Faux Photo Booth
July 1st, 2008 @ 4:00 pm by Mrs. Gingerbread
Like everyone and their mom, I love the idea of photo booths in general, and at wedding, in particular. However, it was never something that I ever considered factoring into our budget, since our budget is 70%+ food. Sorry, I love photo booths, but I love food more.
At our shower we had a Polaroid guest book and I loved the finished product so much! Posing for photos seemed to make people super-creative and they wrote such cute little notes to go along with their sweet, funny, and/or goofy photo.
I’d originally planned on just repeating the Polaroid guest book at the wedding, but that would have just been too easy. Instead, I started contemplating what the photo booth would add. Okay, the obvious answer is “a booth.” Aside from that would be the entertainment factor and the opportunity to have multiple copies of photos that people would take. The Polaroid doesn’t allow for that last part.
We decided to invest in a photo printer and attempt to recreate the photo booth experience. Honestly, it was not much of an investment since we bought our photo printer on sale at Staples for $50, and the ink cartridge and photo paper for about $30 (together). We went with the HP PhotoSmart A526. The good thing about this printer is that it can stand alone without a computer and it’s really simple to use. The bad thing is that it takes its sweet time to print. To deal with the slowness factor, we might ask guests to pose after the ceremony before heading to the reception and then have them sign the book at the reception, OR sign the book after taking the photo and then have them put the photos in later.
As luck would have it, we received a reddish tablecloth at our shower that could play the role of the hanging sheet for our faux photo booth. We just need a way to string it up. I’m still working on that part. Originally, I thought that we didn’t need a sheet or anything since our ceremony venue is so pretty with all of its trees, but the hanging table cloth will hopefully get people’s attention.
In addition to the table cloth and printer, we need some props. After digging through my personal collection of props (aka my D.C. winter wardrobe circa 2001), I found two faux fur wraps that might just inspire some goofiness (too bad neither is ivory or I’d wear one to the wedding myself). I also have a rainbow coloured lei and I am sure we can rustle up some other odds and ends to throw in a box.
So there you have it - the homemade photo booth. The cost is minimal, especially when you consider that we get to keep the printer :). I actually wish I’d gotten the photo printer earlier because it was really handy to print out a few inspiration board photos to take to our florist appointment last weekend!
Now, here’s a tip for you Vancouver brides. As I was Googling around, trying to find ideas for my faux photo booth, I came across this company, PhotoBooth Vancouver, that does…you guessed it, photo booths for events in Vancouver. They charge $600 for two hours. Of course, they are booked for our wedding that is less than three weeks away (thank goodness, because I don’t think Miss GB 2.0 would appreciate me adding hundreds of dollars to our budget this late in the game). But this seems like a really good deal compared to what I’ve seen out there in photo booth rental land. Might be worth checking out.
Is anyone else going the homemade photo booth route? If so, how are you doing yours?
Related Posts
18 Responses to “Faux Photo Booth”
Yep yep! My uncle is a pro photog who actually had the idea to do this exact thing at a wedding 11 years ago!! It’s only now so popular, but he was ahead of his time! 
Those weren’t the days of digital of course, so people posed for pics and the bride & groom sent them a pic with thank you’s and kept one for themselves. I think we might go this route — send the pics later so that people don’t have to wait to print. Then, too, we can just add the photos to the book ourselves…or do people really like to do that part? Maybe we do need a photo printer
THANK YOU for posting that first photo with the source! I saw that ages ago and could not find it again. I am doing the same thing, and hoping to find a vintage sheet (or tablecloth - great idea!) at Goodwill for the backdrop.
Fabulous idea! Are you going to assign someone to take the pictures or have instructions on the camera’s timer? I might just have to snag this idea!
Such a cute idea!
Becky
You know what would also be cute? I’m waiting to do it at a house party one of these days for our guest, you can get an empty dramatic frame, and have people hold it up to pose with “inside” the frame. I hope that made sense. =)
I was thinking of doing a similar thing, but I was also worried about how long printing might take. So I think we might just have digital pictures taken and then upload them all to my smugmug site so everyone can see them (we’ll already have instructions to go there so guests can upload their own photos). We can print them for cheap at Walgreens later. Then in the photo album, where the photo will go later, have them put an index card with the names of who is in the photo and their addresses (to make thank you notes easier later)
Mr. Dmd and I have gone back and forth about Polaroids versus a printer. We really hope to capture photos of people outdoors as much as possible given our personalities. So the only option for us is to go with the polaroid and scan everything afterwards to ensure we have copies of the photos. If Mother Nature changes things on the wedding day, maybe we’ll have the makeshift photo booth at the reception.
Besides, I’m kind of having fun with the polaroid. The film’s a bit expensive, but worth the convenience and entertainment factor. In addition to a point-and-shoot polaroid, I bought an old sx-70 and find it absolutely adorable. It’s something that I can use for fun and eventually just keep as a wonderful antique decoration for my desk.
Thanks for the ideas! It gives me reason to invest in a couple parasols.
@JC: We are going to ask a friend to snap the photos.
@Mrs. Cherry Blossom: The frame idea is great!
@dmdwed: Parasols are a really good idea!
great timing! we fell in love with the idea of a photo booth, especially since we’ve been known to visit one or two in our time, but couldn’t squeeze it into the budget. now it’s bank in the running - thanks, miss GB!
it will be perfect to tie in to our wedding party thank-you gifts - we’ve designed a four panel card for each that we’ll execute at our neighborhood photo booth with the help of props and signs. fun times!
I love this - it sounds like to much fun! I’d have a blast with it if I were a guest.
@Mrs. Cherry Blossom: Super cute idea Cherry Blossom!
A few tips from a professional photographer that does photo booths at weddings (me):
-Iron that tablecloth. Pronto. It will be very, very distracting in the background if you don’t.
-And on that point, for anyone else considering using a sheet for a background, use a simple print (or no print at all) and stay away from reflective fabrics, which will give you a nasty flash back and steal light from your subjects. Again, distracting. (This is what our photobooth snaps look like with a plain white background: http://www.snaptacularphotos.com/Images/IMG_0418-web.jpg)
-A tripod is your friend, both for consistency and backaches. Plus people tend to understand that it’s a photo booth better when there’s a camera in front of it.
-You can let people take their own photos if you have a remote timer and a thoughtfully written sign.
-You might lie about the amount of time the camera gives, though, and get some interesting photos when they’re not ready…which tend to be the best. This also works by telling whoever is taking the photos to just start snapping to catch people off guard.
-Make sure your DJ/MC/person with a loud voice makes an announcement about the booth after dinner.
-Put it near the bar.
Oh, and one more thing. Make it as wide as you possibly can, because when people are not constrained by a booth, they will tend to really pack a bunch of people into the frame, and may migrate farther than your backdrop, which looks weird.
We were thinking of booking with Photobooth Vancouver as well, but they were booked on our date. Then we considered the diy route and so we’d need to rent a digicam with remote control shutter release. Finally, I though, hello, why not see if our wedding photog or her assistant would be able to run the booth? She agreed and now we’re getting a photobooth at no extra expense, plus the pics will be awesome.
We are going to do a very similar thing, except we aren’t even printing the pictures at the wedding - we’ll just print them later. But we will get guests to write their message to us on small pieces of cardstock, so I can get my scrapbook on afterwards.
And although my FI and I do have an awesome tickle trunk full of old Halloween-y goodness, we plan to hit up Dollarama for some good kids-sized props to help the adults have fun
This is exactly what I am wanting to do - a box of props with a feather boa I have, crazy hats, maybe some stick on mustaches, and other funny props… a friend to man the camera… and a digital photo printer! One for them (maybe), one for my guestbook. I’d only have this during the time after the wedding and before the reception, though, so my friends don’t get enslaved to the booth.
[...] you may recall, we are planning to do a faux photo booth (or fauxto booth as some clever person said on BeeTV last night. If it was you, claim it, cuz that [...]
Mrs. Gingerbread, Vancouver
Age and Occupation: 32, Psychologist
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 33, Software Engineer
Engagement Date: Sometime in the fall of 2004
Wedding Date: July, 2008
Blogging Since: March 24, 2008
Venue: Rainforest wedding, beachfront restaurant reception
About Me: I recently moved to Canada from Southern California. Trying to plan a wedding in a new city, not to mention a new country, is tough, but the fact that we can get legally married here more than makes up for it! The wedding will be an opportunity for most of our family and friends to see our new city for the first time so it will be both a wedding and a reunion. Besides my future wife, I am also madly in love with a good bargain, Swedish pastries, Tivo, and my two dogs and calico cat (in no particular order).
Great idea!! I just may have to steal this