Wedding Guest Book DIY: An Artifact Uprising Review

Are you thinking about a wedding guest book DIY project? We think it’s a great idea. Ten, twenty, or even fifty years from now, you’re going to enjoy looking back and remembering all the people who celebrated with you on your wedding day. Having messages from each of them is like having a little time capsule that captures your relationship with all your individual friends and family at a specific — and very important — moment in time.

But there are so many options. You could go for something totally non-traditional (like signed Jenga pieces, a “thumbprint tree,” or puzzle pieces). On the other hand, if you’re looking for a classic guest book with photographs of the two of you, you still have many, many choices: Artifact Uprising, Blurb, Shutterfly, Mixbook, Mpix, Pinhole Press, and Wedding Paper Divas offer wedding guest books, just to name a few.

I sifted through all the options in search of what I considered the best. Ultimately, for me, the winner was Artifact Uprising. First, the Artifact Uprising guest book is a beautiful art object that you will pass on to your grandchildren. Second, Artifact Uprising’s online design software is straightforward and easy to use. It may not have as many templates, colors, or fonts as some of the other companies, but in a way, that’s good — they are deliberately limiting your choices to simple, elegant designs.

Let’s start with the cover. Artifact Uprising books are covered in fabric, and you have a choice of ten rich colors: everything from a variegated natural oatmeal to a deep peacock blue. The covers and spines can be foil-stamped in gold, copper, white, or black, and of course you can be creative with what you emboss. You could have the cover stamped with your names, your initials, your wedding date, “Volume I”, or even a line of poetry that is particularly special to you.

A big reason why I like Artifact Uprising’s wedding guest books better than the competition is because of their interior pages. First, I like the fact that the pages are blank, not lined, which gives the book the feel of a fine art book. Second, the paper choices include the gorgeous Mohawk Superfine paper in eggshell finish, which has a nicely subtle texture and absorbs ink quickly, so it’s perfect for writing on. And finally, the pages are mounted on matboard, so the finished product has the heft of an album rather than a book.

As I mentioned above, the text and layout options are somewhat limited. I used Artifact Uprising’s software to design a sample guest book and had to “eyeball” my title page design since I wanted to try an unconventional type layout. But you could design a text page in Photoshop or InDesign and upload it to Artifact Uprising as a jpg.

The price for an Artifact Uprising guest book starts at $139 for an 8 1/2″ by 8 1/2″ book with 20 pages. I ordered the 10″ by 10″ book, which was $179.

Check out our YouTube video about this guest book to see more interior pages from the book:

In conclusion, if you don’t want to order a guest book from us, our top recommendation is to use Artifact Uprising. They use the highest quality materials; their online software is simple and easy; and their design options are modern and minimalist. A guest book from Artifact Uprising will certainly stand the test of time.

Do you have any questions about wedding guest books that we didn’t answer in this post? Leave us your question in the comments!

Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, we will receive an affiliate commission. We only recommend products or services we use personally and believe will add value to our readers. We am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”