Not so long ago petite cocktail dresses under 100 , a wedding guestbook was an afterthought, All you needed was some kind of a halfway-decent book, a few pens that were a bit nicer than a Bic ballpoint, and a young relative to stand next to the book and ask people to sign.

But that was before the current boom in do-it-yourself, customized weddings, and all the crafty, special touches that come with them, Many couples are no longer happy to walk away with a book filled with notes of congratulations and best wishes cheap plus size cocktail dresses cheap plus size cocktail dresses; they want a guestbook that reflects the big day and the people who shared it.

"Guestbooks are still a great idea, but these days it's all about customization," says Amy Eisinger, associate editor of WeddingChannel.com, "You want something that's meaningful and symbolic to you as a couple, not just another tradition that you're mindlessly following."

In fact, many of today's wedding wedding guestbooks aren't books at all; the ease of digital photography and rise of thematic or destination weddings have spawned all kinds of new options for recording who was there when you walked down the aisle.

Eisinger offers a few suggestions:

- Instead of guestbooks that will just collect dust on a shelf Garter , couples are turning to options that can be displayed in their home, Thumbprint trees are popular right now - guests use ink pads to create "leaves" with their thumbprints on a print of a bare tree trunk, They sign next to their prints, and the resulting artwork can be framed after the wedding, Many crafters on the online marketplace Etsy.com offer versions of the tree, or download a free version at http little black dresses little black dresses://styleunveiled.com/wedding-fingerprint-tree.

- Remember Mad Libs, Those silly fill-in-the-blank stories that you did as a kid are now showing up at weddings, Write a version of your engagement story with missing words, and have guests fill in the blanks to make up a wacky retelling, Example: Jim and Joan were on their way to (blank), when suddenly Jim said beach bridal dresses , "(blank)." Eisinger suggests leaving the cards at each place setting to break the ice among guests who might be meeting for the first time, After the wedding, bind the silly stories in a book.

- Capture a passion, If you and your beloved are huge sports fans, ask guests to sign a jersey from your favorite team, Wedding gowns and Bridesmaid dresses by Alexia Designs. Find Flower Girl dress and Mother of the Bride dress to complete your bridal party dresses. If you're avid snowboarders, let guests sign and decorate a snowboard that you can display in your home, They may not write more than the usual "congratulations," but at least you'll have a fun keepsake from your special day.

- If you really love the idea of a traditional guestbook, consider giving guests a prompt so that you'll get more interesting entries than the typical, "Happy life," or "Wishing you much happiness." Print up small notecards with a question or prompt, like "What marriage advice can you offer to the happy couple," or "My favorite thing about Nick and Michelle is ..." Bind the cards after the wedding, or put them in a special box so you can leaf through them when you want to remember the day.

- Love wine, Leave a special bottle on each table, along with a white or silver paint pen or permanent marker, Guests can sign the bottle at their table, mermaid wedding dresses 2012 mermaid wedding dresses 2012 and you'll have a whole cellar of special bottles to mark upcoming occasions, You can even label the bottles with the event you'll celebrate: First anniversary great summer dresses , finding out we're pregnant, new home, Or, if you're having a smaller wedding, buy a huge bottle of champagne, and let it serve as the guestbook.

- Ask guests to sign and decorate smooth rocks with paints or paint pens, Then fill a large hurricane vase, and you'll have an instant display for a coffee table or console.

- Hosting a destination wedding, Find a beautiful coffee-table book from your wedding locale, and ask guests to sign the pages, cheap wedding dresses summer cheap wedding dresses summer You'll capture notes of love from your guests, as well as memories of your beautiful surroundings.

- If you're paying a videographer to record your wedding, ask him or her to put together a video guestbook with short "interviews" with each guest, "Video guestbooks are definitely on the rise," Eisinger said, "We've seen a lot more of them starting to show up." The videographer can set up a video "booth," with a few stools or chairs and a backdrop, to separate the project from the general chaos of the reception, Provide him with a few questions to ask the guests so you'll get great responses, ("Do you remember the first time Alex told you about Christy,")

- Go old-school with your guestbook: Ask guests to sign a giant chalkboard, Provide lots of colors of chalk, and guests can doodle the night away, After the event, coat the board with a preservative spray and you'll have a huge reminder of the day.

2011; McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.