Set in Stone

Our guests rock, we want to rock with them and we will be rockin' in each other's arm all.night.long. How do we plan on remembering just who celebrated with us ten, twenty and fifty years from now? In case you didn't catch all my cheezy hints, we are having a rock guest book!

I think this idea actually spurred from a picture I saw early on of signed seashells but then I came across this picture and I was sold:

Image via Polka Dot Bride/Photo by Ira Lippke Studios

We've been collecting little stones for the last year, and my favorite part is the BM Cruise has taken this wedding project so seriously. Every time he goes kayaking he picks out a rock from the put-in area and keeps it with him for his adventure on the river and then adds it to his stash. He's even keeping track of which rock comes from what section of each river. So cute. I like that the rocks have meaning in that they incorporate Mr. Honey and BM Cruise's love of the river and water. In my girly bridal brain, I'm flattered that our best man is taking it to heart.

A few weeks back Mrs. Cola posted about her wishing stones guest book and it motivated me to finally figure this project out. Okay, it's not like there was much to figure out but I needed to find which writing device was going to work on the rocks. Mrs. Cola confirmed that a good 'ol Sharpie marker was what was used at her wedding so I headed off to Office Depot to search for a white Sharpie. I found the next best thing, Sharpie Paint Markers:

Our collection consists of both light and dark rocks so I wanted a white marker for the darker colored rocks, but was having a helluva time finding one. The package actually contained  the black and white, red, yellow and blue (and was on sale for $9.99!). We will only be using the black and white, but I know I will find plenty of good uses for the other colors at some point; they are so fun to write with! Last weekend I picked a few special rocks, read: two from the top of the pile, and decided to test out the Sharpie Paint markers. I gave Mr. Honey one and I kept the other, and we wrote bride and groom on them:

Actually, Mr. Honey first wrote this on his rock:

Shout out to the Hive!

I loved his sentiment, but flipped the rock over and re-wrote bride so that it matched the groom rock. While we aren't doing assigned seating, I think we will be able to show case our bride-n-groom rocks somehow; currently they are sitting perfectly together in my craft closet, which makes me smile each time I see them.

The paint markers worked perfectly, they didn't smear or drip, or get scuffed up by the rough texture of the rocks. Success! Knowing that I wanted to display them after the wedding, when I was at Hobby Lobby a awhile back I picked up a couple vases for 50% off. I wanted them to be sturdy and durable, so I chose to go with the thicker, square glass ones:

I loved seeing Mrs. Cola's rock guest book in display mode, it captures exactly what we are hoping to accomplish with our guest book:

Image via Mrs. Cola

There's still a few things I need to do for this project, like write a sign and come up with a good way to have guests store the signed rocks. Have I told you that I have an obsession with baskets? No? Well I do, it's a running joke amongst people close to me, so I will be on the look out for a basket for guests to toss the rocks into it without shattering my pretty glass vases.

I absolutely love all the guest book options these days, the runner-ups for us where the thumbprint picture, a bench a la Mrs. Sand Dollar, or puzzle pieces. How are you getting creative with your guest book? Let's hear it, hive!