Wish for a Better Guest Book

Hi denise, just wanted to say how much I loved the blog about the Wish Tree. Such a clever way of handling those boring sign-ins.

My husband & I had a family tree ‘blueprint’ at our wedding so that everyone could find themselves on the tree (it was mostly all our relatives at our wedding). We had guests sign in at their name on the family tree. It was great fun because they got to know each other in ways they hadn’t realized (didn’t know my aunt was your cousin, that kind of thing).

Long after the wedding my husband & I were looking at that family tree closely and realized we were related. Yikes! Well, it was back a few generations, but there was a common uncle-in-law. weird, huh?

And my aunt discovered that my husband’s mother’s 2nd cousin was her college roomate so it made for a family harmony and unity one would never have discovered any other way. And it was hella fun for the guests, kept them occupied since I was so late to my own wedding!

Ali

I have been researching all over the net for supplies to make crystal wedding trees. here is what I found so far.

1) Swarovski or lead crystals are pretty but WAY too expensive for multiple trees.
2) Plastic beads or curtains cut up are way too CHEAP. Use caution with this idea!
3) Glass crystals are the most middle ground choice.
4) You should be able to put together a tree with about 40 strands or less according to the designer I talked to at Cristalier.com. (they offer it for free and have good prices on strands - you might want to check them out even for just the free advice)
5) Shipping real trees is expensive. I was quoted almost $800 in shipping alone to have 6 large trees sent (5’ size) - No thanks!
6) Beware of sites that offer trees that you need to pay a down payment and wait for months to get your tree. I wouldn’t want to be left treeless in the last days before my wedding.
7) Most trees have the willow look (accoring to the designer I talked to) but this can be more expensive since the tree has to be really full. But you can also get a really pretty tree by swagging the strands across from branch to branch instead of draping them. That could save some serious money!
8 ) Order samples! If you are in doubt, invest a few dollars and order samples! Do you really want to wait until the last minute and find that you are unhappy with the plastic curtain you thought would look good. Just order a sample and be sure. I ordered samples from 4 companies (plastic, acrylic, glass and lead) I decided to use the glass. The acrylic was my second choice. But the plastic stunk - I mean actually smelled bad and the lead was beautiful but very costly. Most companies will allow yuo to return the samples too. I spent $60 in samples and probably saved hundreds know that I now what I will be using.
9) watch the videos on blog.crystalweddingtree.com. The quality isn’t all that great but you can get an idea of different looks. This helped me come to the choice that my largest center tree will be more “willow” style (I don’t know if that is an actual term, but that’s what the designer kept calling it) and the others around the hall will be more the swag style.

I hope this help someone out there, mostly I wish someone would have told me all this. It would have saved me alot of time and energy these last few months.

Best of luck out there and Congratulations to all the Brides!

Soon to MRS GINA!

What a fantastic and creative idea! i cannot wait to try this @ my wedding Venue.
I think it will look perfect right on the beach… :) and soooo very creative…
i can’t wait!!!!!!;) thank you.
I’m going to make my cardstock out of seashells with the natural branch with a nice blue ribbon and crystal and light blue beading;) I feel very talented!

I love love love this idea. I was concerned when I read that you need to allow time to set up a crystal wish wedding tree since we have very little time to do so. My other concern was when the reception was over how would they tear down the tree? I found a perfect asnwer to both questions, so I thought I would share!

This is a beautiful tree. We’ve seen wish trees before but this looks amazing and elegant. As another alternative to traditional guestbooks, wish jars work out wonderfully.

Hey ladies,

Hey guys, I am engaged to be married Dec 18, 2010. I was looking into getting some of those beautiful centerpieces made of crystals adorning a tree. I am however on a small budget and wont be able to afford buying them on my own. I was wondering if any of you brides are using the same motif that way i could possibly purchase your centerpieces after you have already used them.

My colors are white blue and silver.

If anyone is intersted please email me at

Thanks ladies.

Hey Everyone, I am also getting married soon (6 weeks!!) and am still trying to put together my centerpieces. I can’t afford the trees from crystalweddingtrees.com and can’t find them anywhere else. Do any of you have them leftover from your wedding that I can buy? let me know. Thanks!