How to make a DIY wedding photobooth – step-by-step tutorial

Comments on How to make a DIY wedding photobooth – step-by-step tutorial

1. LOVE this…..much better than my impromptu “photobooth”. If only this was posted a couple of weeks ago. I don’t think I have enough time to set this up before the 13th. I’ll definitely use this idea for future parties though.

2. This is such a great idea & seems totally affordable!

   And, yea, like Ana said, this would be great for ANY kind of party!

3. THIS.

4. Great idea and execution.

5. Very glad to see this as we are trying to figure out how not to spend the $1000+ for a photobooth and attendant. This will work great and I am even thinking of setting up 2 stations since I have 2 photo printers and 2 laptops with cameras built in!
   Thank you!!!

6. Thanks for posting this! I LOVE it! One question: does the program save a copy of all the photos onto your computer so you can see them all after the wedding?

   • Kristi – yes it does. If you have access to internet it can also immediately upload to facebook & the like too!

7. Brilliant! I was wondering how to pull this off – and I have all the equipment already!

8. This is seriously awesome. I’ve been looking up hire costs for actual old school photobooths but this way we get copies of everything as well right on our machines. AWESOME!

   *will have to check to see if its got a print x2 straight up option*

   • There are a variety of options for printing the pics and one is to print two of the standard 4 pic strips and then you could have scissors and people can cut them in half.

9. This is very awesome. I kept thinking “it can’t be that hard” but then when it came down to actually thinking about the details of doing it, in the end all I could figure out was “maybe we’ll just skip it”. Now I feel like it’s a lot more realistic! 🙂 Thank you so much!

10. Linux Has a free photo booth program called cheese. We opted not to print them…so I don’t know if it can print with ease…But it can upload to flicker!

    • Mac also has a free photo booth software. I tried a bunch of them and I thought PartyBooth was the best and at $40 totally worth it as everything is easy and automated.

    • Also, Spark Booth has an options to upload to flickr, facebook, and twitter as well.

    • Yay! We’ll be using Cheese for our photobooth 🙂

11. Did PartyBooth have a recent price increase? I’m seeing it costs $59. $40 I thought was okay, but somehow $60 seems like a lot for an application with fairly limited functionality. Hmm – might just have to bite the bullet.

    • Hmmm …. I guess it did. The other software I looked at cost almost $200 so $60 is still a decent price.
      In terms of the functionality being limited, what more were you looking for something to do?

    • I just checked out the sparkbooth site… it looks like you can get a 10 day free trial, not sure if this would help but thought I’d point it out!

12. Wow, this is such a great idea! I tried something similar with me photographing the people but it was hard work standing there all night. The PhotoBooth and webcam is a superb idea. Thanks for sharing, hope you don’t mind if I use the idea 🙂

13. Thank you for sharing all the details, ever since the update about your wedding I have been trying to figure out the setup!
    I have the same printer and was wondering how much ink you went through, did you have to change it through out the night?

    • We did not have to change the ink at all. I put in new cartridges before we started though.

      • How many total number of prints were you able to get out of 1 set ink cartridge without replacing them?

14. I love DIY! Thanks for sharing this different approach to photobooths. We actually had a DIY photobooth at our wedding with a regular camera and a remote control. But now I am spending hours cutting and sending the picture strips! I like this idea much better!

15. Thanks for taking the time to write this. Your tutorial is really well written and really easy to follow!

16. Does it save the photos that your guests take to the computer as well? I like this idea, but I would like to have copies of them too I think :p

    • Yep. You get a copy of all the photos saved to your computer.

17. Can you explain how you were you able to put text on your picture? THanks!

    • Hi Rhonda,

      With the Spark Booth software, you can add an image to your photos. We created the image with the masking tape and “Becca and Adam Get Hitched.” In the settings for PartyBooth, we set that to be the image on the pictures.

      I’d say get the software and play around with it until you get things to look how you want them to.

      Good luck!

18. Oh my gravy! This DIY photo booth is bananas-amazing!!! I am having a DIY wedding and cannot afford to hire a Photo Booth. So, last night the light bulb came on in my head and I was like, “Self, you need to Google “DIY photo booth”…and that I did! Thanks so much for sharing this, Becca and Offbeat Bride!

19. I know I’m a little late to the party, but any suggestions on how to get Sparkbooth to print to the photo tray instead of the regular paper tray? I am trying to figure it out using the demo and can’t manage to get past this step.

    • Are you using Mac or Windows?

      • Hey there, I’m using mac, and I posted the question on the Spark Booth support forum as well, with more details. Thanks!

        • I will help you at http://help.sparkbooth.com. Thanks!

20. THIS IS AMAZING!! Much easier and more customizable than paying the 1000.00 of renting a photo booth!

21. So excited about this!!!! We are on a tight budget for our wedding and this idea was about to get cut for sure. Looking at the pricing of the booths some 1000.00 or more for the day. I have just about all of the things here at home only need the software and some fabric.

22. We so wanted to have a photobooth but the cost of renting the actual booth is just outrageous. This is an awesome idea! We’re both geeks, will use your idea, and will set this up at our wedding too. Thanks so much!

23. Great tutorial! Def plan on using it! You said that you didn’t run out of ink and I had a couple of questions about that. How many 4×6 photos were printed on one ink cartridge? Or how many guests did you have? I have the same printer and I’m trying to figure out if I need to have back up ink with someone designated to change it.

    • Hi Maggie, I did this, and with the XL Canon ink it did about 130 or so 4X6 photos. I would suggest it’s always a good idea to have backup ink and someone to change it just in case. We put a little sign up that said “if the ink runs out or if there are problems, please see so and so at table so and so”. This photobooth was a HUGE hit at our wedding!

24. Thanks for posting this! I’m so going to use this idea for my wedding.

25. Thought I would post this link for a free photobooth program:

    http://www.openphotobooth.com/index.php

    I haven’t tested it out so I can’t confirm it’s ease of use, but here it is for anyone else to try. Post back with your experiences, and good luck!

26. This is such a great idea!! I like only spending $60 for software, as opposed to $600, and being limited to time, and having no control over backdrops and having to pay extra for props and everything….this way is SO MUCH BETTER. And we already have pretty much everything but the software! A Million Thanks!

27. Is there a way that Spark Booth could be purchased by one person and used at two weddings? I would love to be able to split the cost with someone because I think this is the only time we would use it…

    • If the weddings are on two different days then the answer is yes because you are buying one license that can be used at two different times. The price for version 4 personal license is $55 as of May 2015. I opted to go with the premium license ($135) which allowed me to setup as many as three photo booths although I only had two setup for a group of 100 people.

28. Hi! GREAT ARTICLE! Where did you get your beige and red sign?

29. OMFG I have been DYING to have a photobooth, but the $1200 price tag is about the budget for the entire wedding! This is such an amazing DIY!!! It’s the perfect favor. Who doesn’t love taking home pics when you’re all dressed up and it saves the whole set so I can make my own scrapbook after. Thank you thank you thank you!!!!

    I know this is an old post but I don’t even care! This is just awesome. It should get bumped back to the OBB front page so other bride’s can share my joy! I didn’t even think a DIY photo booth was possible!

30. This tutorial is excellent! I used it to create a photo booth setup at my step-daughter’s grad party and holy lord was it fun… There wasn’t room in the house, but a 10×10 pop up event tent with open sides worked great. Everyone had a blast with it and it helped keep the teens mixing with the adults.

    Do this for a kids party… you will be their personal hero. 🙂 Thanks yet again to OBB for fantastic party ideas!

31. I can’t believe I just stumbled across this before committing to the $1400 photobooth company. I have all the equipment already!! This is AWESOME. Thanks for sharing

32. Hey gals,
    Has anyone who has done this awesome DIY photobooth gotten a photo scrapbook with black pages and no page protectors? I cannot find these anywhere.

33. This is amazing and perfect and so simple! I was debating going fora $600-$1000 photobooth for our wedding, but this is so much better!

34. This is a FANTASTIC tutorial! I’ve had the idea to do a DIY photobooth since I first found out the high pricetag of renting one. We’re having a masquerade reception, and I just raided the after-Halloween sales, so we’ve got more than enough fun props! (Plastic viking helmet! Woot!) Question, though: Anyone have any ideas on how to set up the booth to take photos of guests standing? I’m worried the monitor might get knocked over if I raise it from table-height.

    • Vicky did you use this setup eventually for your wedding? I’m wondering if guests can take pics (comfortably) standing up with a laptop/webcam? All the photos shown in this post show the guests sitting down which I find really awkward, especially at a wedding. I guess we have to find a table that is of decent height to place the laptop?

      • We didn’t have any issues with guests standing. We got an external webcam, placed it on top of a standard monitor on a regular-height table, & hooked everything up to a laptop under the table. I wasn’t there for the set-up, but I’m pretty sure the web cam was adjustable so it could be angled high enough. Worked great! (Pics/wedding porn to come soon! ^_^)

        Tip we learned from our DIY photobooth: really consider the lighting where you’re setting up. We put ours on a porch, facing a house. The pictures in the daylight looked great. But as the sun set & the porch lights came on, it ended up that the lights were behind the people, making them shadowed. Could’ve been fixed by pulling the table more to the middle of the porch instead of at the porch-rail. Still worked out all right, though. 🙂

35. This is awesome! I am directing my readers to this blog for your tips on the DIY Photobooth!

    Awesome Awesome Awesome! I love budget friendly ways to get all the “IN” things

36. I am in the process of creating my own photobooth and the sparkbooth, looks perfect, but my concern is using my personal laptop, is there a way to lock it so guests can’t use anything besides the sparkbooth program?

    • I don’t know what laptop you have, but mine allows you to create multiple ‘users’. So, create a new user, password protect your regular account, and only have the software set up under the new user. Seeing as you’ll only ever trot this out at parties, if ever again, I don’t think it would be a problem.

      Alternatively, you can transfer all your files to one mega folder and password protect it, OR, if it’s just a matter of preference and nothing urgent, you can have a sign that says “please don’t close this program or we won’t be able to reopen it”, should anyone decide to mess around.

37. Wow, this was such a detailed set of DIY instructions. Thank you for taking the time to do this — I would love to see how your pictures came out!

    If I had come across this sooner, I wouldn’t have had to spend so many nights worrying about how we could afford a photo booth. Luckily enough though, I came across this app for the iPad (totally obsessed with my iPad) called “Wedding Booth.” It allowed my guests to take pictures and then write personal notes to my husband and I on the iPad. Haha some of the notes were pretty inappropriate it, but everyone had so much fun. If you email the people who made Wedding Booth, they also will send their own DIY instructions to build a photo booth out of PVC piping for like $33.

38. Oh my god ive been wanting a photobooth for our wedding so badly but its not in the budget this is the perfect solution!!! I am so excited!! Thank you so much.

39. I am setting up a photo booth for my wedding using
    SparkBooth, was wonder… how much ink should I have on hand? Will one cartridge take and print pictures all night?
    Thanks,
    Liz

40. This is FABULOUS. We are DOING THIS.

    I took this to my Linux guru man for an alternative to a Windows photobooth program. There is a program called Cheese, that will do in a pinch if you use Linux. 🙂

41. Wow! I had thought about doing a DIY photobooth for our wedding after going to a friend’s wedding a year ago and they had one (am sure it was expensive tho, rental company with two employees). Figured it would be a fun idea but too expensive, we’re in NZ now and everything here is even more $$$ than in the states. Now I can actually toy with the idea because it’s a small wedding and the DIY would be perfect for it! Thanks so much for posting =)

42. Hello!

    I know I’m way late to the game – but, does anyone know if when using the free trial, does it put a watermark on your pictures when you print? Do you get full features of the site?

    I am looking to use this for my sisters DIY wedding, and was wondering if we could use the free trial or need to purchase the full program!

    Thanks:)

    • I just checked the FAQs on Sparkbooth. There will indeed be a watermark on photos taken with the trial version.

43. wow are thise photos from a web cam?

    Looks great!

44. PLEASE HELP! I’m trying to download the Sparkbooth program for my wedding next Saturday, but the download isn’t working. The site keeps trying to download Adobe AIR along with Sparkbooth, but something keeps going wrong with the Adobe download & won’t progress past that point. Has anyone else run into this problem? More importantly, how do I fix it?

    • We’re not able to provide support for Sparkbooth — please contact them directly! 🙂 http://help.sparkbooth.com

45. This is a great tutorial! Thanks so much for all of the help. One question about the printing – about how much time did it take for each photo to print?

46. Love this idea! I was wondering how to put a booth together for my mother’s wedding in August. While I like the “instant gratification” of printing the photos there, I think we’ll just have them email the photos to themselves (we’ll have internet access) to save on printing costs on our end. For anyone who doesn’t have email – *ahem* grandma – we’ll create a wedding photobooth email address. They can send the pics there, and we’ll send them a hard copy. Yay!

    • i was wondering if that worked for you and what softwere you used, i love the idea of a photo booth, but thought it would be easier if we had them just emailed to them selfs, or facebook it, and of course for the people who didnt have either i could print out and mail it to them in the thank you card,

    • I am soo glad you mentioned this as i am dont want to purchase anything with my wedding so close.

      Great IDEA!!

47. I love this! We are going to do something similar but with a poloroid camera. We’re gonna set it up so it doesn’t need to be manned. Just find some friends and some one to take the picture!!! I found an old poloroid camera at a friends garage sale and film is apparently really cheap.
    The venue we are using has a really awful backdrop they asked if we want to use so instead we will have that be used for the photobooth! We are going to be making capes and masks and have all sorts of super hero props for people to ooze their creativity into! I’m thinking rules will be this.
    1. Did you ask your mom? (because of all the youngins at my wedding)
    2. Create your own super hero
    3. Strike a Pose
    4. Point and Shoot!
    5. Shake it out and Take it home!

    No printing required 😉

48. Is there a way to connect an iPad or camera to Sparkbooth so that the pictures can be better quality?

49. Great way to save money on the photo booth expense! Wonderful idea!

50. Hi I did a post on a DIY Photo Booth I thought you guys might like. Check it out

51. I bought spark booth after seeing this post. Super easy to use. Not only are we setting up the photo booth for the wedding we are also going to set it up at the bridal shower for just the girls!

52. Used this setup at my sister’s wedding but without the printer. Used my laptop webcam. Photos weren’t great, but it was still super fun and we got the pics printed later and included them with the thank you cards ! Everyone had a blast !

53. I actually tested this for my 21st in April this year… It went AMAZINGLY everyone had a great time, and the app is so good! I’ll be doing it for my engagement party and wedding now too, so excited 😀

54. If I purchase the Sparkbooth today, how many days will it be available?

55. Awesome! I’ll try to set up one for my daughter’s birthday party. Thanks for the tips!

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