Years from now, some of your most treasured wedding keepsakes will be the warm wishes and thoughtful words from the friends and family who shared your joy that day. Give these memories a fitting backdrop with these clever and creative guest book ideas that will inspire guests to write more than just their names.

* Instant-camera picture album
Guests take pictures of themselves with an instant camera and place them yearbook-style in a photo album. (This way, twenty years from now you’ll remember that it was your spouse’s crazy Uncle Fred who sported that baby-blue tuxedo.) You can set up a special photo area in a particularly lovely spot, paint a backdrop to match your wedding colors, or even create a county fair-type backdrop complete with holes for guests’ heads to poke through. Invite your attendants over for a painting party and let the creativity flow!

* Individual card album
Guests write notes on individual cards, and after the wedding you can collect them in an album. You can create beautiful notecards with motifs from your wedding using paint, pens, stamps, and embellishments like ribbons, buttons, and stickers. Your stationer can also make cards to match the invitations and programs for a unified look. At the reception, guests can hang the finished cards from small branches placed in pots, drop them in a clear glass jug, arrange them neatly in an antique wooden box…the possibilities are endless! Ask your florist for creative ideas that tie into your floral design.

* Coffee table book album
Guests inscribe a book of your choice. This can be a pictorial history of the country club or estate where you held the reception, a relationship guide holding the secrets to a lasting marriage, or a glossy photography book showcasing your honeymoon destination.

The most important thing is to spark guests’ creativity. When you challenge them with an unusual idea, you’ll be surprised and delighted at the results.