Alice fondly remembers the day she tied the knot – things get even more vivid each time she looks at the pictures. These are her stationary memories, frozen in time yet animated in her mind, that bring back the scent of the freshly mowed lawn, visuals of Thomas’s dazzling smile, the vibrations from the live band’s music, and the imposing love of her community made apparent by their presence in large numbers. She only has one regret; some of the pictures taken were beyond her reach. The photographer that was hired was far from omnipresent.
This is a story as old as time, a pattern that has shown itself in the weddings of people like Alice since pictures at weddings became a thing. Apart from the mandatory group photos, you aren’t likely to see the attendees in any other pictures and aren’t likely to be able to watch them enjoy your day while being captured in rare moments of goofiness and sport. Your story does not have to follow the same pattern – you could take a proactive step by choosing to employ certain methods to make sure that you get all (or most) of the pictures taken at the event for your viewing pleasure. How do you do that? We have compiled a few ideas that would be of benefit to you in this regard.
Ideas For Encouraging Guests To Take Pictures You Can Get
Apart from being able to view almost all pictures taken at the wedding, you would be creating a very engaging side activity for your guest when you employ most of these methods. You could even just do these in lieu of hiring a photographer (not advisable, but worth trying). Here are a few ideas you can use to encourage guests to take pictures, and more to ensure you get them:
Using disposable cameras
If you haven’t been to a wedding where disposable cameras were used, you have missed out on a lot. As a guest, being included in the picture-taking ritual is an incredible honour; it shows that the couple of the day wants to include you every step of the way. It also is a fun activity for all because it brings out the inner creatives.
Now imagine how amazing it’d feel if you are the couple of the day. You get to see all attendees, including friends and family and it shows you how the wedding went from different perspectives. Disposable cameras are cheap so you can fill a table with them and give guests at the beginning of the reception. You can also just place each one on every reception table so every group gets one. At the end of the day, you collect them all and print the pictures from them.
You can even keep them in a soft copy format if you want. Your guests would want to see the pictures they took too, so it would help if you shared the soft-copy versions after you have accessed them.
Create a hashtag on social media
If your guests consist primarily of the social media crowd, this is an amazing idea for you to use, not only on the wedding day but on the days leading to it. If you desire it, this is also a great way to publicize the event, and you are likely to be swamped with more well-wishers on the day of the wedding. You can also collate thoughts of friends using this, and after the wedding, you can get all pictures just by going through the hashtag. A win-win for everyone involved.
A real-time auto-sharing archive
This idea employs the use of a photo-sharing app which you invite your guests to by using a link. They then download the app (which is free) and you pay for the event. When each of your guests uses their device cameras while using the app, it automatically uploads to a central archive without requiring upload or tagging.
The benefits of this app are off the charts; you can get instant access to the archive and you are sure to get lots of pictures (considering the fact that people are more inclined to use their device camera for pictures). Privacy isn’t a problem; the guests and the couple can turn off their auto-sharing and delete photos at any time during the event. Sharing stops when the wedding ends.
There are variations of these apps that use face recognition. Guests send a selfie of themselves before the wedding and it is set that they get a notification from the app any time they appear in a picture. And do not worry: all pictures are uploaded in high resolution.
Using a Dropbox or Google photos link
This is like real-time uploading but with extra steps. All pictures can be uploaded through a link to Dropbox.
Hire a photo booth
This is always the ultimate choice if you want to get guests to take pictures. And it is better than most of the other options on the list because it is a very active method; it requires guests to actually want to partake in the photo-taking experience. A photo booth hire is a relatively inexpensive choice, and you would get an operator and the photo booth for the entire event.
The benefits do not stop there; you can customize the photo booth to fit the theme of your wedding. Selfie mirrors also are fast becoming a popular choice. Your booth can include an elaborately decorated backdrop that guests can stand against, and it can also be the traditional “box” that people go inside for poses. Pictures are instant access and there are booths that upload pictures instantly to social media (or a digital archive), where you can then collect and view them after.
Wrapping Up
With these ideas, you are sure to get more than 95% of the pictures taken at your event easily. And each of them presents an opportunity for your guests to have fun at the event. Snaptured is a photo booth hire Brisbane service that offers party decorations, special effects, gimmicks, and photo booths for all your parties. Contact us today to give your guests an experience they would not soon forget.