A paper guestbook, a photo app, or this?
Couples usually choose between three things for the guestbook table, and each does one job well.
| What you get | Paper guestbook | Photo-sharing app | Kehdoo digital guestbook |
|---|---|---|---|
| Guests write a message | Yes, by hand | Sometimes | Yes, up to 300 characters |
| Guests add a photo | No | Yes, many | One with each message |
| Shown at the reception | No | Often, as a slideshow | Yes, one wish at a time |
| Guests who can't come | No | Rarely | Yes, from the invitation |
| You check before it shows | Not needed | Varies | Yes, by default |
| Keepsake afterwards | The book itself | An album download | Coming soon |
A paper book is still the nicer object to keep. If what you want is every photo your guests took at full size, a photo-sharing app does that better: Kehdoo takes one photo with each wish. What the digital guestbook does is get real messages from people who'd never queue at a table, and put them on a screen while everyone's still in the room.
How guests sign it
Put a card with a QR code on each table. A guest opens their phone camera, taps the link, and the wishes page opens in their browser. There's nothing to install and no account.
They type their name, and, if they like, how they know you: "Emma's college roommate", "Sam's teammate since Little League". That line sits under their name wherever the wish appears. Then the message itself, up to 300 characters, and a photo if they want. "Make it yours" lets them pick the paper, the font and a few stickers.
The wish stays tied to the phone it came from, so a guest can fix a typo or take it back later. If you're checking each wish first, a changed wish waits for your OK again.
Guests who can't be there
The guestbook opens long before the wedding. Your invitation has a "Wishes for the couple" section with the same QR code, a "Leave a wish" button and the newest six wishes. A grandmother who can't fly, a friend posted overseas, a cousin with a newborn: each can write theirs from home, weeks ahead, and it plays on the screen at the reception with everyone else's.
Setting up the screen at the reception
On your hosts' page, the Wall tab has the venue screen's link. Open it in a browser on whatever drives the reception's screen: a laptop plugged into the venue's TV or projector, or the TV's own browser. Press F for full screen.
The screen shows one wish at a time in large type, with the guest's photo, paper and font, your names at the top and the QR code in a corner so anyone watching can add theirs. A new wish jumps the queue and appears within a few seconds. Arrow keys move back and forward, OK or the space bar pauses it for the toasts, and O shows only wishes that arrive from then on. If the browser can't keep the screen awake by itself, the controls tell you to turn off the TV's sleep timer, and an old TV browser that can't run the page shows your names and where to leave a wish instead of a blank screen.
Venue Wi-Fi is the usual weak spot. The screen keeps the last 50 wishes in memory and keeps rotating them if the connection drops, shows a small "Reconnecting" dot rather than an error, and picks up new wishes when it's back. With photos kept small and no video, a phone hotspot is enough.
Approving wishes
Every wish waits for an OK before it reaches the screen. That's the default, because a screen anyone can write to will, at some point, get a joke you don't want your grandparents reading. On your hosts' page you see the wishes waiting, on the wall and hidden, with Approve and Hide, and the list checks for new ones every ten seconds.
Hand the job to someone at the reception with a phone, like a sibling or the maid of honor. You can add up to ten co-hosts, and each can approve and hide wishes. When you trust the room, switch to "Show wishes straight away" and hide anything after the fact. A hidden wish stays hidden, on the screen and on the wishes page, even if its writer edits it.
Printing the QR code table cards
"Print table cards" makes an A5 card in your invitation's theme: your names, "Scan to leave a wish", the QR code, and the short address under it for phones that can't read the code. It downloads as a 1748 by 2480 pixel PNG, A5 at 300 dpi, ready for a print shop or a home printer. Print one for each table, and one for the bar and the entrance, where people wait.
The QR code holds only your public wishes page. A photo of a table card can end up anywhere, so no private key ever goes in it. The screen's own link does carry a key: keep it among the people running the reception. If it gets passed around, the person who made the invitation can change it and the old one stops working.
How many wishes, and what's coming
The guestbook comes with your invitation for up to 200 wishes, each with one photo, and the screen and the table cards come with it at no extra cost. Hidden wishes don't count towards the 200. Coming soon, with no prices set: bigger walls with more photos per wish, downloading every wish and photo, voice notes, and a printed keepsake book of every wish and photo.
After the wedding
After the last event, your countdown page thanks your guests and shows the wishes, and your thank-you cards can carry up to three photos from the guestbook with a personal line for one guest. The guestbook lives inside your digital wedding invitation, and if you're still at the early stage, start with a save the date at the same link.