Kinship
Guest Journals for weddings, gatherings and shared memories
A wedding seen through your guests' eyes. A family recipe remembered around the table. A holiday told by everyone who came. Guest Journals bring those photographs and words together, through one link or QR code, without asking guests to create an account.
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Open Guest Journals from Kinship and choose Create a Guest Journal Page. Give it a title, choose what to call it — a Journal, Memory Book or Personal Magazine, for example — and, if you like, connect a journey or issue. You can leave this as Not connected yet if you haven't started one.
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Choose a cover and write a welcome that sounds like you. Add a specific invitation: 'Share a photograph from today and a wish for our next chapter' is a lovely starting point for a wedding.
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Choose the contributions you want to receive, such as photographs, memories, notes, recipes or traditions. Set the photograph limit and when contributions open and close. You can pause or close the page later.
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Preview the guest page, then copy its link or download its QR code. Print contribution cards for tables, place a code beside the guest book, or send the link in your gathering's messages. You can print four cut-out cards on one sheet.
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Guests open the link or scan the code, add their contribution, provide their name and email, and choose how they may be credited. They review their submission, then tap Confirm in the email we send them — no code to type. The contribution reaches you only once confirmed, and the link works once within 24 hours. A photograph and caption can be all they need to send.
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Contributions arrive privately for review. Check the words, photographs, attribution and permissions before accepting anything for the journal. Keep personal contributions private, or choose approved material to place on pages in Studio.
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Build the finished issue around the voices you have received: a wedding morning, the ceremony, the table, the dance floor; or one chapter for each day of a holiday. Add your own editorial captions without changing the original submissions.
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Keep everyone in the loop from the journal page. Set its status to In progress while you build, and use Message contributors to send an update or a request to everyone who has contributed — their email addresses stay private, and you can send up to five messages a day.
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Publish the finished issue to your Library when you are ready. Sharing on inEchoes is a separate choice, and guest material may appear publicly only with the guest's public permission. When you mark the journal Published and add its read link, contributors are told it is ready to view.
Good to know
- Weddings — collect candid photographs, wishes for the couple and stories from both families. Try: 'What moment from today will stay with you?' Put cards on reception tables and share the link afterwards for photographs guests did not upload on the day.
- Family gatherings and reunions — invite each generation to share an old photograph, a family story or a tradition. Try: 'Tell us something about our family that you hope the next generation remembers.' These can become a shared family Memory Book.
- Around the table — turn a dinner, holiday meal or neighbourhood potluck into a recipe-and-story journal. Ask for the recipe, who taught it to them, and a photograph of the dish or the people sharing it.
- Holidays and weekends away — ask each traveller for their favourite place, one unexpected moment and a photograph from each day. Different viewpoints give the same journey a richer story.
- Birthdays, anniversaries and retirements — gather favourite memories, photographs from different years and a note to the person being celebrated. Try: 'What is a moment together you still smile about?'
- Community gatherings — collect reflections from a club outing, neighbourhood celebration or shared project. Ask: 'What did we make or discover together?' Check each person's public permission before sharing anything beyond the private journal.
- Keep the invitation simple. One clear prompt is often more welcoming than a long list of questions, and a general gathering location is enough — guests do not need to share a precise address.
- No guest account is required, but a name and a confirmed email are. Contributors who join Built to Travel with the same email see the journal, their own contributions and its status under Journals I contributed to in Kinship. Submitted contributions cannot be edited; guests can send a new contribution to correct a mistake or request removal. You decide which version to use.
- Permission to include a contribution in the journal is separate from permission to show it publicly. Neither permission publishes anything automatically, and contributor email addresses are not shown in the finished journal.