{plaid party: the photobooth}

{our past photobooths}

There is nothing I love more at a party (other than a nice glass of champagne) than a photobooth.  It is a great way to capture photos of all your guests and I love seeing how the photos progress as the night goes on.  The above image are some of the photobooths we have set up for past parties.

{chris setting up for the plaid party}

Setting up a photobooth is really simple as long as you have a few key items:

• camera: clearly this is sort of obvious, but I wanted to mention it because although I have a pretty advanced camera, it is possible to set up a photobooth even with a simple point & shoot camera so long as it can be mounted on a tripod. 

• camera remote: I highly recommend this one for Canon users, but for other camera models you should be able to find a good wireless remote for around $20 to $30 at your local camera supply or on Amazon

• a camera tripod: this is the one we use, but less intense versions like this one will work just fine

• a fabric backdrop: about 6 yards of fabric works well if you want to have a big enough backdrop to fit 5 or 6 people in the "booth."  You can also use a 2 full or queen sized sheets.

• some sort of additional decoration such as garland or a hanging word sign to add interest to the backdrop.  

• props!

For all of our past photobooths, I have simply used a staple gun to gather and affix the fabric onto the wall.  Simply cut the 6 yards of fabric in half and place one panel next to the other with a couple inches of overlap in the middle. When choosing a spot for the photobooth, I recommend trying to place it in a central area of your party close to the drinks or food that way the booth isn't very out of the way.  You also want to make sure to place the camera and tripod in a spot where it wont get accidentally moved.  All of the props I used were custom made by my friend Kay, who just launched her Etsy shop where you can purchase her hand-made photobooth props (this one is my all time personal favorite).

{holiday props, available here}

Some of my favorite shots from the Plaid Party:

 

Be sure to check back tomorrow, I'll be posting about the some of the food we served at the party!