Disposable Camera Idea: dumb or fun

MargeauxG

I'm putting two disposable cameras on each table  (of 12) - I think my creative guests will have fun with them during dinner. 

What do you think of printing small cards that read something like:

See your snapshots from tonight!
We'll post them online at:
[link]
B&G
9/4/10

Would you throw it in your purse/wallet and check out the photos later? 

apple_green

I'd take it and look at it, but probably because I love weddings currently. Also, will it really be $20? You should be getting them free from Vistaprint!

2dBride

So many people have digital cameras these days that disposables are really unnecessary.  The pictures taken with them tend to be of extremely low quality.  And that's even assuming the subject matter is appropriate.  Several drinks into a reception, guests tend to take photos you don't want to see.

jasmineh7777

I thought about that, and other posters pointed out that most people have digital cameras. Those that want to take photos probably will, and will give them to you. Just something to consider.

katiewhompus

I just went to a wedding last Saturday that did this. We were all taking pictures with our digis anyways, and a group of guys were just taking pictures of girls butts, their noses, etc.

We had a little card with our photo sharing site on each table, with a little note to please upload pictures to our photo site. 24 hours after the wedding and I had over 2000 photos from friends and family members.

shortee426

You can set up a photo sharing website, but I think the disposable cameras will just be a waste of money.

Belle2Be

Yuck on disposable cameras. You know how much its going to cost you to get a CD of each camera? And then unless you're having an outdoor wedding on a cloudy day, 99% of the photos will turn out like CRAP.

However I LOVE the photo cards, I went to a wedding that had MOO cards with their engagement photos on them, and they asked to upload all the photos to a snapfish(?) account they opened with the name and password. Genius, at least a dozen people had DSLRs, and I'd be shocked if she actually had to order anything from the photographer.

thesuninherhead

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_disposable-camera-idea-dumb-fun?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:9Discussion:4eb49ba6-9645-4cdf-9fbe-823a877ce6e5Post:9703d510-1764-4cfc-a8af-b7535ac9ca16">Re: Disposable Camera Idea: dumb or fun</a>:
[QUOTE]Yuck on disposable cameras. You know how much its going to cost you to get a CD of each camera? And then unless you're having an outdoor wedding on a cloudy day, 99% of the photos will turn out like CRAP. However I LOVE the photo cards, I went to a wedding that had MOO cards with their engagement photos on them, and they asked to upload all the photos to a snapfish(?) account they opened with the name and password. Genius, at least a dozen people had DSLRs, and I'd be shocked if she actually had to order anything from the photographer.
<p>Posted by Belle2Be[/QUOTE]</p><p> </p><p>I totally disagree with this. I think the fun of these cameras is exactly the fact that the photos look bizarre and crappy and show how fun a party (or not!) the event was. I didn't do them at our wedding, but I've been to weddings that have had them and always loved looking at the random photos afterwards.</p><p> </p><p>(although katie's point is a good one- I recall someone posting here about how the genitals of one of their new inlaws featured on the cameras they had... I guess you have to be prepared for things like that if you're drinking and have anonymous cameras around the place (and trashy guests!), but I still think they're a fun idea. I wouldn't go more than 1 per table though, or they won't get used. </p>

akhensley81

I was planning on doing the disposable cameras, but then after a few threads like this on the boards I decided just to do the photosharing cards.

My brother got married in June and a lot of the same people will be at my wedding... I saw digital cameras everywhere so I'm hopeful I'll get a lot of photos.

I set up a free account on Shutterfly and had VistaPrint print me 250 business cards with the username/password on them, and inviting guests to upload their photos. In all, it cost me $5.67.

Mrs.B6302007

sposie cameras are outdated and a waste of money

kayakrunhike

We did the photoshare cards, and ended up with over four or five hundred more pics!  We slipped them in the favor boxes, and that was it.  I'm really glad we did it, we got some beautiful pics that the photog wouldn't have been able to get.

jesslovespete

Oooo what photosharing site did you all use? What a great idea!

[Deleted User]

I wasn't going to get them. But MIL went out the night before the wedding and bought them. Some of them got used, but some did not. I think some of them walked off or ended up in people's pockets/purses.

She got them developed & there were a few really good shots that our photographer or other family members with digital cameras didn't capture. So I would say it is entirely up to you.

[Deleted User]

We used them, but we didn't buy one for every table, just scattered them around. We got some really great shots of friends and family, totally random but also more candid than professional pictures. I love them. My stepbrother went around taking pictures of the toilet, ash tray, and other weird things but that made for funny additions in the scrapbook.

Some were total junk though and too blurry to use, so there is that. Overall I think they were worth it.

smore154

Wow, I didn't know about photosharing websites before I voted HAHA! So I voted yes to the disposables. I think they're a lot of fun- we went to a wedding back in November and they had them. While I thought it was "old fashioned", we had a great time taking pics of our table with them. Then I thought how nice it would be to have actual pictures instead of digitals. We all know you'd probably get some inappropriate or blurry ones, but that's what's fun about it!

danieliza1127

I would definitely take one.  My biggest complaint about disposable cameras at weddings is that the guests rarely, if ever, end up getting to see the actual pictures.  So if you snap pics of your friends all night, you may never see them or be able to get copies.

ETA: Although I'm sure others have pointed out to you, disposable cameras are kind of outdated now that so many people have digital cameras.  You might find that people prefer to use their own digital cameras and send you the pictures rather than use the disposable cameras.

*BeachBride0410*

We had disposable cameras, 2 on each table.  For some reason it was something my DH really wanted, so we found some on sale & bought them.  It will cost a lot to develop them, but if you take them to Walmart, if you don't like a picture because it didn't turn out well, they don't make you pay for it.  So that is a plus.  We did get some pictures that we probably wouldn't have from out photog.  So it really is a toss up. 

LesPaul

I put disposable cameras on the tables, expecting our guests to take lots of interesting pictures that the professional photographer wouldn't get.  WRONG.  It was a complete waste of money, and in hindsight I wouldn't have bothered.  I got lots of crappy, dark pictures of the main reception room.  Maybe 10% of the pictures were even usable at all.  Even if you put instructions on the table you won't get what you're expecting.

I would recommend instead that you specifically ask several friends to take lots of digital pictures and put them on a CD for you right after the wedding.  I wish I had done this.  I gave my personal camera to my cousin, who gave it to her BF's 5 year old son.  I got 100 pictures of butts, fingernails, chairs, and nothing worth looking at. 

Brie2010

We did photoshare cards and I got 0 pictures that way.  (A lot of people just put them on Facebook.)

But I agree that disposables are a waste of money.

AutumnFair

Disposables had a great purpose back before digital cameras. But like others said, everyone has a digital camera now so most people just take pictures themselves and post them on FB or a photo sharing site. Personally I have only been to a few weddings now where they had disposables and my table didn't even think to touch it because we each had our own digital camera. 

Julz629

My sister had the disposable cameras at her wedding last summer.  She kinda knew they wouldn't get used, but it was something she had always wanted.  First of all, less than 50% of the exposures were used.  Then when she got them developed, less than 50% of those pictures taken were of decent quality.  They were all dark, fuzzy, etc.  Not worth the investment overall.

Knottie56296520

I like the idea of a photo sharing website, but be a kind friend and don't post embarrassing and unflattering photos of your guests. No one likes when they haven't been on Facebook for a few days, then come to find someone has tagged a picture of you with double chins or something...for the whole world to see!

TTiger03

I'm torn about using the disposables.  My sister used them at her wedding and we still have a few unused.  I might put those on my tables just for grins. 

I agree with others about the quality.  She only had a handful of photos that weren't dark.  They were all grainy though.

The only plus was that for some reason her photographer missed getting photos of half the room.  We don't know what happened, but the disposables are the only photos we have of my mom's side of the family.  All of our relatives are a lot older (my mom's brothers are 20 years older than her) and none of them are comfortable with digital cameras, so there weren't even any pictures from digital cameras.

I plan to ask my photographers to be sure to get photos of every section of the room.

My sister and her husband stopped by their apartment from the wedding night suite on their way to the honeymoon so they wouldn't have to take all their luggage with them on the wedding day.  I was cat sitting for them and staying at their apartment, so I spent part of the wedding night going through the camera and finding the ones with just a few photos left so they could take them on their honeymoon for extra shots.  I was glad I had told them to be sure to use their digitals too as the film photos were grainy, but she was able to finish off some cameras.  While they were on their honeymoon I got the full cameras developed so they had some photos to look at when they got home.  She was a little disappointed with the quality, but again, when we saw what the photographer missed we were happy to have them.

Perhaps you should look over your guest list and see if there is a large section of folks that won't have digital cameras and either ask the photographer to be sure to get their photos or put a few disposables with the understanding that the quality isn't going to be great.

katiewhompus

I used photobucket for mine and set up a password protected group album entitled "Lastname Wedding". I put the url and pw on the cards. I just checked it frequently to check for unflattering/rude pictures of my guests but had no issues.

Also if you go disposable route, please don't pick them up before the end of the reception. My friend had one and my other friend and I were leaving pictures for the first dance, etc and reception. Turns out there wasn't any dancing planned and they picked up the cameras when they had 10 exposures left (on 4 cameras). If I had known that I would have taken more pictures of the cake, decorations, etc.

Meagan78

Not dumb but... FSIL had them at hers.  The few kids that came were messing with them and taking pics of feet, butts, etc.  Then we paid to develop them while they were on their honeymoon.  So many were dark and there were really just no good ones.  So I am skipping disposables for mine, for sure!

Instead, we have a photosharing site on Shutterfly and will put cards out asking our guests to upload the pics they take on their digital cameras so everyone can enjoy them.

acbell4415

For my wedding we are doing a photobooth... two photos print out one for the person to keep and one for you to keep. Its the same concept, but won't be misinterpreted as tacky.