Photo guestbook
Denny and I had kicked around the idea of having i-Zone cameras at our guestbook (aka guest index card) station. Those are the Polaroid cameras that take tiny little pictures, and you can get film that prints out on adhesive backing. We thought it would be fun for guests to take pictures of themselves, stick them to an index card, write a note, and then we’d assemble them into a book later.
That was all fine and dandy, except that the film only comes in 12-exposure rolls, and it’s kind of expensive considering all the guests we have. The cameras themselves are cheap–they’re going for about $4 or $5 on Ebay, but the film was prohibitive. But then I stumbled upon a source where they’re only $2.99 a roll. Thanks, Froogle. So I bought 300 exposures. That should be enough for each guest to have his/her picture taken and enough left over for a few goof-ups. I think I might assign my ushers to do the picture-taking, though, so people don’t get crazy and wasteful taking pictures of each other’s butts.
Because, in all likelihood, I would take a picture of my butt in such a situation, if given the opportunity.
So, this is how I’m envisioning it:
1. Guest enters museum, is greeted by a friendly usher who welcomes him/her and snaps a picture.
2. Usher hands picture to guest. Guest progresses on toward ceremony location.
3. By the time the guest has arrived at the guestbook station (near the entrance to the ceremony room), the picture has pretty much developed. Guest sticks it on an index card, writes a loving note, and goes into the ceremony.
Sound good? I think it sounds good.
OH! I would also like to publicly announce that I was wrong and Denny was right. Normally I wouldn’t admit to such a thing, especially in such a tangible medium as the Interweb, but in this case I’m delighted to, because his smartness saved us $1000. We got a quote for a new air conditioner for about 3k, probably installed next week. Youch! But what are you going to do, you know? Then Denny was suspicious of the size of unit they wanted to sell us, because it was contrary to the recommendations of the U.S. Department of Energy or some such. He decided to get another quote, which was also around 3k, but for a more appropriate sized unit. I was all ready to fork over the money to the second person. I was sure that if we dawdled around any longer, it would be August before we got the thing installed.
Then, on the recommendation of a coworker, he got a third estimate. This estimate was for only $2000, for the U.S. Department of Energy-recommended size. They couldn’t get us in for a couple of weeks, but I figured I could sweat it out to save a thousand dollars. Then–then–get this–they called and said they think they can get us in this Wednesday.
Denny is so smart.
I really like the iZone idea, Aprille – neato! I have seen it done at just one other wedding, but the logistics were not handled well. I think your logistics sound *almost* perfect, but I have one thought for you:
1. Awesome. Having a 3rd party take the picture is very smart, especially to save film, and that person will know where the best lighting is or whatever.
2. Perfect. After the picture is snapped, the guest physically MOVES on… this is key – good thinking! (There was a HUGE bottleneck at the other wedding)
3. Here’s where I think you may still get a bottleneck, though – when people are writing the notes before the ceremony. Either 1) they stand there trying to think of something, or 2) there’s not enough space for everyone to write (will there be big long tables?). It would be all right if guests streamed in slowly, but usually there’s a bunch of people that arrive all at once. And what if you have latecomers?
What if you collected the little cards *after* the ceremony?? On people’s way out? Are you having a receiving line at all?
Just some random thoughts… I’m trying to think “worst case” so it will go as smoothly as possible, because I just think it’s such a neat idea.
Ooh – and you could hand a small little note to the guests with the photo that would explain what they were supposed to do with the picture… that way the friendly usher wouldn’t have to explain it over and over.
Oh, Em, that’s smart of you. You give good advice. So you would recommend the following:
1. Usher snaps pic
2. Usher keeps pic and attaches it to a card with explanation
3. Card gets returned to guest; guest writes on card.
Step 3 seems like it could be complicated…it’s a big job to match all those cards to all those faces. Maybe we could just lay the cards out on a table and ask people to find their own and write on them? That could happen during the reception, even.
Let’s talk about it tomorrow… we’ll figure out something perfect.
Unsolicited advice for y’all to talk about tomorrow: I think in Step 2, Usher hands (still developing) pic and instructions and card to guests. Maybe the instructions are printed on the back of the card, making one fewer thing to lose. Then, guests get the card with stuck pic and loving note back to y’all, in a box at the reception, or in the mail, or in a package from Nepal when they remember.
I might also recommend that the Usher be assisted by a Loader, who makes sure a film-loaded camera is always at hand, to cut down on the bottlenecks emily so rightly expects.
My two cents.
Enjoyed a lot!
Hi! My site basement mold remediation http://basementmoldremediation.blogspot.com/
basement mold remediation