enJOY it

an archived personal and craft blog from Elise Blaha Cripe.

Wedwedaug5
I have said this before, but I am a big fan of the whole wedding planning process. It helps that we have so much time to pull it together and it also helps that my google reader is home to 15 wedding blogs that seem to update 20 times a day. I get to sift through all the ideas and star the ones that really work for us.

One thing I have been struggling with is the best way to do a guest book. The past few weddings I have been to have used pieces of paper that you write a note on and then stick in a box for the bride and groom to read later. I love it because it avoids the traffic jam at the signing table. I don’t love it because, well, I am a book maker. I would not feel right if there wasn’t a book on the table.

I have decided that I will be covering a screw post album in a similar style to the way my custom journals are made. (The photos will be ones from our engagement session and a few others that represent us.) The pages of the album will be cream and about 5×7. They do not have lines and more closely resemble a scrapbook than a guest book. I was hoping to provide a bit more direction than “a scrawl your signature in a ‘From all of us’ birthday card”, so I was thrilled when I saw this guest book idea on Style Me Pretty. Little envelopes! In gray! How perfect! Guests can sign business size cards, tuck them into a pre-mounted baby envelope and we’re all set. I can’t wait to get this guy produced.

Another item that I wouldn’t say we are struggling with, but I would mention as a topic of discussion are the ties for the groom/groomsmen. Orange, as you may have noticed, is a tricky color to get right. The tie in the photo is Banana Republic but it still isn’t quite what we want. I am passing this decision off to Paul. He’s the best at declaring what won’t work because it is “burnt orange” AND he’s the lucky guy that gets to march down the aisle wearing it.

One other wedding activity that we were able to check off the list last week was to start our gift registry at Crate&Barrel. It was quite the experience. For one thing, since I moved to Maryland and in with Paul, I have been talking about all the things that some magical day in the future we will register for. Paul has always followed up my comments with “Babe. I do not want to wait THAT LONG for [insert product here.]” Needless to say, we still "need" a pizza peel, a spice rack, a mixer, better towels, a Cuisinart, a waffle maker and a wok. So this is finally our opportunity to stock up on some items. But the thing about Paul and I is we are anti-clutter and (fairly) reasonable.  We took our register jobs seriously and spent a lot of time looking at items. Paul would say something like, “But babe, we don’t decant our wine.” and then I would respond, “Yes, but do you think that sometime within the next seventy years we might want to?” And then Paul’s eyes would glaze over. It could have been that he was overwhelmed by all the options but it’s more likely he was contemplating the hazards of living seventy more years with me.

Either way, I loved it. It was sort of like writing a Christmas list when you still believe in Santa Claus. And also very much like playing house. I can’t wait to get married.

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13 responses to “wedding wednesday : guestbook, ties + registry.”

  1. Lisa Martin Avatar

    I had to google pizza peel! how have I lived this long without knowing what one is, lol?
    after 15 years of marriage (you would have been 8? 9?) we definitely are starting to wear out the towels, dish clothes, dishes, etc from when we got married. I think we folks make it this far we deserve a new bridal registry option! have fun girl.

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  2. Natalie Garcia Avatar

    I stalk Style Me Pretty too, and I saw this brilliant idea on there last week. I love the mini gray envelopes. It’s going to look so pretty when all the love wishes are inside.
    Do you mind sharing some of your favorite wedding blogs with me? Unlike you, I am so uninspired to start the process. I could really use a push. Thanks!

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  3. Melissa Mann Avatar

    love the idea of the guest book!!

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  4. catherine Avatar

    I love your post! I was just going through the C&B catalog thinking of things to register for our wedding and it IS like xmas. Sure helps relax me from the stress of all the other planning stuff going on!

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  5. thursday Avatar

    Super awesome idea for the guest book! I LOVE it. We could still use better towels, but alas, we are already married. 😉 I guess I’ll have to spring for them myself someday! I’ve got a RED mixer, but perhaps you’d like a fun orange one? I guess there’s always the nice classic white or metal..

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  6. Christina Avatar

    Your guest book is already set, but this fingerprint “wedding tree” is such a cute idea: http://weddingchicks.com/wc-brides/teresa/5389.

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  7. LizzyM Avatar
    LizzyM

    great ideas! I remember planning my wedding a few years back and having the most fun figuring out the little details. Your guest book idea sounds wonderful! I actually just found ours as I was unpacking our stuff… We did a polaroid guest album (my cousin and her hubby did it first, and we asked them to take photos of our guests as they arrived at the reception.) I had placed photo corners on the page (to hold 2 photos per page) with enough room next to the photos for the guests to write a message. It turned out pretty cute, and I love love love to look through it. It’s funny b/c I thought a guest book was kind of useless before getting married, but now I can see why it’s such a wonderful keepsake. Have fun with all the wedding planning!!!

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  8. Lisa Welge Avatar

    Hi Elise,
    We just got our orange ties for our own wedding (had to scour the internet for something that was bright orange – not burnt orange – and didn’t look like puke). We found these ties for the guys(not super bright, but definitely not burnt):
    http://www.ties-necktie.com/orange-neckties-p-14418.html
    I just saw this today when I was looking up the link (orange/grey, haha!):
    http://www.ties-necktie.com/orange-silk-ties-p-14051.html
    This one is for geoff:
    http://www.thetiebar.com/order_page.asp?pn=36002&orderPageReturn=%2FcategoryPages%2FGold%5FOrange%5FTies%2Easp&pg=1&i=95&xlOnly=&boysTiesOnly=
    Any, long story short, those two sites have a huge selection. Good luck!
    Lisa

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  9. Sarah Avatar

    Love your guest book idea, that is what we are doing too! I am going to letterpress a little something on to the little cards (of course!) and use either glassine or kraft envelopes. Cannot wait to see yours!

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  10. Jennifer Avatar

    Haha, we are doing the same guest book idea. Only, I am going to assemble the book afterwards, so I have something to do when I go through wedding planning withdrawl. At the reception, we’re going to have a gigantic glass vase (I got it on clearance from a furniture store – their showroom accessories are huge!) and people are going to toss the papers in there. Like Sarah (above) I am going to add little prompts at the tops of the cards, so we don’t get tons of Congrats! The prompts will be like: best marriage advice, fondest memory of the bride/groom, draw us in 10 years, etc.
    And for ties, I would also suggest the tiebar.
    I LOVE WEDDING WEDNESDAYS.

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  11. Melanie Avatar

    Not to get all WASPie on you but Brooks Bros usually has awesome ties in all the right colors. Love the envelope guest book – sahweet.

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  12. Erin B Avatar
    Erin B

    This is exactly what I did for my guest book…well actually my BF made it with directions from me. My colors were chocolate brown and pink so we had a screwpost album with cream pages, some pretty pink and brown papers, chocolate brown envelopes and pink business card sized cards. I also bought circle stickers in pink and brown for people to seal their envelopes. It worked out beautifully and we have some really sweet messages tucked away in those little envelopes.

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