Photo Booth DIY

Whoever created the phenomena that is the photo booth is pure genius, who can deny?! Gone are the days of putting disposable cameras on your guests table, now your guests (and you of course) get to play dress up and create some classic photos for all to enjoy!

Despite the charmingly funny pictures you get, this doesn’t come cheap. Most photographers are able to offer a photo booth service complete with props and camera, or you have the extremely expensive option of hiring a mobile booth. These are great if you have the budget as they give you instant pics, one for your guests to keep and copy for you to keep in your album. However, in order to make it all the more accessible, why don’t you try creating your own photo booth at a fraction of the price, it’s really not that hard to do and it could save you hundreds of pounds. Here’s our little guide to doing it yourself:

1. If you have a digital SLR camera or know of a good friend that will lend you one for the evening, it’s a must in terms of getting the best quality of picture.

2. You’ll need a tripod and a remote shutter device. You can buy the latter for under £10 from Amazon. If you need a tripod, ask your friends if they or any of their family have one lying in their loft (as these things often do), but if not an inexpensive one will cost you around £10 – £15.

3. Spend an afternoon with your fiancée or your head bridesmaid visiting charity shops for props. The crazier the better. You don’t have to buy a ton of things, just a boxful will be plenty for your guests to start using their imagination. Here are some ideas to get you started: Hats (all different shapes and sizes), masks, glasses and sunglasses, bow ties, scarf’s, large glassless photo frames. You can now even buy photo booth props inexpensively from Ebay if you need to fill it out a bit.

4. Set up your photo booth in a corner of the venue. This will help your guests to let go of their inhibitions a bit more, as well as making sure that no one trips over the camera whilst throwing shapes on the dance floor!

5. To create a professional looking backdrop to your booth only requires a large sheet of material that can be draped over a door or pinned to a wall.

6. Nominate either the best man or a friend who will set this up for you on the day. The last thing you’ll want to do or have time to in between having your professional shots done and the other formalities on the day is setting up a photo booth. However saying that, it should take no longer than 10 – 15 mins max to set up.

7. Don’t forget to charge your camera beforehand!

8. Don’t forget to get in there yourself and have fun!