write on the pages. They are acid free and dry quickly so you'll avoid smudging.

butterflygirl · May 29, 2008

Cool ideas guys! I'll be sure and check them out.

Nikon Norm · May 29, 2008

I used My Publisher, based in New York. They do an excellent book, the paper is a better weight than many photo stores offer. Everything is available online to layout the book and delivery is usually within the week it is ordered.

www.mypublisher.com

My client was highly delighted by the book.