Pictures of Your Guests

So, making sure that you capture your guests is always a bit of a tricky business. Do you leave cameras on the table, or have a photographer go around, or have some kids use a Polaroid camera to snap photos of everyone? These are all great ideas, and yes, I have been one of those children asked to take a Polaroid camera around and take pictures of everyone at my cousin's wedding. So, in this post, I'd like to outline a couple really great ideas that people have used to capture their guests at the wedding.


1) Some Cute Kids and a Polaroid Camera

So, this is basically what my cousin did at her wedding - she had my sister and I, two very sweet little girls (if I do say so myself) go around and, yes, sweetly, ask all of the guests (grouped by families and couples, of course) if we could take their pictures. Because it was a Polaroid camera, everyone could see their pictures right after we took them, which was fun. We put the pictures in a big book - probably a sketchbook or a scrapbook would be good - and then whoever the picture was of would write a note to the bride and groom on the other side of the page. It's a great way to nab all of your guests and be able to get a keepsake while not having to run around yourself. The only downside is, often, there isn't enough informal time while people are milling around to grab everyone's picture and everyone's notes. Also, even though we were very cute, a lot of people don't like being bugged to do something like that. I would suggest doing this only if A) You were already planning on having a casual reception before your dinner, where people will just be mingling anyway, and B) If you have cute kids who can sucker the pictures out of even the most stubborn people.


2) Disposable Wedding Cameras

This idea is hands-off, and can produce some really sweet, excellent results, especially if you have some nifty amateur photographers on your guest list. Basically, you can buy cameras like this at a variety of websites, for rully cheap (that's lolspeak for hella cheap). The cameras run around $2-$5, and often have cute sayings at the bottom of the pictures people take, like "Happily Ever After," etc. This link has a list of About.com's top 10 disposable wedding cameras, all around $5. The benefits are that it's cheap, hands-off, and not obnoxious (well, depending on who snatches the camera up). It can also give you some great, candid photos. Hey, I figure, it's cheap enough that you could probably pair it with either of the other two ideas posted here, and you'd be getting an excellent package overall!!

3) Funny Hats and a Photographer

This idea could be the most expensive of the three, but if you have a good friend with a nice camera, it might not be.  This idea was shown to me by my mom, who had a coworker who went to a wedding of the daughter of a friend, and thought it was great. Phew, convoluted friendship trails! The basic idea is that you have a bunch of funny hats and props and maybe a couple scarfs or something, and you let anybody and everybody take silly pictures in front of a backdrop throughout the evening. My mom's friend said that as the night progressed, the pictures became increasingly more amusing (for understandable, ethanol-related reasons... :D). I love this idea, because I love it when people get to be silly, and the pictures will be wonderful, candid, memory-making keepsakes. If you have a professional photographer who's doing this, make sure they're silly enough to pull it off! They have to get everybody cheerful enough to play around with the idea. If you have a silly friend who is also a photographer, all the better. I can't include any of the pictures that the couple took here, because, well, they're not mine, but you get the idea!


Last, but not least, look at these excellently funny (and occasionally awkward) wedding photos from BravoBride.com.