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Party Selfie Stations & Photo Booth Props

Let your guests glow and your photos flash with our LED light up accessories!

Planning a party always begins with endless lists of what you want... from food options to playlists and everything in between. One thing is for sure, whatever party you're planning: wedding reception; engagement or anniversary celebration; hen do; stag do; big birthday bash; for adults or children; you will want to have as many photos as possible to remember it.

Some years ago, at every wedding and big celebration you could find a disposable camera on every table with a request to the guests to snap away. Things have progressed since, and now at many parties you'll have the opportunity to take advantage of a photo booth service, with many suppliers offering a wide range of package options to suit your event. And whilst I've seen many different types of booths for weddings and birthdays from walk in photo machines with digital backgrounds and automatic photo settings to lavishly set up backdrops with an on-hand photographer, I haven't actually seen any with the added wow factor of light up accessories. Well... not until I planned a party myself that is....

A photo booth may be a "must have" for your party, or it could be on the "maybe" list if budget is a concern, but it needn't be as big of an expense as you think. If you're going with the rental booth, I would strongly recommend asking to see their props first, or finding out if you have to or can supply your own... maybe suggest supplying your own for a discount so you can get the personalised and quality props you're looking for. I remember the first photo booth I saw at a party had a tattered feather boa, squashed cowboy hats and broken oversized glasses; it really disappointed the birthday girl and the guests.

But if your budget can't quite stretch to a rented and manned photo booth, you could always invest a little bit of time and creativity into making a DIY photo booth, or if you want an even simpler option, you could go for a selfie station.

When I organised a surprise party I set up a selfie station using a range of items from our Photo Booth & Selfie Station Props. I created a sign so people knew what it was for, and then left people to have fun with the props. The Facebook tags were absolutely amazing and now the birthday boy has many memories to look back on, certainly things he missed while he was trying to get round to all the guests that had come to celebrate.

Selfie stations are similar to the photo booth, but there is considerably less faff. You only really need to budget for the props and any accessories you want to display them in. The possibilities are endless, and it doesn't have to cost much at all. If you're planning a beach themed wedding for example, you could set up a beach towel, some spades, and have your selfie props displayed in buckets. If you are going for a vintage theme, an old suitcase or trunk would be ideal. Baring in mind that a selfie is usually somewhere between one and a handful of people all tightly packed together, you wouldn't need to stage an extravagant backdrop either, so the set up would be pretty simple.

Your guests will be managing their own photos, so this has to be the easiest option all round. Just remember to give your station a designated area and make a sign telling your guests what it is and what to do with the photos (i.e. tag you on facebook, upload to instagram, send them via Whatsapp etc). You are welcome to use our free downloadable signs. Last tip... make sure you grab your friends for photos and everyone will soon follow suit.

Props, Props, Props!!!

Once you've decided on your photo booth or self station, whether you've picked a package or designed your own, you'll need to think about what your props are going to be. The only light up props I've seen at a party photo booth were the ones I brought with me, so I'm sure you'll be setting a new trend and wowing your guests if you include some flashing novelties for them to dress up in. That's not to say you should over do the lights, a good selection of accessories to wear and hold, LED and not, are going to make a lasting impression and provide a whole load of fun for you and your guests. Variety is everything, so you will want to offer quite a few options; the more variety you offer, the more unique combinations your photos will have.

Consider whether you are looking to theme your party booth, for example: vintage, gangster and molls, neon and rave etc, or whether you want to have a random and eclectic mix of silly and sensible that people can just dig in and get snapping. Like I've recommended in other posts, check out Pinterest to see what other people are doing to get some inspiration. If you decide to go with a rented booth, you can just skip on down to my top suggestions for accessories. If you're going down the DIY route, keep reading...

For a DIY Photo booth, you do not need to spend a fortune. The most important thing is having a camera, ipad etc with a timer feature and preferably a tripod or stand so that everyone who wants to be in the picture can be, without leaving one person out to press the button or asking the nearest person to take your picture for you. If you hop on over for a quick look at our Pinterest saved board: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/GlowtopiaUK/glowtopias-favourite-photo-booth-posts/ we have saved our favourite ideas, instructables, tips and tricks for creating your own photo booths and selfie stations, so you'll find plenty of ideas to help from Polaroids to iPads to traditional cameras.

The backdrop for your booth can be as extravagant or as simple as you want. Some of the prettiest effects I have seen are simple voile curtain panels with fairy lights - from simple micro lights to twinkling, coloured or shaped string lights; and they look absolutely stunning set up outside in a gazebo or even just hanging from a large tree, so you don't have to stick to an indoor booth. You could make some paper or artificial flower decorations such as garlands, wreaths and pom poms, position the booth around a door or window which you can dress with string lights, flowers or other themed props. For vintage parties you could add a beautiful chair, some large vintage picture frames which you can pick up for a bargain in a charity shop or boot sale, and present your props from a vintage suitcase.  If you're going for a real party vibe, go for neon backdrops and bright and colourful lights and props. The cheapest and funkiest idea we've seen is picking up different coloured plastic table cloths and using them to make a rainbow backdrop, but we also love UV paint splats on black paper or vinyl rolls, neon poster prints, neon signs and frames painted in UV and neon colours.

We recommend you check out this amazing blog : https://junebugweddings.com/wedding-blog/7-tips-creating-seriously-fun-diy-photo-booth/ for the best tips complete with lots of photos to inspire you.

junebugweddings.com

Happy snapping for your big party photo opportunities, whatever you decide to do. We hope you have lots of fun and make lots of lasting memories.

1 thought on “Party Selfie Stations & Photo Booth Props

  1. Planning a party always begins with endless lists of what you want… from food options to playlists and everything in between. One thing is for sure, whatever party you’re planning: wedding reception; engagement or anniversary celebration; hen do; stag do; big birthday bash; for adults or children; you will want to have as many photos as possible to remember it.
    Thnaks

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