Make a wish, on camera
Every birthday wish, captured forever
Friends and family scan a QR code to record a birthday wish, send photos or write a note: a memory, an inside joke, a story. Within 24 hours after the collection closes you receive a first film of everyone who celebrated, then you build a personalized film with the photos and notes.
Try it like a guest: see the demo →
What is a birthday video guest book?
A birthday video guest book is a QR code that guests scan with their phone to give the birthday person something better than a card. With Video Message, each guest can record up to 3 videos of up to one minute, send photos several at a time and write a note signed with their first name, all in the browser with no app and no account. Friends who cannot come use the same link from home, before, during or after the party, and photos can play as a live slideshow on a screen in the room. Within 24 hours after the collection closes you receive a first film of the video messages; you then build a personalized film with the photos and notes and download every file. It costs $49 for the event, whatever the number of guests.
Picture it
Milestone birthdays
At a fortieth or a seventieth, people arrive knowing they might be asked to say something. Give them a question to answer and you get a film of forty people talking properly about someone, which is rarer than it sounds.
Surprise parties
Collect messages quietly in the weeks before and treat the finished film as the gift, or leave the code out on the night and let the room add to it. Either way the people who could not travel are still in it.
Kids’ parties
The audience for a fifth birthday film is not the child, it is the adult they become. Ask each guest to describe them as they are right now and it becomes something else entirely in twenty years.
Long-distance
The friend who moved abroad and the grandparent who no longer travels usually send a text nobody reads twice. Recording from their own kitchen puts them in the same film as everyone in the room.
How it works
Place the QR code
On the table, the cake station, or the party invite.
Guests scan & record
No app to install. They record a wish, send photos or write a note straight from their phone.
Receive your films
Within 24 hours after the collection closes you receive your first birthday film, plus each individual video. Then you build a personalized film with the photos and notes.
Then-and-now photos, a slideshow, two films
The same QR code collects more than wishes on camera. Here is what that looks like at a birthday.
Photos from back then, and from tonight
Ask each guest to send one photo of the birthday person from the year they met. The shots from twenty years ago land next to the ones taken at the party, several at a time from each phone.
A slideshow while the cake comes out
Open the slideshow link on the TV or a projector with a browser and internet. Photos appear as guests send them, automatically or after you approve each one, in the Elegant, Polaroid or Festive style.
Two films, the second one yours
The video messages become a first film within 24 hours after the collection closes. Then you make a personalized film: add the best photos and notes, and choose the order, the music, the color look, the transitions and your own opening and closing text.
Shared with everyone, kept at home
Send the films by link to the friends who could not come. Download every photo and video as ZIP files and the notes as a PDF message book. Files stay for 3 months after your first film, with the date in your dashboard and an email reminder before anything is deleted.
Getting birthday messages people actually want to rewatch
The people who cannot be there
Most birthdays have a handful of absences that sting: the friend who moved abroad, the grandparent who no longer travels, the cousin working nights. They usually send a text nobody reads twice.
Because the recording page is just a link, they can record from their kitchen a week early. Their message sits in the same film as everyone who was in the room, and nobody watching later can tell who was present and who was not.
What to ask people to say
This is where most birthday video guest books go wrong. Handed a camera with no instruction, people say “happy birthday, have a great one” and stop. Forty clips of that is a chore to watch.
Give them one specific prompt instead. “Tell the story of how you two met.” “What is the most ridiculous thing he has ever talked you into?” “What do you know about her that she does not think anyone noticed?” A prompt on the sign next to the QR code changes the average message from eight seconds to nearly a minute.
The best films we see are the ones where the host wrote the prompt themselves, because it was specific to that person.
If it is a surprise
Collect in advance and treat the finished film as the gift. Share the link privately two or three weeks before, chase the quiet ones once, and keep the birthday person off the group chat where you are organising it.
One thing worth deciding early: whether you play the film at the party or hand it over privately afterwards. Playing it to a room is a bigger moment, but it also means people watch their own message in public, and some of the most heartfelt ones are the hardest to sit through with an audience.
Milestone birthdays are a different job
At a thirtieth, the messages are jokes. At a seventieth, they are closer to a tribute, and people know it. Guests will need longer, and they will want to think about what they say rather than improvise in a corridor.
For those, tell people in the invitation that there will be something to record. The ones who care will arrive having thought about it, and that shows in the film.
Children’s birthdays are recorded for later
For a first or fifth birthday, the audience is not the child. It is the adult they become, watching people who were young then, in a living room that no longer exists.
That changes what is worth asking for. Rather than a wish, ask each person to describe the child as they are right now, at this age. It reads as ordinary today and becomes the whole point in twenty years.
When to set up & how to share
When to activate your space
Set up your space about a week before the party: name the birthday star, pick the music, and print your QR code.
Spread the QR code as widely as you can
- ✓Put the QR code on the table, near the cake, and at the entrance.
- ✓Drop the link in the group chat before the party.
- ✓Send the QR code and link to friends and family through WhatsApp, SMS, or your party group chat so those who can’t attend can still send a wish, photos or a note.
- ✓Ask the host to remind everyone to film a message.
Put it on your signage and send the guest link privately to your guest list (WhatsApp, group chats, SMS), before, during and after the event, so even the people who can’t be there in person add a video, photos or a note.
What you receive
Made for your event
Simple pricing
Digital QR code
One event, delivered instantly, everything included
$49
or 3 for $99, for 3 separate events
- ✓ Videos, photos and written notes
- ✓ Live photo slideshow
- ✓ Two films, the album and the message book
- ✓ No app and no limit on guests
Throwing events for a living, or buying for clients? See pro pricing →
Questions
Is this good for a surprise party?
Yes, and it is one of the most common uses. Collect messages ahead of time and play the finished film as the surprise, or leave the code out on the night and let guests add to it.
Can far-away friends join in?
Yes. Share your link and they can send a video, photos or a note from anywhere, before, during or after the party, on any phone or computer. Their message appears in the film alongside everyone who attended.
What do we receive?
Two films. The first, made from the video messages, arrives within 24 hours after your event’s collection closes, with every individual video to download. Then you build a personalized film with the photos and notes. You also get every photo and video as ZIP files and the notes as a PDF message book.
How long can each message be?
Each guest can record up to 3 videos of up to one minute each. Most people use 30 to 45 seconds once they have a prompt to answer, and many add a few photos or a written note.
What if only a few people record?
That is almost always a visibility problem rather than a willingness one. Put the code where people already stop (the bar, the cake table, the seating plan) and have someone announce it once during the evening. Parties where nobody mentions it out loud collect a fraction of the messages.
Do guests need to download an app?
No. They scan the code, the recording page opens in their browser, and they record. No app, no account, no sign-up.
How far ahead should I set it up?
About a week before. That gives you time to name the birthday person, choose the music, print your sign, and send the link to anyone who cannot attend.
Can I use it for a child’s birthday?
Yes, and it works particularly well as a time capsule. Ask each guest to describe the child at this age rather than simply wish them a happy birthday.
What happens to the videos afterwards?
You keep them. Download both films, every photo and video as ZIP files and the notes as a PDF from your dashboard, and save them somewhere of your own, as with any online service. Everything stays online for 3 months after your first film is delivered; the date is shown in your dashboard and we email you a reminder before anything is deleted.
Can guests send photos as well as videos?
Yes. From the same page, a guest can record a video, send photos several at a time from their gallery and write a note signed with their first name. Guests who would rather not be on camera often send a photo and a few lines instead.
Can the photos play during the party?
Yes, if you have a TV, screen or projector with a web browser and an internet connection. Open your slideshow link on it and photos appear as guests send them, automatically or once you approve them. The slideshow shows photos only; the videos go into your films.
Does this work outside the United States?
Yes, anywhere in the world. Nothing ships to you: your QR code and guest link arrive by email the moment you pay, and your guests take part in their phone’s browser. It works the same in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, across Europe and anywhere else. This page shows US dollars; we also have pricing pages in pounds, Canadian dollars, Australian dollars, Swiss francs and euros, and you pay in the currency of the page you buy from.
What language is it in?
Each event runs in the language you choose: English, French, Spanish, Italian, German or Portuguese. The guest page, your dashboard and the wording in your films follow that language. Your guests can speak or write in whatever language they like; nothing is transcribed or translated, so each message stays exactly as they recorded it.
Can we collect for longer?
Yes. Guests take part before, during and after your event, from the moment you share the link. You set the closing date, a few days after the event if you like, and can move it from your dashboard.