Today, we are not limited to guest books and frames, we can spice up the start of the wedding reception with some nice activities for the guests. Here in the Philippines, we always expect people to come an hour late during parties and some will come just in time or earlier. So while waiting for the other guests, you can provide cocktails and make a band to play nice music. You can also setup a photobooth and give them more activities in the guest area.
For my party, I decided to make a DIY Guest Tree. It is an unfinished artwork where every guest can help finish it. The frame has an image of a tree without leaves. A palette with paints of different colors is provided beside the frame. Using the paint, guests will have to press their thumbprints on to the artwork. Their fingerprint will serve as a leaf and every guest will contribute their piece of leaf until the whole tree is filled. They should also sign below the fingerprint or give their wishes around the tree. It is a work in progress and it will only be completed by the guests until the end of the event.
I bought a nice wooden frame painted in gold. My cousin made the design of the tree and i hand-painted it on to the paper. The paper we used is a beige cartolina-sized special paper with a nice texture. The text and pattern for the ground is digitally printed. I cut it into shape and pasted it on the paper before painting the tree. I also made an infographic instruction so guest will know what to do. So here is the final look of the "Guest tree".
Finally, I decorated the guest frame area with lots of vintage stuff like pocket books, little clocks, paper cars and my dad's collection of nozzles and fireman snowglobe. We also clipped old photos with wooden pegs in abaca rope. The little posts were borrowed from our friend, Gerry DCarpio, who is also an event coordinator/stylist. We hand made the paper vintage cars using the templates we found in the internet. There is also a candy jar with peppermint candies we bought in La Tienda. A Check out more photos below.
Credits to Ryann Elumba (Seed Interactive Multimedia Production) for the photography, and me for the editing. I couldn't have done these without my dearest brothers and our cousin Wella, and her boyfriend, Lance. :D Thanks guys! Do check out the rest of the details of Project Red Party here.