Thursday, January 25, 2007

pondering


what can i possibly say about wedding planning that hasn't already been said. there are books upon books, magazines, websites, blogs, message boards, conventions, podcasts....all of which i have sampled. after much research and planning i have come to some conclusions.

having a small budget forces you to get creative. this is not a bad thing... it's just very easy to forget when you are staring at hundreds of options, none of which are affordable. if you want to just take what bridal companies and wedding planners want to sell you as the only option.........you will pay more money for something you could probably do for alot less.

however, i can certainly see why people go the cookie cutter wedding route. it's much easier than trying to 're-invent the wheel'. it would be so simple to just choose from their pre-fab options.

i have a feeling that even if i had unlimited resources i wouldn't be satisfied with that.

so .. i am asking you.......dear readers......for your ideas and input a couple of areas that i am still trying to think through. i might put some more ideas up from time to time. here's the first one.

photos
i really want to do photos instead of a traditional bride's book that people sign. i have a plan to do a couple of different backdrops to choose from and have their photo made, which we will later compile into a book. this could be done with poloroids or digital cameras.

poloroids.........pros: immediate gratification/nice white space at the bottom for guests to write a note
cons: expensive film/what do you do with all the poloroids when you are done? the poloroid photo albums i have seen would only fit about 30 pics

digital.........pros: inexpensive/ability to see photo immediately and retake if desired/photos can all be compiled into a book using iphoto or shutterfly
cons: no place for handwritten note so do you get a little journal for that or use a little chalkboard that could be in the photo (if they want it there)

another thought, how hard would it be to construct a DIY photobooth and how could that work?

4 comments:

GJ said...

I LOVE this idea and actually almost did it at my wedding. For me, I decided not to do it because where we had our wedding - it would have caused a major traffic jam. But - I think the easiest/cheapest option is to do digital. You can get those little photo printers that could print out the picture immediately...and everyone "photo" gets a page in your book and the guests can write on the page where their picture is placed.

wordcraft said...

I think it would be fun to buy a bunch of disposable cameras, put numbers on them, keep a list of which guests have what camera,tell them to photograph themselves as the first exposure, then let them take candid shots. Ask them to use all exposures (get ones with the least number), get them develoed and give you copies of their pictures. A momento for them AND you.

lulu said...

i wish i had done either at my wedding! so many things you wish you could do over again...oh well. my first thought was definitely polaroids. the idea of a candid shot they cant retake and the spot for a quick note sounds real fun and would make for some great memories. then i read jo's post and remembered there are those photo printers, and that would be fun too. sorry, im not much help but i sure love thinking about it!

andrea said...

oh, I'm torn. because polaroids are so cool and I love the idea of writing on them. but digital is a little more practical. and the cool thing with digital is that you can easily convert it to black and white, if you like. either way, hang some vintage sheets in the background for the backdrop and you should be set. :)

I do have a link to a DIY photobooth that I could send you... but it looked awfully complicated to me. still, you might take a looksee. I'll send it your way!

and I just know your wedding is going to be the coolest, meridith. and beautiful and so special. xo