The guest book from your wedding day will be a cherished keepsake you will look back on for years to come and reminisce. It’s also a fun way for your guests to participate in the wedding and stays forever a record of the most important people in your lives.

For those reasons, your guest book should be special and unique to you as a couple. There are great alternatives that keep the purpose and spirit of a guest book, without being an actual book.

1.  A wedding wine box

Wedding gift boxes are not only a special ritual to add to your ceremony, but also a long term keepsake. The wedding wine box can be customized for you as a couple and you can choose what to store in it. It serves as a sort of relationship time capsule. You can store a special wine to drink on your five-year anniversary. Or if you’d rather, use it as a substitute for a guest book to keep notes from your wedding guests. Pass out decorated notecards to your guests ask and them to fill them with their name and well wishes or advice for a long marriage. Lock them away in your wedding wine box and set a special occasion to read them together.

2. Using board games

For the board game aficionados or those who are playful at heart, get really creative and incorporate board games into your guest book. One great example is to pass out markers and Jenga pieces. Friends and family can write their name and a nice message. When you are done, you will have your own personalized, wedding Jenga to play for years to come.

3. Signed photograph of the happy couple

An oldie-but-a-goodie alternate guest book idea is to set one of your favorite pictures of the two of you on an easel by the entrance. Ideally, set the picture with a large white matte to give guests plenty of space to sign.

4. Guest book quilt

A guest book and a cozy, blanket all in one! You can either hang up the finished quilt near the entrance to your reception or pass out the quilt squares to be sewed up later.

5. Signed polaroids

Take advantage of the trending, nostalgic polaroid cameras for your guest book. Buy one for each table and ask guests to take a picture together and sign the bottom tab. Later you can assemble the pictures in a myriad of ways — using clothes pin and a line for a wall decoration, aligned on a matte and framed, or simply stored away to reminisce with later.

6. Guitar

For those who are musically inclined, display a guitar (or a violin or a cello!) with a few markers to have guest sign it. A unique, beautiful, and fun guestbook!

Your wedding is your special day. There’s no reason each aspect of it can’t be marked with your own personal style.