Photobooth

What a fun idea! I really, really would love to do this at our wedding, but it costs almost $2000! There's absolutely no budget for it and if I had the money, I probably would spend it on a nicer, more meaningful wedding band. Of course, there is always the DIY route. Some DIY photobooths are more work than others, but it really depends on what you want.

The photobooths for rent for lots of money has some functions that you may or may not be able to get in a DIY photobooth. For instance, the professional one prints a copy for the guest and also saves a copy for a CD. That way, your guests get a souvenir and you get all the funky photos they took. The professional one also has dudes to set it up and take it away when done. A DIY one means we have to do everything ourselves. In terms of logistics, adding another DIY project can make things way more complicated than it has to be. I mean, we don't really NEED a photobooth. Lol!

However, it's not that hard to set up something very basic and very simple. The simplest version I've read about requires a backdrop made with some fabric draped over a frame and a camera on a tripod. This setup will probably need a table nearby with props, an extra battery and memory card, and a camera remote. You can also have the camera set to a timer instead of responding to a remote. The guests won't be able to take home a souvenir, but you can send them copies of their photos after you've downloaded them.

An alternative to the above set up is to hook up a printer to the camera and set it to print the photos from the camera. This way, your guests can take home their photos and you also get a copy from the memory card. Of course, this will depend on how portable your printer is and some printers are not capable of printing without direction from a computer program, in which case, you'll need a laptop. You can actually buy a portable photo printer for anywhere less than $100 and up. For instance, a Canon iP4600 Inkjet Photo Printer (2909B002)is less than $100. An Epson PM 260 PictureMate Dash Photo Printer costs less than $200. An HP Photosmart 475 Compact Photo Printer costs a little over $300. As with any home printer, remember to factor in the cost of extra ink cartridges and photo paper. The printer may be cheap, but the ink and paper might be super expensive. Don't get fooled by concentrating only on the initial cost of the printer.

So the next version I want to outline requires a homemade backdrop, a camera on a tripod, a laptop computer and a printer. First, you have to get software for your laptop. If you are using a PC, you can try PSRemote. Check its list of compatible cameras to make sure your camera is supported. If you are using a Mac with an iSight camera, you can use the pre-installed Photobooth software and just set up the computer without a separate camera. A computer gives you more options and control, and in my opinion, requires a person to remain at the station to handle operations.

Another version also requires a homemade backdrop, but instead of a regular camera, computer or printer, there's a polaroid camera on a tripod. You'll need to have extra film paper nearby and unfortunately, polaroid film is expensive! In this setup, guests can take home their photos, but you won't get a copy for yourself.

The last version I want to mention requires a LOT of work, but it results in a product much like a professional photobooth. It's actually pretty awesome! Unfortunately for me, it's beyond my abilities to create right now. If you're interested, here's the tutorial:
http://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-Photobooth/.

After thinking upon the above options, I'm leaning towards making a backdrop, setting up a camera on a tripod and hooking the camera to a printer. In a pinch, I can drape a sheet of fabric over a PVC or light wooden frame. If I have more time and energy, I would LOVE to do something like this:
http://community.theknot.com/cs/ks/blogs/wedding_style_file/archive/2009/07/16/reception-ideas-genius-photo-booth.aspx

As for the printer, the one I have at home is big and clunky and totally not portable. As an alternative, I could purchase a Canon Selphy CP780 or an Epson PictureMate Dash PM260. The Epson Picturemate seems pretty popular in the blogs for DIY photo booths, but the Canon Selphy looks cuter and more portable.

In the end, though I'm enamored of the idea of having a photo booth at my wedding, I'm not certain yet that I'll have one. We'll see how overwhelmed I get. If there's time and resource, it will be placed on my list of DIY wedding projects.