A photo booth guest book is one of the simplest wedding ideas going. Guests jump in the booth, get their prints, stick one in a book and write you a message next to it. At the end of the night you have a book full of faces and words from everyone who came.
Simple, yes. But the difference between a half-empty one and a properly brilliant one usually comes down to a few small decisions. Here's what actually works.
How a photo booth guest book works
The idea is straightforward. The booth prints two copies (or more) of each photo strip or print. Guests keep one and stick the other in the guest book, then write a message underneath or beside it.
You need three things on the table: the book, something to stick prints in with, and pens. Get those right and most of the work is done. Get them wrong and you'll end up with a pile of loose prints and a book that's only got messages from your nan and three of your mates.
If you want a book made to match your prints and your day, have a look at our photo booth guest books.
Make it easy to stick prints in
This sounds obvious, but it's where most guest books fall down. If sticking a print in is fiddly, people won't bother.
- Use double-sided tape or photo corners, not glue sticks. Glue sticks dry out, smudge and leave prints curling off the page by the morning.
- Pre-cut the tape if you can. A little dish of ready-to-go tape squares saves guests picking at a roll with their nails.
- Have spares. Tape runs out faster than you'd think on a busy night.
Get the pens right
Bad pens kill guest books. Cheap biros don't show up well on darker pages, and some pens smear across glossy prints.
- Fine-tip permanent markers work well on most paper.
- If your book has black or dark pages, use metallic or white gel pens.
- Put out more pens than you think you need. They walk off. Every single time.
- Test them on a spare page before the day so you know they don't bleed through.
Give guests a prompt
Plenty of people freeze when faced with a blank page. "Congratulations" is fine, but it's not what you'll want to read in ten years.
A few prompts on a little sign next to the book make a real difference. Try things like:
- Your best advice for a happy marriage
- A memory you have of the couple
- Where should we go on our next holiday?
- Predict what we'll be doing in 10 years
- The best bit of today so far
You could also put a short note on the first page of the book itself, so it explains the idea to anyone who wanders up without a clue what's going on.
Put the book right next to the booth
Placement matters more than anything else on this list. If the guest book is on a table across the room, prints end up in handbags and jacket pockets and never make it into the book.
Set up a small table right beside the booth, close enough that guests come out of the booth, pick up their prints and land straight at the book. Give it a bit of light too. A dark corner at an evening reception means nobody can see what they're writing.
It's also worth leaving room for a few people to stand round it at once. Groups tend to come out of the booth together and want to sign together.
Have someone to help
This is the bit people underestimate. A guest book works far better when someone is there to nudge guests towards it, hand over the tape and show them where to stick their print.
Our hosted booths, like the ICON Booth, come with a member of our team running the booth all night. Having a host there means guests get pointed to the book as they come out, the table stays tidy and the book gets filled rather than forgotten. It's one of the main reasons hosted booths tend to end up with fuller books.
If you've got a self-service booth, ask a bridesmaid, usher or a reliable friend to keep half an eye on it for the first hour. Once a few pages are filled, other guests tend to follow along.
Personalise the prints
Your prints are what fill the book, so they're worth getting right. We personalise prints with your names and wedding date, and we can match the design to your colours or stationery.
It sounds like a small thing, but when every page has your names and date on it, the whole book looks like it was made for your day rather than thrown together. It also means the copies guests take home double up as a little keepsake for them.
Pick a print design that leaves the photo the star of the show. Something clean and simple tends to look better in a book than a busy layout.
Pair it with an audio guest book
Some guests would much rather talk than write. And some messages, especially the slightly emotional or slightly drunk ones, are far better heard than read.
An audio guest book is a vintage telephone that guests pick up to leave you a voice message. It sits nicely alongside a photo booth guest book: one gives you the faces, the other gives you the voices.
A few tips if you do both:
- Keep them close together so guests naturally do one then the other.
- Use the same kind of prompts for both so guests know what to say.
- Don't hide the phone in a quiet corner. A little bit of space from the dance floor helps with sound, but it still needs to be seen.
What to do with it after the wedding
Don't let it disappear into a cupboard. A few ideas:
- Read it together the day after. Honestly, it's one of the best bits of the whole thing. Sit down with a brew and go through every page.
- Keep it out. A good guest book makes a great coffee table book. Friends will pick it up and find themselves in it.
- Fill the gaps. Your online gallery will have every photo from the booth, including people who didn't make it to the book. You can print a few of those and add them later.
- Bring it out on anniversaries. Reading the predictions and advice a year or five years on is half the fun.
- Pair it with your audio messages. If you had an audio guest book too, listening while flicking through the pages brings the whole day back.
Quick checklist
- A good quality book with enough pages for your guest numbers
- Double-sided tape or photo corners, pre-cut if possible
- Plenty of pens that work on your paper
- A prompt sign or a note on the first page
- A small, well-lit table right next to the booth
- Someone to guide guests, ideally a booth host
- Personalised prints with your names and date
- Optional: an audio guest book nearby
Ready to check your date?
We've been doing wedding photo booths for over 10 years and we cover the whole of the UK from our base near Sheffield. If you'd like a booth, a guest book or both for your day, have a look at our wedding photo booth hire options, then get in touch or call us on 0114 470 1215 and we'll check your date.
