It’s your Wedding day, of course you want to capture as many memories as possible. Not just the ones taken by your professional photographer but the candid photos of you and your guests. You are naturally racking your brains for ideas of how to capture these images, so we have put together a few ideas below
Hire a Caricaturist
We’ve all seen the funny pictures, and everyone has wondered what they would look like if drawn by a caricaturist. A caricaturist is someone who can have fun with the guests and turn the captured moments into an event in itself, providing entertainment as well as giving you those unforgettable images. There are many options when it comes to hiring a caricaturist, prices range from around £140 to £960 depending on the quality of drawing and the type of picture you are looking for. The downside is of course these are of individual people rather than candid moments, however it depends what you are aiming to get from your day.
Polaroid Cameras
Another idea is to scatter polaroid cameras around your event. This way, the guests can pick them up and take photos, immediately having the printed image in their hand to perhaps stick up on a board you have prepared. Whilst some may think of this as a prohibitively expensive idea, some people already own polaroid cameras and others might be open to lending them. If you do need to buy from scratch, polaroid cameras start from around £40. The downside to the cheaper options is photo quality and the fact they are single print, there will be no digital copy of the photo taken to use at another time. Still, it is cheaper than a photo booth!
Photo Station
This is a fairly new concept to weddings, due to the recent ready availability of tablets, however it is a nice idea if you are happy to have your device out in the open for all to use. It is as simple as putting your tablet on a stand (roughly £24) and leaving instructions and maybe even props, for your guests to use it to take photos. Then, at the end of the night, you have all of your photos in one place to easily view and store. This is what I would call, the 21st Century photobooth!
Disposable Cameras as Wedding Favours
Back to a classic now, pre technology, and that is disposable cameras. Can’t think of what to do for Wedding Favours? This idea kills two birds with one stone as you have your favours and a way to capture those candid photos. You can either buy the ready made favours for £10 - £15 each, or if you’re feeling creative, go down the DIY route with packs of 6 disposable cameras costing around £40 and a trip to Hobbycraft! Of course, the downside to this is photo quality and lack of digital copy, similar to the polaroid option. There is also the option of the infamous thumb in the corner of the picture. Again, it depends on your aim for your candid photos.
Designated candid photographer
Do you have a teen attending the Wedding who needs something to keep them entertained rather than being asked about school and told how much they have grown? Give them a mobile phone if they don’t already have one and ask them to snap away. Of course, with this option, you do run the risk of a million selfies!
Custom SnapChat filter
Snapchat – not just an app for the young! You can create a custom filter for your guests to use, called a Geofilter. This is a location specific filter, that guests can add to photos or videos that they take at your event. For £4 you will get around 8 hours usage, starting at 22,000 square feet, however if you would like a larger area for your event then £30 will get you 81,000 square feet and 25 hours use. This does, however, limit you to that one platform and your photos can't be transferred to another storage device. Still pretty cool though!
Create your own hashtag
If your Wedding is full of people who are young or at least ‘down with the kids’, chances are, most of them will use or know about Instagram. By creating your own hashtag, for example #jenanddavesweddingcolchester, and putting it up on signs around your venue, all people need to do is upload their photos to Instagram with your hashtag. If you want to view your photos, simply log on to Instagram, search for your hashtag and voila! Important to note with this option, that Instagram do reduce the quality of the photos when uploaded. So if you are looking for photos that can be printed after the event, this might not be the choice for you.
Online photo sharing QR code
Of course, no blog would be complete without a little bit of self promotion, so why not avoid the fuss and preparation and use EventsAlbum for your guests photos. Simply set up your event, create a QR code and have it around your venue/on tables for guests to use. All they have to do is scan the QR code and upload photos to the website. No need to set up an account or download an app. Your photos are then securely held in one place for you to use at your leisure. There is no compromise on quality as we do not resize the image and we offer the option of a live scrolling gallery, so your guests can view the photos as they are uploaded. All of this, for just £30. So, what are you waiting for? The sign up button is just at the top of the page 😊