Recorded messages offer testimonials from friends and family

Video and audio guest books are the hottest new item at weddings today.

In place of (or in addition to) a traditional guestbook signed by attendees, the couple invites guests to pick up a vintage-style phone or hop into a video recording booth to pour their hearts out for the newlyweds.

“People really fell in love with the old-fashioned charm of it all,” said Andy White, founder of the phone book. He noted that couples loved the “combination of vintage and sentiment” and the recorded messages – filled with laughter, inside jokes or retellings of favorite memories and late-night chats – became “timeless keepsakes.”

His service starts at $219, with the phone model of your choice shipped to you before your big day, so couples can pre-record a greeting inviting their loved ones to leave them a message after the beep. After the wedding, the phone is returned and the recorded message is uploaded for your permanent collection.

White shared that one of the funniest people he’d heard so far “took three minutes to apologize to the couple for ‘that thing that happened in Cancun.'”

Unfortunately, White and his team haven’t figured out what “that thing” is yet. I guess some pranks are best left off the record—even if you do pull them off.

FêteFone offers a similar service. Save your messages on the included USB or listen to them on the phone itself where you can keep them after the big day. Pricing starts at $249.

Aside from hilarious quips like Jerry Maguire’s “Give me the money!” CEO and founder Michael Radolinski said guestbook experiences like this can lead to heart-breaking and important keepsakes.

“More than one bride has told us that she received a message after her mother passed away, and hearing her voice say ‘I love you’ or ‘I’m so proud of you’ again on such a blessed day is more powerful than any photo,” he said.

Jacob Yackley, CEO and co-founder of After The Tone, said many couples say they would never have known about some of the things that happened at their weddings unless their friends confessed them over a rotary phone. “It’s the perfect way for the couple to catch up on the little things they might have missed while cutting the cake or doing the rounds,” he said.

Their service has added the option of saving messages on vinyl records. And, according to Yackley, “We now perform one percent of weddings in the United States.”

“There are a lot of classic drunken confessions and weepy confessions,” Yackley said. Plus, there were other standouts, like “a bridesmaid admitting that she saw the bride’s new father-in-law nearly break his leg while making bugs, or a groomsman jokingly admitting that he left special brownies at the bride and groom’s house,” he said.

Or why not take it a step further and create a video guestbook? It’s safe to say that the grainy, street-style bar mitzvah videos of the past have gotten a complete makeover in the 21st century.

Voast is a video rental service that can be set up in five minutes and requires no staff. Couples select questions for guests to answer before the wedding, which are fed into a digital device and guests can then record up to three minutes of footage for each question.

If you wish, you can add professional editing of your collected footage or create a keepsake video book; weekend rentals start at $1,240.

“Voast has captured over 40,000 video messages, so we’ve heard them all,” quips marketing director Hannah Fuchigami.

In July, a couple invited friends and family to their engagement party. Shortly after the guests arrived, the entire room was surprised when they invited them to sit down and participate in the ceremony. It turns out that this is their wedding. They asked each guest via a video guestbook, “On a scale of 1 to 10, how surprised were you today?” Ten was the most common answer.

Of course, as the cocktails flowed and “as liquid courage hit,” the video message got a little risqué.

At a wedding in Flagstaff, the newlyweds checked in after each drink. “The groomsmen’s shirts got lost somewhere before they started recreating the couple’s engagement photos. The last drink on record was #17,” she shared. “They showed off dance moves, reported which bridesmaids were still single and recounted some R-rated experiences when asked about their favorite memories.”

Alongside the jokes, heartfelt tributes were also captured on camera. Fuchigami said one father took the opportunity to finish the rest of his speech as he respectfully adhered to the five-minute time limit at the reception. “He had more to say and the bride was delighted that she saw that on video.”

Or when a couple prompts guests to share their advice to the newlyweds, a 9-year-old’s stoic response: “Stay faithful.”

Grandparents who have been married for over 40 years also offer sound advice: “Don’t speak ill of your spouse in front of others. Just have fun.”