According to the founder, Lesley Mattos, of Adesso Albums, the idea for the company "was hatched at a wedding in Italy when the bride asked me to take Polaroid pictures of guests and scotch tape them into a scrapbook where they’d write a note. I realized there must be an easier way to save these memories." Voila, instant photo guest books were born.

Guests can leave sappy, sentimental notes with a photo of themselves in the specially designed
slots. It creates a unique keepsake and a great gift idea for a wedding, baby shower, anniversarry, Bat Mitvah, you name it.

Originally designed to work with Polaroid cameras (you can still buy a starter kit with a Polaroid camera and album for $139), now their big sellers are the digital camera books. (Soon they will be offering the brand-new Zink process, the new printing technology that does not require ink cartridges to produce photos.)

Adesso has albums for all occasions, and for a few extra bucks you can have the leather books personalized with embossing. Check their site for pricing.

The one drawback - ah, you saw it too - is that someone has to encourage folks to take photos at the sign-in. I figure a well-placed sign would do the trick, or failing that, someone stationed at the guest sign-in, armed with a camera and plenty of alcohol.

I already bought one for a Bat Mitvah we're attending in March. Not for the lovely Bat (Alexandra), but for the parents. They're gonna love me for it.
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