Many of us agree that photography is a HUGE part of your big day. After all, your photos stay with you forever! As if pictures weren’t prominent enough in the wedding biz, they’ve taken a step further into the spotlight with the introduction of photo booths.
So what’s the big deal with these anyway? Obviously, a photo booth lets your guest take home sweet photos, sure to bring up memories of the fun they had at your wedding. But pictures aside, photo booths keep guests’ spirits high. After the pomp and circumstance of a formal ceremony, it gives your guests a chance to cut loose and express themselves in a humorous way.
Now, let’s get real for a minute. Yep, we have to start thinking about the dreaded b-word. Photo booths for weddings typically rent for $1000+. And when you’re on a budget, well, that can be a lot of dough to dish out on a novelty. But let’s step back and think about the concept of the photo booth. You want to give your guests an easy way to capture wedding-day memories. You want to provide them a fun setup. Thinking about it this way, having a photo booth – without actually renting one – is totally doable.
A couple ideas:
The Polaroid Setup. This requires very little work from you. All you need is the camera; a small table to set the camera on (along with extra paper and batteries, if you have a large guest list); and backdrop (whether it’s a folding screen, or pretty fabric tacked to the wall if your venue allows). Make it fun and set out a box of props, too!
Polaroid Z340 Instant Digital Camera, $299 at Polaroid.com
Polaroid cameras are easy to operate, so guests can take turns taking pictures of each other, or hold up the camera to take pictures of themselves.
Tip: If you don’t already have a Polaroid camera, register for one! Make sure it’s on your registry early and maybe, just maybe, you’ll get it before your wedding. If not, cross it off the registry and pick one up yourself. It’s less than a third the cost of a photo booth, and you get to take it with you on the honeymoon! If $300 is still too rich for your blood, you can grab an old school vintage Polaroid for a fraction of the cost of a new one on Etsy, and source film for it from The Impossible Project!
The Laptop Setup. To get closer to the real deal, you can purchase photo booth software (like Spark Booth, $59) that takes the pictures through your webcam. By bringing in a laptop and printer, you can set up a photo station that snaps your guests’ photos in a single keystroke and prints them out in photo-booth format. Brilliant! Interested in the details? See the step-by-step and results from a real wedding here.
You can take these ideas a step further by using the pictures in your guestbook, as an alternative to signatures. Set out markers for the guests to write messages on the prints, and mounting squares to stick their snapshots in a scrapbook. (Your crafty girlfriends will have fun with this, too!)
Hey, Broke-Asses! Christen, your new Real Wedding homie, here. I originally thought I would intro myself with my wedding, but then I saw Brooke and Landon’s pink-and-zebra country club fete oozing with tradition and sentiment, and I couldn’t resist moving them up in the queue. Brooke and her family are dear friends of Dana’s – so we’re extra thrilled to share their special day with you! These two managed to squeeze a 300-person wedding into a budget of ~$23K and its oozing with style! And feel free to get slapped in the face with the incredible amount of luuurrve you’ll get from them.
Name: Brooke
Occupation: Assistant Manager at The Buckle
Wedding location: Salina, Kansas
Wedding Date: June 3, 2011
Budget: $23,597.75
How would you describe your wedding?
Our wedding was PERFECT, at least we think so. Our day started off with me waking up at my parents’ place with my mother and father by my side in the morning with big smiles on their faces. Landon woke up at his family’s place and made sure everything was taken care of at the reception. Landon and I didn’t want to see each other at all before the wedding at 7:00 in the evening. We wanted to be traditional and not ruin the moment that I had dreamed of since I was a little girl.
Our wedding theme was different at both of our sites. At the church it was filled with cherry blossoms, white, pink and just a touch of zebra. The cherry blossoms were used in our family because Landon is part Japanese. His grandmother is actually from Japan and is such a beautiful woman both inside and out.
When you arrived at the reception site you walked in to feather-filled centerpieces, with hot pink and zebra in your face.
Our church was not a traditional church. It is actually a church converted into a blues recording studio. We wanted a church with a lot of character, and we got exactly what we asked for. The walls are covered with signed autographs of famous blues players and posters of past concerts that were held at this old church.
Our reception site was at our country club. This isn’t the fanciest place in the world but it held a tradition for me. About 37 years earlier my parents had their reception at that same country club and I wanted to dance in the same spot they had danced 37 years earlier. We had a jazz band that played when people arrived at 8 until all the people were gone.
When we arrived at the reception we went straight into our couple’s first dance, toasts, slideshow and then the cutting of the cake. We allowed people to eat before we got there so they wouldn’t be waiting on us, because we find it extremely annoying when you are starving and you have to wait on the bride and groom to get there after taking photos for 3 hours so that they can eat first. We then got to eat (a little) and then go around and see all of our friends and family. Then we got to do our father/daughter dance, mother/son dance, group dance, bouquet toss (that included lottery tickets, money and gift cards that both men and women were able to participate in). Then we danced the night away!
I did wear something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue. My old was my grandmothers gold ring that my mother wore in her wedding. Something new was my Maggie Sottero wedding dress. Something borrowed was my mother’s diamond earrings, and something blue was my garter.
What was your favorite part of your wedding?
Not to be cliché, but when I saw Landon at the altar waiting for me to walk down the aisle. My hairdresser bet me that morning that he would be blubbering. I thought “No way!” As I waited nervously, hiding at the back of the church thoughts ran through my head of what he would look like, that I should try not to cry, and not to trip as I walked down the aisle. I looked at my Dad and he gave me a grin and our song started to play. I felt like I needed to pee, puke, all of the above. My father took me by the arm and started to go.
I noticed everyone standing up and all I wanted to see was my family and Landon. I turned the corner down the center aisle and saw his face. I will never forget his face as long as I live. He had the biggest grin but he was struggling trying to fight back tears.
Then, I lost it. All of my scared nervous energy went straight to a smile with tears rolling down my face of joy, that I had finally found my soulmate and today was our day. People keep telling us that when we walked down the aisle you could feel the love between us.
What did you splurge on?
We definitely splurged on our photographers, We Are The Parsons, because we wanted to be able to relive each moment of our wedding for as long as we live. Landon’s father passed away several years ago and we realized how important pictures are because they can capture a memory of a time and a place that we can go back to. We found these photographers online and knew that they were the ones. They fly all around the world to photograph weddings and we were lucky enough to have them in Salina, Kansas, for our wedding day. I hope to continue to have the Parsons take pictures as our family grows for years to come.
What did you save on?
Instead of a sit down full on steak dinner, we decided to do hors d’oeuvres and Shirley Temples. Even though it was still a lot of money it could have been a lot worse with all the people we had. We served mini grilled cheeses with tomato soup shooters, twice-baked potatoes, fajita bar, and a chocolate fountain with fruit, cheesecake, etc. We did not have any alcohol at our wedding because both of us and our families are not very big drinkers in the first place.
Was there anything you would have done differently, in retrospect?
I loved having our wedding reception at the country club, but unfortunately at the same time I had to have about four different meetings with the head people of the club to make sure that everything was ready and good. They seemed to be very unorganized and often forgot the wedding menu and timeline of that night. On our wedding day, our menu had changed a little without notice and our projector we needed for our slideshow was in a different location that day and it was our job then to find another one that morning. Luckily, Landon and my father were to the rescue. I would just make sure that for all your venues you hire someone who will keep in contact with you and who is very organized. This will save a lot of headaches.
What was your biggest challenge in planning?
Trying not to go over our budget! We planned to stay around the $20,000-25,000 range, which we did!!! YAY! But it was hard because we knew a large chunk of money was going to the photographers and toward my dress. Luckily, I had one of the best wedding planners ever and she made it happen.
What lessons did you learn from planning or from the wedding itself?
It’s really really nice to have a timeline and make sure you stay on top of it. in one of my first meetings with my wedding planner, we went over what had to be done every month so I knew what to expect. I was soooo excited about planning my wedding that we were way ahead of schedule on most of everything which was soooo nice. I know several of my friends who got married that same summer didn’t have a set timeline, and it was very challenging for them about 2 months out from the wedding since they had so much to do.
What were your top 5 favorite things about your wedding?
1. Having the most amazing wedding planner, Laura Besher.
2. Our photographers and our photos that we now have forever and ever.
3. Our beautiful four-tiered cherry blossom cake.
4. My dress.
5. The Bill McMosley Jazz Band.
Top 5 least favorite?
1. How hot the church was with over 300 people in it and the A/C was on full blast.
2. Not being able to breathe before walking down the aisle.
3. People walking in last minute right before you walk down the aisle.
4. Landon’s father and my grandfather were unable to be there physically. (But they were there spiritually.)
5. Having to decide who to cut from your close friends on the invitation list so that you don’t max out.
What was the best wedding advice you received?
We had been given this advice from several people, “Enjoy and cherish every moment you have at your wedding, because it will fly by.” This was especially true for us because we didn’t have our wedding until 7 in the evening. This was honestly the best advice because we can remember and enjoy almost every moment from our wedding because we took the time to enjoy it and not worry about the little things.
Any other bits of wisdom?
Be yourself and have a blast!! Just remember that this is your special day with the person you are going to be with the rest of your life. It’s kind of awesome.
Hair Dresser: Terri Hajny at Hair Connection in Salina, Kan.
Cheers, Brooke and Landon! Looks like a rockin’ good time. xoxo!
The Broke-Ass Bride is always looking for rad-tastic Broke-Ass weddings to feature. Interested? You can submit via Two Bright Lights or by emailing us directly!
Dan Chen is the man. Ask anyone in either Dana’s or my extended family and they will not stop singing his praises. Many of you already know of his amazing talent as a wedding photographer, but you may not know that he is just as generous as he is gifted. Since the moment we met Dan he has been nothing but kind and giving. Oh yeah, and Dan is a pretty awesome guy to simply hang out with too. I wrote this song and put this music video together to thank Dan for his generous donation to Dishing For Dana, which has helped Dana destroy her medical debt.
We shot the video during Hurricane Irene in Astoria Queens. All trains and bridges were shut down and we weren’t going anywhere. So when I said, “Lets make a music video.”, my best from from high school Elliot Villar and his (also kinda my) little brother David were ready to play. So a big thanks to My Brothers Villar!
The Music? Ah, the music. K.U. aka Kustoo aka Jacques Slade is my producer (and one of my favorite rappers). I’ll let the awesomeness of Jacques work speak for him, but I will just add this: There is really no way to overstate how lucky I am to have such talented, kind and giving people in my life.
I hope you enjoy this, ’cause I’m happy to say there’s a few more “thank you raps” coming at you soon…
O.K. I’m gonna stop babbling so that you can rock out to this bit of fun:
When Le Image videography contacted us to share this cute and clever engagement video with us, we knew we had to pass it along to the broke-ass masses. It’s right in our wheelhouse of outside the box, personality-infused, unique creativity. Check out the fun that is Sia & Jeff!
A video like this wouldn’t be too difficult to make on your own, at all – especially in these days of new-fangled, fancypants iphones and flipcams…. but in case you happen to be in the DUMBO, Brooklyn area of New York, Le Image is offering Broke-Ass Bride readers 5% off their videography services when you mention our site! (and yes, they are willing to travel outside of DUMBO, too.)
Are you doing an outside the box engagement video or shoot to reflect your personalities? We’d love to see it! Submit yours and we just might feature it here on the blog!
My friend and wedding photographer Louis often calls us “jerks” when we act as his models. I don’t really know why, it’s one of his charming quirks. He says it with love.
But when he takes my wedding photos, Louis is going to find out just exactly how much of a jerk I am.
Because I am going to waste a bunch of valuable photo taking-time with in-jokes that have no chance of being funny to anyone who hasn’t spent 18 months consuming too much wedding media, and little chance of being funny to even that strange little subset of people.
I want photos like this, only shot well:
My pajamas, on a satin hanger, in front of a mirror.
So here’s my work-in-progress list of Must-Have wedding shots for jerks:
A getting-ready photo where I’m inelegantly picking my teeth or fixing a catastrophic eyeliner flub.
A picture of the bridal party crouching, because I think that’s the opposite of jumping.
A macro-focus shot of our rings, but instead of putting them on a relevant bible verse, I want to put them on the dictionary definition of awesome.
A photo of my hands serenely cupped in front of my stomach, but holding my credit card instead of a flower or a bridal peach or whatever.
A picture of us stiffly standing next to each other with our clothes hiked up so you can see our bare feet.
A photo of us cutting a doughnut or a cookie like it requires the full attention and combined strength of two people.
A picture of Collin standing on an apple box so he can lean down to kiss the top of my head.
Actually, I want him to lean down to bite the top of my head.
Can you think of any other wedding photo clichés we can send up?
Annie at Thriftfulness tipped me off to her adorable, DIY and dirt cheap wedding save-the-date cards which she made using rubber stamps!
She detailed the how on her blog, so check it out! What a great and easy craft that can be used for all sorts of wedding-y goodness, right?
Have y’all heard of “light painting“? It seems like all the new rage, and its being used to make some pretty effing rad save-the-dates by you crafty readers!
Laura + Chase put Chase’s mad skillz to use and created this edgy and creative light painting postcard save-the-date for 100 guests for $55 total! You can learn more about how they did it here (and check out some of Chase’s other cool work while you’re at it). Don’t you just love this?
Melodee + Kris got in on the light-painting action with this cute, short and sweet save-the-date video, using Kris’ mad video techniques and the help of some family and friends!
Kira + Kyle sent in their playful and adorable save-the-date with a great reader tip! “I’m a graphic designer and artist so I designed our save the dates and had them printed at printpelican.com for about .40 cents a piece, and after envelope and postage each save the date ended up being about $1.00 a piece. Print Pelican was the only place I was able to find on the internet that could do the square magnets that I wanted and did it for much cheaper than most of the other printers that could only do rectangles.” Check it out:
Elena + James kept it simple, sweet, and affordable by laying some Vistaprint discount code action on a photo from their engagement session, and got their save-the-dates out to 50 people for less than $30!
Brooke + Toon’s creative video showcases stop-motion and their personalities in an adorably charming (and literal) way.
Nick + Rebecca’s movie poster save-the-dates such a fun twist on the norm! They worked their broke-ass brilliance and had their friend Sean design them for free in exchange for the graphic design experience, and they printed them at the vocational school for only 50 cents each! Holler!
This one is my favorite:
I’m so proud of y’all, rocking your broke-asses like gangstas! Brings a proud tear to my wee, bionic eye.
Did you make something for your wedding that you’d like featured? Send it in, yo!
Check out this brilliantly simple and lovely wedding video shot ENTIRELY on iphone 4 – no fancy tricks, filters, staging or color correction. Just good eyes, good editing, and good good lovin’.
I am a HUGE advocate for the wedding video, but I know its often one of the first items to get chopped by the broke-ass couple. This, my wee friends, makes it so no one ever has to miss out on the treat of reliving your vows, the toasts, or your first dance – over and over throughout the years. Just have a few trusty friends shoot from different angles throughout the day, collect their footage, and edit away! This one was shot on only one phone, believe it or not. It can be done!!!
Big thanks to BridePop for bringing this to my attention, and to Monachetti for having the creative stones to try this out in the first place.
I totes want to stalk these two and become friends with them. They made an adorbs save the date in the style of Rushmore. Rushmore?! Are you freaking kidding me?!?
GENIUS.
Gah, now I want to watch Rushmore again. So good.
PS – how much do I love that napping and cat wrangling were on their Wedding Prep list at the top?
Awwwww, yeah. Gather round and turn up your volume… Its time to celebrate the style, the savvy, the sass and the frass that members of our very own Broke-Ass Brigade have submitted… its broke-ass reader videos! *cue broke-ass video intro music* This installment features videos covering every step of weddings… we’ve got ourselves a proposal, a save-the-date, a wedding highlight video, and we’re bringing it together with a surprise bang at the end! Let’s roll film, shall we?
Ryan and Andrea’s wedding planner submitted his surprise proposal video on their behalf, and I’m so happy she did! Ryan made it himself, in the style of those cute “love is…” drawings… remember those? Way to blaze a bad-ass proposal trail for the other gents out there, son! I dig it.
Sarah sent in this charming yet simple save-the-date video. It’s cute, affordable, and fun… and I love it! Plus, doesn’t the Andy Warhol Museum sound like a rad place for a wedding? Hells yeah it does!
Rachel is a true example of a broke-ass brilliant bride, because instead of hiring a videographer, she had two friends carry camcorders and then she edited the footage together like a bad-ass to create this sweet and funky fresh 5-minute highlight video. Bonus points for writing each other’s vows (adorable) and using one of my favorite songs as the soundtrack!
And last, but not least…. My homeboy Dan Chen at Chennergy’s wife/partner Sarah is a fierce videographer, and they teamed up with their fellow shooter Lauren to make this hype video. Lauren and new hubby Matt don’t get enough time together because of Matt’s long hours as a cop. Thus, most of their engagement was done “through the phone”. You’ve got to see this one yo! Lauren wins the “my chick bad” award today.
