Single-Use Cameras at Weddings: Love It or Leave It?

May 19, 2008

Single-use cameras that take the kind of picture you will keep forever are few and far between, but they remain a staple table dressing at weddings. I love the idea of encouraging guests to capture their favorite moments but there's something to be said for hiring a professional photographer to do all the hard work. What's your take on amateur photographers at weddings?

70 Comments

annissa 4 years

Also I would never entrust my SLR to the people at my wedding. No offense to anyone but if someone dropped it I would cry!

annissa 4 years

I said leave it because I think most people have their own cameras now and don't want to spend the entire time taking photos.However, I completely disagree with the idea of a child getting a hold of a camera and taking bad pictures. Kids take amazing pictures! If I were getting married I'd love to have goodie bags for the kids containing a disposable camera for them to leave on the table when the wedding is over -- the kids need something to keep them busy and they'd have fun with it.So now maybe I'm changing my mind to love it, but only for the bored kiddies!

annissa 4 years

I said leave it because I think most people have their own cameras now and don't want to spend the entire time taking photos. However, I completely disagree with the idea of a child getting a hold of a camera and taking bad pictures. Kids take amazing pictures! If I were getting married I'd love to have goodie bags for the kids containing a disposable camera for them to leave on the table when the wedding is over -- the kids need something to keep them busy and they'd have fun with it. So now maybe I'm changing my mind to love it, but only for the bored kiddies!

sageflower 4 years

We considered it, but decided against the cost and the inappropriate usage, as mentioned by some of the other commentors. Instead, we gave our personal SLR digital camera to a close friend, who passed it around family and friends to take pictures. The pictures we got were almost as good as the professional!

callmecheezcubes 5 years

Does anyone watch that show the king of queens? Kevin James character, Doug, goes to a wedding, is bored out of his mind, and used the disposable camera on the table to go in the bathroom, pull down his pants, and snap a photo of his peeps. Moral of the story: NO disposable cameras at my wedding!!!!!!!!!!

sillystring32 5 years

People will have their own cameras with them. We just printed out a little square piece of paper (one for each guest) that lists an online website where they can share their photos with us, so we can see our day from their perspective. Cost us nothing (just a trip to kinkos to cut the paper) and it has the same effect, and this way people don't feel forced to take random shots and use up the film on those disposable cameras.

tlight 5 years

Personally, I think you need both. A professional will get great shots to give out or frame, but they won't get truly candid and rediculous shots of your friends and family enjoying themselves. Fluffyhelen makes a good point though, about going digital. I guess whatever the delivery method, a mix of professional and amatuer would make me most happy.

tlight 5 years

Personally, I think you need both. A professional will get great shots to give out or frame, but they won't get truly candid and rediculous shots of your friends and family enjoying themselves.Fluffyhelen makes a good point though, about going digital. I guess whatever the delivery method, a mix of professional and amatuer would make me most happy.

sparklestar 5 years

Everybody has a digital camera nowadays anyway so what would be the point? I'd rather not waste £2.50 x 100 just to provide disposable throwaways which I'll then need to go and develop and sift through what... 2400 pictures? Psh! Digital please!

sparklestar 5 years

karlotta 5 years

Well... I'm a professional wedding photographer, so my opinion may be biased. I do catch the happy snapshot unexpected moments - except I know how to frame them and use my flash. And when 15 people have a camera in hand, it makes it much harder for me to do my job, they're all in the way and prevent me from getting THE great shot. Those cameras have disgusting cheap optics and getting a good shot with them is really rare - a stroke of luck which can happen but really , is it worth the expense? I'm all for other people taking pictures too (even though, again, during the ceremony it makes my job much harder to do!) but they should be with real cameras - digital, or film, whatever - just not disposables!!!

karlotta 5 years

kh61582 5 years

I like a little of both. I would want a professional taking pictures of my husband and I and family pictures however I like the idea of the guests taking reception pictures. I think it's more fun that way.

oliveoyle625 5 years

I think one of my friends did this at her wedding, but the pictures turned out to be of poor quality. I think it was cooler to have a photo booth for the guests to enjoy like my other friend and she ordered a copy of everyone's pics as a memento of her guests just being silly and having a great time.

thatsjoanna 5 years

LEAVE IT....I hate this idea...It tells people U don't have enough money for a photographer. BAd idea

javsmav 5 years

leave it. they are so wasteful. tell your friends & family to bring their digital cameras and email the pics to you after the wedding.

bluepuppybites 5 years

I had single use cameras at my wedding and the kids loved them, I haven't gotten the pictures developed yet but if anything it kept the kids occupied.

witchbaby 5 years

leave it unless you are within 7 feet of the subject you are photographing or you'll just end up with dark pics.

laPetiteJuJu 5 years

I think they are a bad idea and a waste of money. At weddings I have attended, most people end up forgetting about them and just taking photos with their own cameras! Just ask your friends and family to share their photos with you! And I think a professional photographer is a must!

bluesarahlou 5 years

I think the disposable camera idea is a bit outdated. The last wedding I went to...the newlyweds just borrowed a bunch of peoples memory cards and uploaded the pictures onto a file sharing website. Which worked out perfectly. They did get a lot of similar photos, but from different angles depending on where the picture was taken. The wedding was basically a weekend event, so there were tons of candids and silly pictures. They also had a professional photographer, which provided the more traditional photos. I also like TsuKata's idea...I think that would really work for a close-knit wedding.

bluesarahlou 5 years

ewray4381 5 years

I think the disposable cameras are outdated and a little tacky. My best friend's professional pictures in my opinion were not worth what she paid for. Fortunately, she has a lot of friends and family that own digital cameras and dabble in photography as a hobby. We all gave her copies of our photos, so now she's working on making her own photo album of them all. Luckily, some of those same friends will be attending my wedding next July, so they will be encouraged to take pictures and share! I love TsuKsta's "post-reception decompress" party idea. I am now definately looking into when I could have a lunch one day and have people come over to see and share pictures and share stories about the day. Depending on when we leave for our honeymoon, it could be the next day or when we get back!

mayara 5 years

Our guests had fun with it (or at least some of them did), and we got some great pictures we wouldn't have otherwise. And it made the photography costs cheaper, as we just hired for the ceremony itself, and reduced the number of strangers at our party. Some people might prefer a professional photographer, but I liked not having too many people we didn't know, especially one with a camera.

MiloBerry 5 years

I've seen people rent photo booths to take pictures that way. I thought it was much more creative and more fun! I'm not a big fan of disposable cameras. The picture quality sucks!

CaterpillarGirl 5 years

I love them we had about 12 cameras around and put "instructions" on them about how to use them, leaving them there, etc. My only problem with them was that his little brother took 24 pictures of HIMSELF just close up on his face, I made the little Sh*t pay me for the development, and gave them to him.

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