With so many options out there for creative guest books, it’s easy to fall into option overload and not be able to decide. This is where having a theme or over-riding idea can really help narrow the options to the ones that really drive that home.

In our case, I was looking for something easy to sign and collect that suited our vineyard theme. It’s not exactly a big leap to corks, now is it?

Recycled Corks, image via Amazon.com

Depending on the size of your wedding, your drinking habits (and those of your friends and family), and how much time you’ve got it’s not unreasonable to collect all the corks yourself. Of course, as the wine industry goes to synthetic corks and screw-top bottles for various reasons, that might get a little tougher, so lucky for us that plenty of places sell both used and unused corks.

Now, having crafted with corks before, it might be easier for folks to sign fresh corks as opposed to used ones that might be brittle or uneven in shape. We’ve got quite a collection already going but there’s also a homebrew shop just down the road that sells fresh corks by the bag-full for not very much cash. That’s good no matter how you slice it.

Corks on their own will roll around if not corralled, so the next decision was how to hold them–both before and after signing.

image via Replacements.com

For before a bowl or vase with a large opening works best, allowing for people to easily reach in and grab one without too much fuss. Several years ago I was gifted a lovely Block Tulip Garden crystal vase that I think will fit the bill nicely.

image via Winestuff.com

Once signed, the corks will go into this wire cork cage shaped like a wine bottle. Mr. Road Trip actually gifted me (us) this for our first engaged Christmas so it’s been sitting patiently in its box for over a year, now, waiting for it’s day in the spotlight.  Add a couple of fine-point permanent markers (possibly painted or beribboned to dress it up a bit) and a sign and you’ve got our guest book.

We could just leave the corks in their cage and set the whole kit and kaboodle on the mantle or some place and let it collect dust. Or we could use the signed corks to build a frame around one of our wedding photos in a shadowbox. In other words, I’ll have my wine-themed, semi-unique guest book and my displayable photo mat all at one go!

How did you solve your guest book dilemma?