If you’re thinking of having a photo booth at your wedding but you’re worried about the cost or you just want to make it unique, then there’s nothing stopping you from creating your own. You just need a sense of humour, an even bigger sense of kitsch and a can-do attitude.
Oh, and some of the things here, too…
Your backdrop
It doesn’t have to be complicated – you can use plain boards, curtains, tinsel drapes or even the inside wall of your booth/caravan/VW Camper, decorated with some washi tape. Be as simple or as detailed as you like – there’s some amazing ideas out there online, so spend some time exploring. Just remember, your backdrop should be at least 6’ by 4’ so that it’s bigger than most camera formats.
Light, light and more light
People at weddings want to have fun and not fiddle with lighting and flashes and all that. Make sure your booth area is so bright people will think they’re about to be abducted by aliens when they walk into it. Use daylight lamps as well as, well, daylight – look for bulbs with a colour temperature of 5,000K and 6,500K. You can also have coloured lights, of course, but the takeaway from this snippet of advice is to have loads of light and then some more light…
Get your props
This is where it becomes fun. Silly costumes, flamingo pool rings, unicorn headbands, over-sized glasses, celebrity masks (no Donalds, though…), animal masks…whatever you fancy and you can get cheaply at junk stores, yard sales and online.
Set up a hashtag for the booth photos
If people are using their own phones and cameras, then you’ll want to collect them all in one place or else they’ll end up scattered to the four winds. If your guests post them to their own FB, Instagram or Twitter accounts then you’ll have to follow everyone in order to see them, so make sure you can collate at least some of the snaps taken on the day. There are various wedding photo-sharing apps you can download, so take a look at a few.
Buy a printer for smartphones
You’ll need the instant film cartridges and batteries as well, but this is still cheaper than hiring a booth and all the gubbins. If people are using their own smartphones, they can download the printer app, then take a selfie using the app, before uploading it to the printer.
You can have an instruction sheet on the wall, or have a techy-type hanging around, talking people through it and checking on batteries and cartridge levels to keep it all ticking over.
