It’s wedding season and love is in the air! Even though the wedding should be all about the couple, every bride wants their wedding to be unique and enjoyable for their guests.
One popular wedding trend is incorporating a photo booth into the wedding day festivities. This popular activity is not only fun for your guests but also provides everyone a keepsake from your special day.
While having a photo booth is a great idea, it can use up a large part of your budget if you’re not careful. To reduce costs and ensure originality, try one of these fun do-it-yourself photo booth concepts. For most of these ideas, all you need is an instant film camera, some good lighting, and a great backdrop.
1. Promote Your Hashtag
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Creating a wedding hashtag is a popular wedding trend for modern couples. This option allows you to create a virtual photo collection from your special day. Anyone who takes a photo from their smart phone can post it to be viewed by all! You won’t regret incorporating this idea in your wedding plans as you will be able to look back at all the fun moments from the day. While you should be promoting your hashtag throughout the wedding, make sure to place a sign by your photo booth explaining your hashtag so those pictures can be included in the collection along with others from throughout the day.
2. Purchase Old Vintage Frames
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Consider purchasing some large empty vintage frames from a yard sale or thrift store. These frames can be painted or decorated to fit the rest of your wedding décor. Guests can then hold the frame around the group to capture a picture-perfect memory.
3. Design a Giant Polaroid Frame
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Similar to the old vintage frames, you can craft a large, imitation Polaroid frame with an imprinted message. Purchase a large piece of foam board and cut a square hole in the middle for the frame. Decorate the bottom with your names, the date of your wedding or any other message you desire. You can support the frame with two large poles and chicken wire wrapping the wire in ribbon or flower strands to give it more appeal.
4. Create and Paint a Trifold
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Purchase three large pieces of plywood and connect them with a hinge into a trifold. You can then paint the plywood the color of your choice and stencil any sayings or messages you’d like reflected in the photos. For the best photo effects consider using darker paints for the backdrop and complete the stenciling in a lighter color.
5. Use Sheer Curtains and String Lights
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For something very simple yet elegant, consider hanging a sheer curtain from a rod along a solid wall in your reception room. Make sure there is an electrical outlet along the chosen wall. Behind the curtain you can hang long white string lights. This will give a glowing romantic effect, setting the mood for your special day.
6. Hang Flower Garlands
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For a more feminine photo booth backdrop, consider hanging flower garlands from fishing wire string. You can choose fake flowers or inexpensive carnations from a florist. The flowers should align with your wedding vision and color scheme. You will also need some heavy duty embroidery needles. From there, lace the flowers onto the fishing string using the embroidery needles. You can then pin the garlands to the wall or drape them around a pre-existing structure — like a gazebo — at your wedding venue.
7. Trip Down Memory Lane
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Allow your guests to document and capture their favorite memory of you and your new spouse. Purchase something dainty and delicate like doilies or heart shaped foam and provide your guests with sharpies or some other bold writing utensil. Encourage them to write down their favorite memory with you and/or write you a wedding message. They can then snap a photo holding up their message. This will be fun for you and your spouse to review later when the festivities are over.
8. Use Props
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Your guests will be less concerned with your backdrop if you have a lot of fun and relevant props to keep them entertained. Consider purchasing or hand crafting props that reflect your relationship with your spouse. This keeps the photos a little more sentimental and meaningful while also reminding people why they are there! You can’t go wrong with a good selection of props for the make-shift photo booth.
9. Carnival Style Board
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If you know someone crafty and artistic that would be willing to volunteer their time to help in your wedding preparations, consider asking them to work with you on building and painting a carnival style cutout wooden board for your photo booth. This option requires a large piece of plywood with several rounded face-shaped cutouts for guests. The front of the board can be painted as the bodies of the bride and groom with a backdrop reflective of something you enjoy doing together. Make sure you include footstools for guest too short to reach!
10. Kissing Booth
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A kissing booth is another fun concept for a wedding photo booth. There are lots of different styles for this option so you can put your own spin on it. The most simplistic and inexpensive option is to use large pieces of cardboard and spray paint them. A large box can be used as the base of the stand with a large cutout frame as the top. For a more durable option, you could visit the hardware store to create a wooden frame. Make sure to decorate it and give it some curb appeal for your guests.
As you can see, there are plenty of budget-friendly alternatives to the traditional photo booth rental. Get creative with your selection and try to blend it as much as possible with your wedding theme. With a little time and elbow grease, you will be well on your way to providing your guests with endless hours of entertainment at your wedding and a lifelong collection of memories for you and your new love!
