Video guest books: how they work and how to set one up
What a video guest book is, three ways to have one, a simple DIY set-up, prompts for guests and how to keep every message.
Updated · 6 min read·By the DropSnaps team
Quick answer
A video guest book collects short video messages from your guests instead of written ones. Guests speak to a camera, a tablet set up in a quiet corner or their own phone, and you keep every clip to watch after the wedding. You can hire a booth, set up a tablet yourself, or ask guests to film on their phones and share the videos to one place.
Questions people ask
What is a video guest book?
A collection of short video messages from your wedding guests, recorded at a booth, on a tablet or on their own phones, that you keep and watch after the day instead of, or as well as, a written guest book.
How do you make a video guest book?
Either set a tablet or phone on a tripod in a quiet corner with a sign and a few prompts, or ask guests to film a 30-second message on their own phones and share it to one place, such as your wedding's photo-sharing page.
What is the best app for a video guest book?
One that collects guests' videos in one place at full quality without everyone installing something. With DropSnaps, guests share videos from their phone's browser; videos are part of the Standard and Premium plans, up to 4 GB each on Standard. See our best wedding photo sharing apps for other options.
How long should a video guest book message be?
About 30 seconds. Short prompts and a time suggestion on the sign stop queues building and make the messages easier to watch back.
Is a video guest book better than an audio guest book?
A video keeps faces as well as voices, and guests can film on their own phones from anywhere. An audio guest book is simpler for shy guests and older relatives. Many couples have one of them plus a written guest book.
A video guest book swaps the pen for a camera. Instead of writing in a book, guests record a short video message: a toast, a story, a song, or grandparents' advice, with their faces and voices to go with it. Years later, it's the closest thing to being back in the room. Here's what a video guest book is, the three ways to have one, how to set one up yourself, and what to ask guests to say.
What is a video guest book?
A video guest book is a collection of short video messages from your guests, recorded at the wedding (or before and after it) and kept for you to watch afterwards. Most messages are 20 seconds to a minute long. Some couples have a booth with a tablet or camera in a quiet corner; others ask guests to film a message on their own phone and share it to one place.
It does the same job as a written guest book, with two things a book can't give you: people's voices and their faces, laughing, welling up and raising a glass.
Three ways to have a video guest book
Hired video booth
Your own tablet or phone booth
Guests film on their own phones
How it works
A company sets up a booth, often with lights, a screen and someone to help
A tablet or phone on a tripod in a quiet corner, with a sign
Guests record a message wherever they are and share it to one place
Effort for you
Least: they set up and send you the files
Some: set-up, testing and collecting the files
Least on the day: one link or QR code
Queues
Can build up at busy moments
Can build up at busy moments
None: everyone records at once
Guests who aren't there
Can't join in
Can't join in
Can send a message from anywhere
Cost
The most
The equipment you have, or a tripod and a light
Low or nothing
Many couples mix them: a booth at the reception for the big moment, and a link for everyone else, including guests who can't make it.
How to set up your own video guest book
Choose a quiet, well-lit corner. Away from the band and the speakers, or every message will be half music. Facing a window works well in the day.
Mount a tablet or phone on a tripod at about eye height for a standing adult, in landscape so messages look right on a TV later.
Add a light if the corner is dim. A small ring light makes everyone look better.
Put up a sign that says what to do in one line: "Tap the red button, say hello, tap it again when you're done."
Test the sound. Record a message from where guests will stand and play it back with the music on.
Give it a host. Ask a friend to show the first few guests how it works and to check the battery and storage during the evening.
Collect the videos the same night, before the tablet goes home with someone, and back them up in two places.
Video messages from guests' own phones
The easiest video guest book has no booth at all. Every guest already carries a good camera, so ask them to record a short message on their phone and share it with you. The catch is collecting them: videos sent through messaging apps are usually compressed, and they end up scattered across chats.
With DropSnaps, guests scan your QR code or open your link and share videos from their phone's browser, with no app or account. A few things make it work well as a video guest book:
A moment tag for messages. Add a tag such as "Video messages" in Settings, and guests pick it as they upload. All the messages collect in one album on the Moments tab.
Notes and videos together. Guests can also leave a written note in the guest book, and the photos and videos they've shared are grouped with it on the wall.
Guests who couldn't come can record a message from home, in another country, before or after the day.
Every phone's videos play everywhere. iPhone videos are converted so they play on Android phones and laptops too.
Videos are part of the Standard and Premium plans, up to 4 GB each on Standard and 8 GB on Premium. A short video message is a tiny fraction of that. You download every original afterwards, in full quality.
Guests' notes sit next to their photos and videos
What to ask guests to say
A blank camera makes people freeze. Give them a prompt on the sign or in your message:
"Your best piece of marriage advice"
"Your favourite memory of us"
"A wish for our first year"
"Tell us how you know us, in ten seconds"
"A toast to the newlyweds"
"Something for us to watch on our tenth anniversary"
"Sing us a line of a song that reminds you of us"
"Your prediction: where will we be in five years?"
Keep them short. Ask for 30 seconds. Short messages get recorded; long ones get put off.
Landscape for a booth, any way for phones. Phone videos filmed upright are fine to watch on a phone; for a compilation on a TV, landscape looks better.
Get it announced. Ask your MC to mention it after the speeches, when everyone's feeling sentimental.
Start it early. Send the link with the invitations or a week before, so guests who can't come and anyone who's shy can record at home.
Record the first one yourselves, so the first guest has an example to follow.
Remind people the morning after. Some of the best messages arrive once the hangovers clear.
After the wedding
Download everything while it's fresh, and keep two copies: one on a computer, one in cloud storage.
Make a compilation. Put the best messages together in a free editor such as iMovie, Clipchamp or CapCut, with a song you love. Ten minutes is plenty.
Watch it on your anniversary. It becomes a lovely tradition.
There's no wrong answer. Many couples have two: a video or audio guest book for the voices, and a written or digital one for the guests who'd rather write. See all the options in our wedding guest book ideas.
