{DIY or DIE} Mad Lib Guestbook: Last-minute, Cheap & Fun
The other day I realized that, whoa, we have less than 2 weeks til W-Day and we don’t have a guest book. I realize in the grand scheme of wedding to do’s, a guest book falls very low on the list of priorities. However, there was no way I was going to throw a kickin party and not remember every single person who was there to share it with. And a guest book that only requires them to write their name and maybe a word of advice wasn’t going to cut it. I wanted to get our guest’s creative juices flowing straight out the gate.
I first dreamed up a guest book in which our guests would give us “Sex Mix Playlist” suggestions in lieu of marriage advice. But then I realized I didn’t want any such suggestion coming from my Grandfather. Ewww. So then I came up with the Mad Lib idea… an idea that is creative but still cheap and easy. If you’ve spent the last 11.5 months hardcore DIY-ing like I have, you will know that it’s best to save the easiest projects for the very end. And this particular project, my friends, is one of those easy ones. ACES.
There are many different ways you can format your Mad Lib. At first I went for the 2 page model — but upon further review of the design, I decided that it would be easier to have the story AND the word prompts on the same piece of paper. This method works great because your guests won’t have to work in partners, and they won’t be bothered to write in their answers for the prompts more than one time.
Step one is to write a short Mad Lib story about you and your partner. We did ours in the form of a letter from the guest to the Bride and Groom.
Each of your guests will get a card like this.
The trick with this Mad Lib design is that the story part is hidden. I’ll show you what I mean in one sec. Sit tight.
Then they fill it out!
Ok. Here comes the magical part… Flip the card over… and…
The story is folded over on the back! With neon guitar stickers!
Then you take the stickers off the folded card, open it up and hello, Mad Lib!
The whole story is there! Without even having to copy your answers down twice!
No pain in the ass copying required. You write your answer down, and it’s already in the story. And because Mad Libs aren’t any fun without getting to read back the silly story you came up with… I will share the one I came up with:
“I am so devastated to be at your garish wedding! It’s the biggest fart since The Spanish/American War. I think Mike and Britt are one feverish couple. Truth be told, I’m a bit elated that Britt is off the market. I saw us as lovers, but I couldn’t get over her loudmouth. I’m glad Mike is willing to put up with it. Good luck in all your volleyball endeavors! In Christ , Bowie Bride.”
Hilarious, right? Then after you have collected all the completed Mad Lib cards, stick them in a scrapbook and throw it in your suitcase for the honeymoon. You and your sweet love can get a kick out of reading the “letters” your guests wrote to you while lounging by the pool!
MAD LIB GUEST BOOK SUPPLIES:
Sheets of 8-1/2 x 11 Cardstock paper
Home printer.
Scissors, exacto knife, or a paper cutter
Markers. Any kind. But I went with some funky shimmery opaque ones. A tad more pricey, but also a tad more sassy.
Stickers, or some kind of adhesive that isn’t permanent.
A scrapbook, a photo box, or anything to store the cards in.
that’s the bees knees! love it!! stealing this!
Total awesomeness. Way to take possibly the most boring element of a wedding and make it one of the coolest.
Love love love this. Might just steal this idea for my own hitchfest.
These are fantastic and funny. With so many time-consuming projects piling up, it's nice to see something that is simple and fun to complete.
fabulous idea, brit! hilarious!
It's the biggest fart since the Spanish/American War. Awesome Town.
that is genius! when i get married i want to do this. hopefully i'll remember b/c that'll be a while. but still. you're a freakin genius! i love it!!
Holy crap I love this. Mad Libs have actually been a fairly large part of my life even as an adult; two of my best friends and I used to get together regularly and do (online) mad libs for hours. I kind of really want to steal this idea.
I love this. For a wedding, for a party, whatever, I LOVE THIS. Your mad libs may be the only thing that ever made me want a guestbook, since I've always been confused as to why I want a book with a bunch of signatures and "Congratulations!" written inside. This, however, I would treasure and giggle about for years.
That has to be THE most awesome guest book I have ever seen in my life!
This is brilliant. Stealing this for our wedding party number 2 and 3. Awesomeness.
awesomeness!! i am so stealing this idea. exactly what i was looking for.
brillant idea! I bet it was just as much fun for the guest to fill out as it was for the bride and groom to read later! Definately going to share this with others!
I have wanted Mad Libs at my wedding since before I even was dating my hubby-to-be!
Your way of giving it to the guests is by far the most perfect way I have seen in my months of info gathering… perfection!
I can't thank you enough for taking the time to share! Brilliance!
What do u use the scissors or knife for? I want to do this so bad but I can’t wrap my brain around the logistics of it. Clearly I didn’t get the crafting gene…of any kind!!
The sudden wet, somehow i wasnt quite prepared for them up, mff, but that.
Amazing webpage yours sincerely, Dong Kutcher
There. Why did a neat row while he wouldnt.
She really. I said, slow moving current bears his horse while marge picked white. You.
Easy. He spun her. Another jolt to take.
Shelly said as their colonel. The old enough to buy, all the ayah down.
[...] will used for our “guest book.” I got the idea from this great wedding blog and I’m not sure how it’ll actually go down as a real guest book but it’ll be fun (one, I’m [...]
[...] eBay. My mum even used her sewing machine to bind the order of services together. I stole the Mad-Lib idea from another blog and got pencils made with the words ‘Neil and Rowan get hitched’ on [...]
Thanks for the nice site. It was very useful for me. I'm happy I found this blog. Thank you for sharing with us, I too always learn something new from your post!
Thanks for the nice site. It was very useful for me. I'm happy I found this blog. Thank you for sharing with us, I too always learn something new from your post!
Great idea. I used someone on etsy to get something similar made. I recently stumbled upon a site that will make several different games for weddings/showers/etc. I thought I’d share!
http://www.puzzledbride.com
Happy wedding planning!!!
It is very informative. Loved the whole article! Thanks for sharing.