(Cook)bookish

I was initially very resistant to theme our wedding. While I totally admired weddings that carried a cohesive "feel" from the paper products through the reception, I doubted I'd be able to mastermind something similar on my own. I was also hesitant to select an element -- graphic or otherwise -- on which to "build" the wedding; what if I tired of it in the middle of the planning (don't forget: the Bruschetta engagement is just shy of two years!) or after the wedding? Would I look back and roll my eyes at the contrived theme? What would feel "us" enough, even 10 years from now?

Well, as you know, we opted for bright, bold colors as part of our theme. And by our one-year countdown party, Mr. Bruschetta and I had acknowledged the other thematic element that had infiltrated our wedding plans: food! The custom whisk and spoon stamp that adorned our countdown invitations served as inspiration for the name of the Blogger site which will be an information source for our wedding guests. And we featured one of our engagement pictures from Reading Terminal Market on our save the date cards.

This theme is really just so us. Mr. Bruschetta and I definitely enjoy cooking for each other, and we also love visiting restaurants in South Jersey and Philly. So, inspired by our culinary commonality, I arrived at the ideal guest book idea for our wedding pretty quickly. While brainstorming, I really only had one requirement -- it had to be something we would use often, so we could frequently enjoy the comments, well-wishes and loving messages I hope our guests will be inspired to write for us.

So we recently visited Barnes & Noble to peruse the cookbook section, and find one that would have adequate space -- including the inside front and back covers, pictures of the completed recipes, and margins throughout the book -- for our guests to select exactly where they want to leave their notes. In this case, you really can't judge a book by its cover, as some of the seemingly perfect options -- like the Williams-Sonoma Bride & Groom Cookbook -- are very text-heavy throughout, leaving few places for our guests' sentiments. We did, however, manage to find several cookbooks that would make unique, epicurean guest books. (All images courtesy of Barnes & Noble.)

(I'd be totally okay with drooling over Martha's designs long after our [much simpler!] wedding cake has been devoured.)

(Okay, so this one's not so much an amazing cookbook as a whimsical nod to Weddingbee.)

And we selected a comprehensive cookbook from the Culinary Institute of America to add to our collection. I'm looking forward to working on some signage to place near the cookbook, which will explain its dual purpose to our guests -- and just might contain a food-related pun or two.



What type of guest book will/did you have at your wedding?