So I’ve been a bit absent lately, but I promise my reason is an excellent one! I got married on Saturday! It was such an incredibly wonderful day, full of love and warmth and in beautiful surroundings, to boot. I couldn’t have asked for it to go more smoothly, more calmly, or more happily! It was really and truly amazing, all of it.
I have a few weddingy posts lined up for the coming days, but I will start with what I think is my favourite craft of the wedding — the wedding tree guestbook! Some of you may remember a post I did a while back about the beautiful wedding trees that have been located out there on the interwebs. Well, I am happy to announced that I managed, in this case anyway, to turn coveting into creation, and did up one of my own! Check me out!
The wedding tree. Before (left) and after (right).
The set-up for signing… some instructions, ink & pens, a test paper, and some WetNaps for wiping off the ink!
I drew the tree myself using a sharpie marker (for the thicker areas) and a fine tip pen for the finer branches. The look of the tree was loosely based on Evan & Corinne’s from August and After. Then I wrote out the text in Gimp and taped it on the top and bottoms of the page. A lovely guy at Staples then helped me photocopy it onto 11″ x 14″ paper/cardstock, maxing out the contrast so as to hide any pen marks or brush strokes. I bought both the frame and the ink pack from Michaels. The ink pack had four different shades of green, which was perfect for this project.
I got a ton of compliments about the wedding tree from all our guests — everyone really seemed to love it and thought it was pretty unique! Truth be told I’m pretty proud of how it turned out, and so pleased that the finished product looks as good as it does! No smudges or mistakes, even! Awesome possum.
May 10, 2010 at 4:02 pm
I LOVED it. You did such a fantastic job of it (as did us guests in sticking our lovely inky fingers on it).
That’s such a nice piece of art that you can hang on the wall – and it won’t even look tacky!
May 10, 2010 at 5:55 pm
Thanks! It seriously looks damn good. I love it.
March 8, 2011 at 4:11 pm
Would you be able to reproduce one of these for me
… I want to buy one but I cant find any one etsy that i am really in love with as much as yours!
March 9, 2011 at 9:25 pm
Unfortunately I didn’t save any of the artwork I did for it, so I probably won’t be able to help you. Could you print out my pic, blow it up and trace it out fresh? Maybe find a friend with an artsy bent to draw you a tree? The font I used was Papyrus, if that helps. Also, if your drawing has marker/pen lines, just take it to a copy centre to photocopy on maximum contrast. That’s what I did. It was all very haphazard! Sorry I’m not much help…
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May 11, 2010 at 3:59 pm
I have just come over from http://www.lilduckiearts.com/?p=281. This is beautiful. I wish I knew about this and heaps of other clever wedding ideas when I got married!
Congratulations on your marriage, by the way.
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July 12, 2010 at 3:48 am
Hey Everybody, I am not brand-new to your website but I figured now was as good as time as any to say hello there, so.. well hello
November 6, 2010 at 3:57 pm
What a beautiful keepsake of your most special day! It turned out to be an incredible work of art!
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November 6, 2010 at 10:52 pm
Beautiful! Great idea and how lovely it turns out!
November 7, 2010 at 4:20 am
Wondering, did you offer up babywipes to get rid of the ink? Or…. Surely someone accidentally wiped it off on their pantleg…..
But, I LOVE love love the idea!
~J~
November 7, 2010 at 8:27 am
Yes, we did have moist towelettes for people to use for their inky fingers — I think we might have run out at some point, though.
But yes, a good idea to have as a clean-up strategy!
November 7, 2010 at 8:23 am
This is amazing! Just found it through Craft Gossip. I’m going to talk about it on my next Quilted Cupcake podcast, too. Thanks for the inspiration and great tutorial!
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November 8, 2010 at 3:38 am
What a beautiful idea! I would love to have made something like this for my daughter. She was married October 1. Congrats on the wedding and I hope the two of you share a very long and happy life together!
November 8, 2010 at 6:01 am
very clever!
January 31, 2011 at 11:31 am
I LOVE your tree you drew!! I have been looking all over and have not found one I like as well. Did you happen to take any more pictures of it when it was blank or have extra copies made? I would love to copy your tree but do not have the artistic ability – so I thought if you have another blank photo, I could just print it out….
Thanks so much!
February 1, 2011 at 10:17 pm
Aw, thanks!! I was really really happy with it. And we got lots of great compliments on it, too
The only pic I have of it blank is the one I posted, sorry! I recently recycled the other copies I had photocopied (one good one as a back-up/other ones that didn’t turn out quite right), so I’m sorry that’s not much help.
Could you get an artistic friend to sketch it out for you? I copied one I found online, just eyeballing it… maybe that would work for you too.
Also, to answer your other question — the font I used was called Papyrus. I use a Mac, so maybe it’s native to Mac OS X? Not sure. I’m sure you could find something similar out there to download… Hope that helps!
February 2, 2011 at 10:29 am
Thanks!! I actually copied your photo and edited it in paint to make it nice and bright white again. Plus to erase the frame and wording. And I found the font too in my word when I got home…just couldn’t find it on my work computer!
I’m so excited about this project…it’s going to be my one and only “creative” contribution!
January 31, 2011 at 11:54 am
One more question, do you remember what font you used? I downloaded Gimp but haven’t found the exact font yet..
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March 24, 2013 at 12:50 pm
Do you know how many guests were going to be signing this? I have printed off one onto a 11 x 14 but it looks too small. I am expecting about 75 people.
March 24, 2013 at 4:01 pm
We had about 55-60 people there. So yours might be slightly ‘bushier’ than ours was, but I think it should fit
If in doubt, you can always encourage people to do some prints down at the base of tree like fallen leaves. Good luck!