How to Set Up a Polaroid Guest Book Station

A Polaroid guest book is a unique way to entertain guests at a wedding and collect lasting memories for the bride and groom. Polaroid photos develop quickly and many companies now provide personalized guest books to make organizing your photos and warm wishes easy.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Polaroid camera
• Packs of Polaroid instant-develop film
• Photo guest book
• Guest book table
• Fabric for backdrop (approximately 10 feet)
• Pens or markers

How to Set Up a Polaroid Guest Book Station

1. Purchase camera, guest book, and film. Instant-develop film usually comes in packs of 10. Consider the number of guests attending your event to determine the amount of film you will need. Each of the items can be found online or in specialty wedding or camera stores.

2. Purchase colorful fabric that reflects the theme or style of your event. Check with your venue for rules about hanging fabric. Most venues will offer support in hanging your fabric backdrop. A tall easel or simply constructed PVC-piped frame will do the trick to hang fabric over.

3. Ask a friend or family member to be the guest book photographer. Choose someone who will not be needed for multiple family pictures and can spend time taking photos of your guests and organizing each page of the book.

4. Lay out guest book and camera(s) on a table in a high-traffic area of the reception or cocktail hour. Signing pens and markers should be placed in one basket or holder, and extra packs of film should be close by in another basket.

5. Have guests take turns standing in front of the fabric backdrop and posing for individual or group photos.

6. Once guests' photos are taken, instruct them to slide their instant photo into a guest book slot and write a quick note to the happy couple on their page.

Tips & Warnings

• Use different colored markers or pens to decipher between messages if groups are writing on the same page. For example, use both silver and gold pens.
• Many couples leave the "photographer" job up to the guests. This works too, but can become unorganized if no one is there to manage the table.
• Assigning someone to man the table should also decrease the number of wasted photos and film. Try to use only one photo per group to save money.