HOW TO: A HOMEMADE WEDDING PHOTOBOOTH

Photobooths at weddings are really fun, so it was a no-brainer decision that we wanted one for ours. The trend is just appearing in certain parts of Germany, unlike in the UK and US, where it is already outrageously popular. I knew from the beginning that I wanted to make my own 'photo-corner', with decorations and props and not just to save money. I want to keep it for future parties and celebrations. Posing in funny glasses, to me, will never get old. So how do you put together a homemade wedding photobooth? This is a step-by-step break-down of how we did it....or course, with a little help from some friends.

THE BACKGROUND

• To make the frame we used wood that was hanging around the in-laws barn. The frame had three sections which attached to each other by a hinge. Each section was stabilised by a sheet of thin wood. Then it was painted with a light grey colour - because we had that already too, so another freebie. Our frames were each 140cm wide and 210cm high. Cost: £0:00 Budget: £20:00 (we costed this in Germany in case we couldn't find the materials at home)

• To attach the curtains we went to Ikea and bought two RÄCKA corner pieces, three RÄCKA curtain poles (1 x 120-200cm, 2 x 70-120cm) Cost: £14:00
•  The curtain fabric was also found in Ikea. We bought 8 metres of white DITTA fabric. I then made a hem at the bottom and a looped hem at the top. We kept the width of the fabric at 150cm wide and made them 200cm long (once hemmed). Cost: £24:00
• We borrowed the garden bench. Cost: £0:00

THE TECHNICAL EQUIPMENT

•  We are lucky enough to own a Digital SLR. The Canon 600D did a marvellous job.
•  An HD 8GB memory card allowed us to save hundreds of high quality pictures. Similar here.
• A mains adaptor (Update when I ask hubbie where he found it!)
• A Canon remote control. Cost: £14.99
• A tri-pod Cost: £24.99

 We positioned the camera during set-up and made sure it was in focus. Then we used tape on the floor to make sure it was easy to reposition if it was accidentally knocked or so.

THE DECORATION

• The fans were made with the help of two friends, while enjoying some home-cooked food and wine. I used thin cardboard in the colours of the wedding and attached nylon thread to each rosette fan to make it easier to hang. I bought A1 sheets, with roughly 2-3 sheets of each colour. (Similar here)There are plenty of tutorials around, but here is the one I started with by Catch my Party. I just cut some holes in mine to pick-up on the white background. Cost: £8:00
•  The bunting will be mentioned in an up-and-coming post, but it is some that we had leftover from dressing the room.
• The little paper pom poms were made from the leftovers from the ceiling pom-poms. I explained how to make these last week in this step-by-step tutorial. Cost: £0:00 (leftovers)
• The tiny wool pom-pom chain, was made with some £1 wool I found in a sale, using a fork. Cost: £1:00





THE PROPS

• I trawled pound shops and Primark to find some of the hats, sunglasses and headbands. Cost: £20:00
• Some of the props we had from fancy dress parties and some we borrowed. Cost: £0:00
• The rest of the props are handmade. I had help from another good friend over a bottle of wine to put all of these together. We made a big mixture of hats, moustaches, and props to do with fairytales (as the wedding was in the area which inspired The Brothers Grimm to write some of their most famous stories). There was also a wurst (sausage) and a cup of tea which was really quite popular! These props were all made out of sheets of foam. Again, I bought around 8 sheets and there is plenty left over. We attached them to wooden sticks (similar here), and I did this with my husband's electrical tape because he had lots of fancy colours!  Cost: £5:00 (discounting the wine I bought to help us along with this!)
THE SIGN

•  I used a wood off cut from a DIY store, painted it cream using some paint we already owned. I then drew out the design (with some help by copying fonts from online) before using permanent markers to colour it in. Cost: £5:00 (although I did use the pens for other projects!)
 Overall Total: £107:00
 I am really happy with the final total, and particularly because we now own all of the equipment to use it again one day. It certainly saved us a good £600-£700 by not renting one and was very popular with the guests. We uploaded a selection of the best pictures onto Google Documents and then sent the link out to everyone who struck a pose, so they could download their snaps and use them as they wished. This is a great (free) way to share the results and have some control over who has access to the content.

We were so busy on the day, that we only managed one photograph together! Here it is...don't we look fetching?!?

THE IRREPLACEABLE HELP
It isn't half as much fun making something like this without a few friend to help. I REALLY recommend roping in your besties to get in on the craft action. Provide wine, snacks and laughs and I guarantee that the whole process will be less of a chore!
 
 So...I should also mention my good friends Anna and Emi who dressed the photobooth for me. It really wouldn't have looked so fantastic without them. A big shout-out to Maja, Jessie and Lesli who helped me out with making everything that I have written about today. You all rock! And last but not least my other half and my father-in-law for all of the building. (This is starting to feel like an Oscar's speech.....)

If you have any questions on the whole photobooth thing , weddings or life in general, please leave me a comment below or tweet me or leave me a Facebook message - you know the drill by now!