Wedding Photo Booth

The wedding has come and gone. I'm still exhausted and now buried under the mountain of tax paperwork I ignore all year! I'm going to share more wedding tips in the coming weeks but today, I wanted to share some pics from the wedding photo booth.

The ampersand and photo booth signs add a fun element to the wedding pics!

The photo booth was all the niece's idea. The groom didn't get it. Neither did the aunties or the in - laws. We all thought it was our girl being her goofy self. Boy, were we ever wrong! The photo booth was the hit of the event. People didn't want to dance to our perfectly fine DJ because they were dancing in line at the photo booth! WHO KNEW??? (The bride, apparently!)

Edzel Fuertez provided our photo booth and also provided additional photography services at the wedding. He and his team were just AWESOME. The bride and groom  purchased frames, removed the glass and backing and as people got their photos taken, Edzel's team placed them in the frames as a gift to the guests.

The giant ampersand was made from foam board. I could only find heavy wooden ones on Etsy, so we made a lighter version. It's 18" tall!

But that wasn't all... They showed up with all kinds of props: funny glasses, boas, parasols, hats etc. The bride made sets of lips and mustaches from fun foam and dowel rods. I made a giant ampersand and signs. I took the artwork from the wedding invitation and made rubber stamps (duh, that's my day job). I used the same artwork and created words: Bride, Groom, Mr., Mrs. Ms., Dr., Rev. I really wish I had made ones that say 'You' and 'Me' - but I didn't think of it til too late! See tutorial below.

It was a beautiful and most memorable evening! 

 The lips and mustaches were a big hit too!

Sign Tutorial

• Print signs on heavy photo paper at Office Depot and trim them to size. 
• There seemed to be a run on 1/2" thick foam board when I was making these... so I had to make do with 1/4" ... but used 1/2" if possible! Cut foam board pieces an inch larger on all sides on scroll saw or with xacto.  Because I wanted them sturdy and could not find the thicker board, I cut two matching pieces on my scroll saw. 
• Stamp the front with swirly rubber stamps all around the edge. If using thinner foam core, only do this on one side. 
• If using thinner foam, hot glue two pieces together.
• Insert kitchen skewers into the middle of the bottom edge of the foam. You can remove the stick, just make sure you allow for the hole. 
• Take ribbon to match the width of your foam core (3/8" - 1/2 ") and   sequin pins  or SHORT straight pins. I used the sequin pins when I was pinning ribbon and short straight pins for beads. Pin the ribbon in a few spots close to the skewer hole but not covering it. 
• Pin beads through the ribbon close to the front edge of the sign. I alternated beads pinned on the front edge of the ribbon and sequin pins to hold the back edge of the ribbon and worked in this manner all around the sign to the other side of the skewer hole. Trim ribbon from bolt and place final pins.
• Put hot glue on the pointy end of the skewer and insert back into hole. Let set up. Trim other end with wire cutters to desired length. 
• Wind 1/2" ribbon (use the darkest color from your wedding color scheme... hands are always dirty and you don't want the signs looking grungy!) down the length of the skewer. Tuck and roll at the bottom and go back up the skewer securing with hot glue. 
• If desired, hot glue beaded garland down the skewer. 
• Use iridescent pull string ribbon to make a bow: Cut 1 yard (I used 1 1/2 on the bride and groom signs but less on the rest). Pull the string, making sure you are holding onto both tails. Wrap string around the bow and tie a knot. Repeat. Trim string, hot glue bow in place.