I used to think that having disposable cameras at each table at a wedding reception was such a fabulously brilliant idea.
But now the quality of the disposable film cameras is too shoddy for any possible framers, plus the kind of people who are going to take photos will have already brought their own cameras. To further drive a stake in the heart of this old trend, last year the majority of you voted that you no longer loved it.
That's not to say you don't want more photos taken than your pro photog will take — just make it easy on your guests to upload them all to one place! Call it the 2009 version of disposable cameras on tables. Instead of cameras on tables, you just place cards with a URL or email address for your guests, and leave it to them to upload after the event.
To see how to make this wedding idea come together, just read more.
First, decide which photo-sharing website you want to use. It may be easiest to use the site you're already using for photo sharing — MobileMe, Flickr, and Picasa provide you with an email address or URL to give out (see my instructions on how to do it in Picasa). But also consider newer site iRave — it also gives you both a URL or email address, and it has settings that let you approve photos before they're up, preventing any pic leaks of champagne-induced embarrassments. Make sure that whichever site you use has plenty of storage space for the photos.
Once you've settled on the service, you need the cards so people know where to send photos. This seller from Etsy makes a wedding photo-sharing kit for $25, but this is also a simple DIY.
Design and print out your message onto business card-size paper (or just cut printed sheets to that size), then place in a festive box or display on each table.
If you're really into the design of your invites, you can inquire with your invitation vendor about printing up these cards with your invite design.




Pepe Jeans
Another option is have a younger relative volunteer to download images directly from people's digitals at the wedding if you have a laptop and a card reader. I had a destination wedding and a number of folks were cool with letting us download their week from their cards before they flew back home.
1Another choice is to rent a photo sharing device with software that knows to omit older pictures from sharing, and then lets guests easily select which photos they want to share with you. Some of these devices even attach to a flatscreen, so guests can see the photos that they just shared!
2what a great idea!
3where can i get that little camera card holder in the pic???? i really like that!!!
4hahaha maybe i should have actually clicked on the link
(D'oh!)
5Love it, Love it, Love it! We used a great service called http://www.seeyouthen.com that you featured on GeekSugar last year. It combines a wedding website with the photoexchange so you get a double whammy. On top of that the guests create their own profile so you know who uploaded and gave you these great gifts. (By the way we also had my cousin as photo boy and he reminded everyone to take photos) We used it from the time we got engaged until the honeymoon and everyone had access to every photo! We collected almost 800 photos from over 30 people.
6This is so interesting, but I'm not sure it's the most efficient. My friends and I started using The Wedding Lens (http://www.theweddinglens.com) a couple years ago and we love it! None of the guests have to register or use the same password, all the photos go into ONE album, and the website sends reminders to guests so that the couple doesn't have to. And actually, when we've had questions about the site, the people who run it are really, really responsive and helpful! Oh! And it's full resolution upload & download for photos and videos.
I can see how the cards and passwords are OK but it's so expensive to print them and people lose them. Seems better to have reminders emailed and save the paper.
7Love these camera boxes! I looked and they don't sell them on Etsy anymore, but you can get them from their blog: http://www.chicaandjo.com/outstore.
8Oops, I made a typo! I meant http://www.chicaandjo.com/ourstore
9NB looking at this sort of thing for a friend - was going to use Flickr but as lots of people there have found out, you're not allowed to give out that email address to wedding guests, or let anyone else upload photos to your account. Bummer, I like Flickr
10wow, I wish I knew someone that was getting married so I could share this with them!
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