An audio guest book without the phone rental
A rented phone on a table is the classic audio guest book, and it is a lovely thing to have at a wedding. Here is how it works, what goes into the cost, and the way to do it without a handset: one memo from every guest, left on their own phone. We also say plainly when the handset is still the better choice.
How a classic audio guest book works
The classic version is an old-style telephone, sometimes called a phone guest book or a voicemail guest book. You rent one or buy one, and set it on a table with a small sign. Guests lift the receiver, hear a short greeting in your voice, and leave a message after the tone.
- 01
Book the handset
Book early if your date is a busy one. The phone arrives before the day, by post or by hand, and you set the greeting guests will hear.
- 02
Set it up on the day
Someone puts it on a table in a quiet corner, with a chair and a sign, and checks that it works before the first guests arrive.
- 03
Guests take turns
One guest at a time picks up and talks while the next waits beside them. Friends sometimes crowd round it together and leave one message between them.
- 04
The messages reach you later
After the day the handset is packed up and sent back, and the messages come to you as files. If you bought the phone, you copy them off yourself.
It works, and people enjoy the ritual. Its limits are those of any single object in a busy room: one person at a time, in one place, for as long as someone looks after it.
What an audio guest book costs, beyond the fee
Prices vary by company and by country, so ask each one for a full quote rather than comparing the first figure you see. The fee is only part of the cost.
- The rental, or the price of buying a handset outright.
- Delivery and return, and any deposit held against damage.
- A table, a chair, a sign, and a quiet corner, which a busy venue may not have to spare.
- Someone to keep an eye on it, check that it works, and pack it up at the end of the night.
- The guests who never reach it: the ones who saw a queue at the wrong moment, sat at the far end of the room, or left early.
Without the handset: a memo from every guest
The other way is to use the microphone every guest already carries. On papershot, you make a moment, a private shared roll for the day, and every guest can leave one memo: a few words in their own voice, left from their own phone, wherever they are in the room.
- 01
Turn memos on and ask one question
Set a length from 5 to 60 seconds and write one question, up to 120 characters. Every guest answers it once. Our list of audio guest book questions has plenty to choose from.
- 02
Put the invite card on the tables
Guests scan the QR, open the link, or type the 8-character code. They need the papershot app on iPhone or Android, but not an account: they type a name and they are in.
- 03
Guests leave theirs in their own time
From their seat, the garden, or the bar, any time before the moment ends. No queue, no table, and nothing to look after.
- 04
Hear every voice with a face
Each memo plays back with the speaker's face and the question it answers. Download them as files, one at a time or with the whole moment as one .zip.
Memos come with every moment, free ones included. A free moment takes up to 4 guests, so a wedding needs a paid size: one payment for the moment, through Apple or Google, from $1.49 to $99.99 in the USD list depending on how many guests it takes. There is no subscription, and the same payment covers each guest's photos and video too. More on how memos work.
Handset or phone: an honest comparison
Neither one does everything better. This is where they differ.
- The queue: a handset takes one guest at a time. Memos are left from every phone at once.
- The place: a handset lives on one table. A memo can be left from anywhere, until the moment ends.
- Who can take part: anyone can lift a receiver. A memo needs a smartphone with the papershot app, though not an account.
- Length: on a handset, people talk for as long as they like. A memo runs 5 to 60 seconds, as you set, so every guest gets the same time.
- How many: a guest can go back to the handset for a second message. On papershot, each guest leaves one memo.
- What you get back: a handset gives you a folder of voices. Memos play back with each speaker's face and the question they answered, and download as files.
- The object: a handset is something to see and pick up. A memo is invisible until someone mentions it, so it needs the card on the table and a word in a speech.
- Cost: a handset is a rental or a purchase, plus delivery. Memos come with every moment, free ones included, so they cost nothing on top of the photos.
When the handset still makes sense
A handset is a lovely object. It looks good in the photos, it gives guests something to hold, and lifting a receiver to hear your voice is a small ritual of its own. It is the better choice when:
- Many of your guests do not carry a smartphone, or would rather not use one at a party.
- You want a centrepiece people walk up to, as much as the messages themselves.
- The day is small enough that a queue never forms.
- You want guests to talk for as long as they like.
You can also do both: keep the handset as the object, and turn memos on so the guests who never reach the table still leave a few words. For the rest of the day, from the invite card to the reveal, see the wedding page. And for guests who freeze when it is their turn, there is what to say in an audio guest book.
