This is a great conversation-starter for guests, and assigned topics will result in thoughtful, humorous, touching inscriptions that you’ll definitely want to read over and over again!

You can find the clip art at Martha Stewart Weddings, so all you need to do is print them on waterproof paper that will make for sturdy book covers. The notebooks slip into one another to create one big, bookshelf-worthy tome. Or, you can create your own version by inventing your own questions and decorating notebooks in your own style.

Guest Book PDF /Notebooks, Start Here. / “Adventure” paper, by Nat Geo, from Eastern Mountain Sports. /”LePen” pen, by Marvy, from Lytha Studios.

Kitty Cake Topper by Helyn

If you have seen any great toppers, we’d love to hear about them! Please let us know in the comment section below.

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I love the vintage vibe of this one, including the sweet verse printed on the bride’s skirts (via cake today)

Is that one a bit too sweet for you? Give your guests a laugh with these ball-and-chain or cell-phone-fanatic toppers!

Firefighter groom? Oh yeah! Check out eBay for more ideas, via HubPages.

Are you a cop? Do you love pizza? And your dog? Then this one’s for you! Otherwise, you can have a hand-sculpted cake toppers made just for you, via Custom Wedding Cake Toppers.

Is the bride expecting? How hilarious would it be to break the news to family and friends with this delicious cake topper? (All Wedding AZ)

The next 4 toppers are from Offbeat Bride (Toppers that won’t make you cringe!) Well, some might cringe at the bride jumping the groom in public, but the little love-fishies and dragons are just sweet as can be!

Offbeat Bride also had the brilliant idea of using salt-and-pepper shakers as cake toppers… aside from being totally adorable, they’re great because you can reuse them on a daily basis!

Tradition is a wonderful thing, but there’s nothing wrong with having a little fun at the same time! Here are some great ideas for keeping wedding customs fresh!

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All photos from Martha Stewart Wedding

Twist on Something Old: Here’s a great idea! An heirloom brooch takes on a new life when you attach it to a wide piece of ribbon and wearing it as a cuff!  (Brooch, General Whimsy)

Twist on Something New: Not everything needs to be tangible. Mark your special day with a fragrance you’ve never worn before. Do try it out though before the wedding to be sure you like it! (pictured: Hermes Poivre Samarcande)

Twist on Something Borrowed: For wedding-day memorabilia, brides traditionally look to their mothers and grandmothers. This time, let Dad or Grandpa have his moment by wrapping a bow tie around the base of your bouquet.

Twist on Something Blue: These shoes have all the classic bridal markings — white satin, decorative bow, peep toe — but the sole is a vivid aqua. (Pour La Victoire “Stella” shoes from Zappos.com)

A Twist on Centerpieces: Rather than an explosion of flowers, consider a sculptural arrangement of veneer figure eights. On this table they are interspersed with stemless wineglasses and tall taper candles.  (Design Your Wall white contact paper. Northern Sheer Veneer birch veneer. Riedel wineglasses.)

Twist on Wedding Favors: Rather than doling out chocolates and picture frames, some couples designate that portion of the budget to charity, and make a donation on behalf of their guests. Many nonprofits have programs in place to accept this kind of contribution, which gets you a tax write-off as well as a good deed. Then, you get printed cards to distribute to guests stating that a gift has been made. Another idea for an environmentally-friendly wedding is to give guests sappling from the Arbor Day Foundation to take home and plant.

Twist on a Guest Book: Rather than an album of well-wishes, how about turning on your computer to watch your guests in action! Reserve a corner of your wedding venue for a video photo booth: Set up a digital camcorder, leave a movie clapper and dry-erase pens for guests to write their names and messages, and let them talk a blue streak. For a seamless background, hang a large white piece of fabric or paper.

Twists on a Wedding Cake: In place of a towering frosted confection, you can serve just about anything that pleases you… cupcakes, candy bars, or something like this irresistible all-white dessert buffet. Lemon-cream sandwich cookies, Ricotta-filled pizzelles, Toasted-marshmallow milkshakes, coconut macaroons, Pavlovas with cream and white currants, Angel food roulade with salted caramel cream, Mini panna cotta tarts, Crossings calissons (800-209-6141), Mini rum Bundt cakes, Arnold’s Candies pillow mints (groovycandies.com) in Plastic Container City

A Twist on Throwing Rice: This ritual has roots in ancient Egypt, and symbolizes a life of prosperity. But who needs the mess? Guests can wave birch-veneer banners which they have personalized with all their good wishes and blessings.

Twist on the Decorated Getaway Car: Turn the tables on your guests!  Have valets decorate their cars during the reception. For example, you might surprise them with a memento tied to the rearview mirror, such as a card thanking them for coming, or a sachet of potpourri.

Check out Martha Stewart Weddings for more great ideas!

Below is an amazing wedding via the Utah Bride Blog (click for more gorgeous pictures and ideas), with photography by Andrea Hanks.

These ultra-fun wedding pictures come from Manolo for the Bride via Victor Sizemor Photography. What a great shot of the bride and groom riding the Ferris wheel!

This rollicking wedding is from Red Heart Photo (see Part One, Part Two, Part Three) in Hawaii. You must click thru to see the rest of these fantastic pictures!

And one more featured wedding, the sweetest, prettiest carnival you’ll ever see! Candy stripe straws, vintage popcorn bags, old fashion soda, and a carousel!  Bliss Weddings & Events via Style Me Pretty.

Don’t Go Crazy

You only need to register at two or three stores you love. Choose a national department store or chain that has lots of household basics; add a local specialty store if you want to. For your guests’ sake, you may want to choose stores that are low-, medium-, and high-end, so that there are gifts in a variety of price ranges to choose from.

Do Register Ahead of Time

Try to complete your registry a few months before the wedding. This will give guests time to purchase gifts for the big day, but also for your engagement and a shower.

Don’t Put it in Your Invitation

Once you have registered, give the information to immediate family and the wedding party, and let them spread the word. If you are asked where you have registered, it is fine for you to tell, but it is not proper to include registry information in a wedding invitation. Registry information can be included on a wedding website, as long as the actual name of the store is not included on the same layer; organize your website so that guests must click down one level to find the details.

Do Register for Enough Gifts

Register for more gifts than you have guests, so there will be plenty of items to choose from. As mentioned above, register for gifts in a wide range of prices, or choose individual items rather than sets, as with pots and pans, for instance. It is fine to put a few expensive items on your registry, but balance them with equally lovely options that are more affordable.

Don’t Ask for Money

While it’s still considered tacky to ask for money directly, financial registries try to make this less awkward; for example, couples can now register online for stocks, honeymoon expenses, and even toward a down payment on a house.

Do write Thank You Notes Right Away

If your registry doesn’t automatically notify you when a gift has been purchased, review your registry every few weeks, and more frequently as the wedding approaches. Use your updated registry to help you keep up with writing thank-you notes.

Don’t Limit Yourself

Registry expert Mary Rose Gearon offers the following advice: “Don’t think just about your lifestyle as it is today. You’ll be entertaining more in the years to come, so create a wish list of items: a platter for your first Thanksgiving dinner or champagne glasses for a New Year’s toast. Keep those special occasions in mind; it’s a wonderful way to include loved ones in those important milestones.”

Don’t Forget to Register for the Basics

Funky bedspreads and whimsical wall hangings are well and good, but don’t forget the more useful – though duller – basics, such as measuring cups, can openers, garlic press, spatulas, kitchen timer, mixing bowls, knives, cookware, storage containers, etc.

I came across a blog post called “Power of Purchases” at 59 Seconds that got me thinking about creating a wedding people will always remember. Here’s what he has to say:

Psychologists Leaf Van Boven and Thomas Gilovich examined whether increased happiness is associated more with spending your money on goods (that latest dress or impressive new smartphone) or an experience (going out for a meal, buying a ticket for a concert, or booking a vacation). The results clearly indicated that buying experiences made people feel better than buying products. Why? Goods tend to lose their appeal by becoming worn-out and out of date. In contrast, our memory of experiences easily becomes distorted over time (you edit out the terrible trip on the airplane and just remember those blissful moments relaxing on the beach), and also promote one of the most effective happiness-inducing behaviors – spending time with others.

59 Seconds tip: Buy experiences not goods. Go to a concert, movie, unusual place or strange restaurant: Anything that provides an opportunity to do things with others or tell people about it afterwards.

The way I’m applying this to wedding planning is as follows: You have a budget and you want to make every penny count.  Instead of spending it exclusively on THINGS (not that I’m knocking dresses and flowers and good wine) you can spend it on creating an EXPERIENCE for yourselves and your guests. It doesn’t need to be super expensive or exotic, like a cruise or skydiving or a ceremony in a medieval castle… just something creative that your guests will enjoy.

For example… which wedding memory sounds more fun:

“That was the best roast chicken I ever tasted!” OR “Remember when we ate Indian food with our hands at Ally’s wedding?”

“Rick’s wedding DJ was great, I sure danced up a storm.” OR “I never laughed so hard watching Great-Aunt Lea Salsa dancing! It was the first time I’d ever Salsa danced too, actually.”

“Barbara was such a lovely bride. She really glowed.” OR “A masquerade wedding… what a brilliant idea! The bride made a breathtaking masked lady.”

OK. You get the idea. Buy experiences, not goods. I like it! Please leave a comment below if you’ve got any great wedding memories that illustrate this concept!

skydiving photo from scribbler

Guests laughing: Photo from Sweet Caroline Photos

But wouldn’t it be nice to really hit it off with this table-full of strangers, to get to know them a bit better and enjoy their company, and the wedding, that much more? That’s where the “wedding ice breaker” comes into play! If you’re planning a wedding, wouldn’t you rather see your guest comfortably chatting away, rather than stuck in awkward chit chat?

Here are some ideas to get you fired up! Your guests will love them!

Guess who!

Although this one is time consuming to prepare, it’s great fun (especially if you’re from California, like I am)!  Put pictures of celebrities that look like the guest on their place card. You can turn it into a game like the popular kids game of the same name. However you play it, it’s sure to get  the guests around the table talking, like it did at the wedding Nicky, from Cheap Wedding Success, attended.  Her celeb look-a-like was Natalie Portman.  How complementary!

Fun Facts

There are a few ways you can play this game. Here are some options, but you can work it any way you’d like to!

• Write an interesting fact about each person on their neighbor’s place card. For example, “Marcy is a brilliant mathematician who enjoys Salsa dancing on the weekends.” With these snippets of information, you’ll definitely provide enough material to strike up a conversation between your guests.
• Write 3 facts about each guest on their placecard. 2 are truth and 1 is not. The other guests at the table have to guess which fact is NOT true. (If you don’t have enough interesting facts about each guest, you could ask them to provide a couple on the RSVP.)
• Provide a list of questions starting with, “Have you ever…” and have the guests go around the table asking each other these questions.
• Cootie catchers (paper fortune tellers) are cute ways to ask questions and glean interesting facts from each guest.

Penny for Your Thoughts

Get cute little favor boxes like the one below and put a few coins inside (2000 Dollar Wedding suggests looking in collectors’ shops and online for vintage coins). Each guest opens his or her favor box, then shares with the table an important event that corresponds to the year on each coin (e.g., “In 1996, I was named best-dressed in high school”).

photo via Martha Stewart Wedding

Jelly Belly Game

Games centering around food are always a blast! This game was invented by I Love Weddings and is sure to be a hit with your guests! Jelly Belly jelly beans come in a variety of delicious and interesting flavors, such as root beer, orange sherbet, pina colada, buttered popcorn, etc. Each table gets a number of different flavored beans, and the guests need to taste each one to figure out what the flavor is.  The table that gets the most flavors right wins!

Fortune Fish

Are you independent? Are you fickle? Are you in love? See what the Fortune Telling Fish has to say about you! Little winter bride thought the fortune fish would be the perfect creative ice breaker to spark conversation. “And guess what?” she says, “It worked! Everyone LOVED it! it was hilarious.”

Do you have any creative ideas for fun and funny wedding ice breakers? Please share them with us in the comment section below!

photo here via Your Best Wedding

Enter the photo booth!! It’s a little station you set up to entice your guests to pose for their very own photo session! You can put your photographer in charge, ask a friend to man the booth, or just hand out disposable cameras and ask everyone to be sure to stop by the booth and snap a few shots.  You can get as fun and creative as you like with backdrops, props, and costumes, and leave the smiling and posing to your friends!

More ideas and inspiration for your Photo Booth:

To ensure that they would have unique keepsake photographs of their guests, the couple set up an outdoor portrait studio made up of lengths of bright floral fabric draped over a clothesline. The photographer chose the background best suited to each subject’s outfit, mixing unlike but complementary patterns to create a jubilant, richly textured collection of pictures. (Martha Stewart Weddings)

Create your own photo booth with an oversize canvas backdrop. You can dowload the design below and take it to a copy center (like FedEx) that can print the large file. Then hang it up at your reception and have your photographer or friends capture candid moments that you can add to your guest book.  Get the Photo Booth Backdrop Clip Art

You can rent an actual photobooth and have invite your guests to use it. The added privacy may help encouraged spontaneity!

If renting one is beyond your budget, try this makeshift DIY photo booth tutorial from the things we think but do not say via Manolo. You’ll get awesome shots like these (via cosentino):

Take your photo booth to the next level with an interactive family photo wall (via Manolo) featuring snapshots of family members and family members’ weddings. Guests can pose in empty frames, becoming “part of the family history.”

More creative backdrops… a wood pile sculpture (photo credit here via Green Wedding Shoes):

… and some more fun fabric backdrops from Green Wedding Shoes:

The poses are only as fun as your guests choose make them… here are a few people having a grand old time! Photographer Dennis Drenner set up this mini photo studio against the wall of the beautiful old Tuscan villa where the guests were staying. Sometimes Dennis took the photos, sometimes the wedding guests took the photos themselves using a cable release.

A couch, some hats, and sunglasses make for great pictures too! (Poof Photobooth on flickr)

Sometimes, you don’t need much of a background or props to get people to act goofy… (MugShots photo booth from wdphoto)

1. Rent bikes and go for a ride in the park or by the beach. Pack a picnic lunch or grab hotdogs at a nearby stand.

2. Grab your partner and go treasure hunting at local garage sales. If you go to the the ritziest neighborhood in your area, you up your chances of finding something special.

3. Go roller skating or ice skating. Treat yourself with ice cream or hot chocolate afterward, depending on the season.

4. Find a local farm to go fruit picking. When you’ve loaded up on all the apples or berries you can transport home, look up some recipes and get busy in the kitchen.

5. The bookstore can be a great place to bond. Browse through the isles sharing your old favorite or the ones you couldn’t stand. Find a section that appeals to a hobby of each of yours, like art, sports, cooking, or gardening, and buy yourself a small gift.

6. Build something together! Been meaning to buy a small bookshelf for the bedroom? Why not put one together yourselves.

7. Go to a fair! Do all the appropriate things: share cotton candy, let him win you a prize, and ride the Ferris wheel until you get dizzy. Your inner children will have a ball!

8. Hauntedhouse.com has listings of spooky mansions in your area. Start off  by watching a scary movie before you go, and then spook yourselves silly at a “real” haunted house.

9. Play 20 Questions. Whether you’ve been together for three weeks or three years, there are probably things you don’t know about each other.  Make sure your questions are open-ended so you don’t get yes-or-no answers — and fire away.

10. Take a hike. Enjoy the weather, the scenery, and each other.

11. Take a class together at your local community school. You can find lot of options for 8-week classes, from cooking to karate.

12. Go to a museum–there are so many options! Art, science, natural history, cars, Ripley’s, miniature… and the best part is that almost all museums have one day a week where you can get in for free or for a small suggested donation.

13. Check the theater offerings at local colleges and high schools. They’ll often have a spring and a fall show, and it’s a great way to see a version of your favorite plays and musicals for a fraction of the cost.

14. Celebrate the first snow of winter with a day of sledding. Pick a hilly spot in your town, and if you can’t get ahold of real sleds, and use garbage can lids.

15. Stop at your local library and rent a few movies. Toss a coin to see whose pick you’ll watch first, and try not to roll your eyes or snore during each other’s choices.

Click here for all 50 Cheap Date Ideas!

Now this probably seems obvious to you, but the ironic part is that so many couples are working very hard to be able to afford some fun… and yet they don’t make any time to actually do that. Another recent study found that couples are spending less time together than ever. It’s no wonder that, between trying to make a living these days, being an involved parent, and juggling various other obligations, “couple time” is hard to come by.

But all work and no play may lead to real marital disaster. And besides being a tragedy in itself, it’s going to costs a whole lot of money to fix, which most couples can afford even less.

Making Time for Fun

Problem #1 is that men and women seem to have different definitions of fun (stating the obvious, again?!) For men, “play” means a shared activity, like going to a game or playing ball together. Women define play by getting together with a close friend and having an intimate conversation. If a couple is actually going to have fun together, each one needs to understand what the other is looking for, and attempt to meld those two wishes together.

Watching TV or going to a movie does NOT qualify as having fun together. Although you are doing something with the other person, they are really solitary experiences. Fun is best achieved through doing something new and even somewhat exciting! This builds great memories and a history of good times shared.

So try something you haven’t done before with your mate, even if that means stretching slightly beyond your comfort zone. (A bike ride on a new path, going to a shop where you can paint ceramics, taking a couples dance class, trying a new restaurant…)  When time is short try cooking a new dish together (or even an old favorite) while talking, or just going to the coffee shop for a quick cup.

For some ideas, check out Cheap Date Ideas at Marie Claire.

Do you and your partner take time to have fun together? What type of things do you enjoy doing as a couple? Please leave a comment with your thoughts and ideas!