Whether your big event is a special birthday, a wedding, an anniversary, or a corporate event, you and your guests will want to commemorate it with a few photographs. Elevate the experience for all concerned by building a DIY photo booth.

Easy, affordable, and unobtrusive, they provide the perfect stage on which to capture images worthy of the memories. Read on to find out what to do, step by step.

1. Decide Where To Put the Booth

The first thing you need to do is to decide where to put your DIY photo booth. There are two rules to remember when choosing a location.

The booth must be accessible to all guests, including people with limited mobility, and it must not obstruct the flow of the overall layout of the event venue. Situating the booth too close to a busy part of the venue could result in all sorts of unwanted situations, from cameras or photographers being bumped, to photobombs. Be sure to measure the space you intend to use.

2. Plan and Build the Backdrop

If the event has a theme, it is important for your DIY photo booth to reflect it. Whether you take inspiration from the overall theme, or from design elements such as the colour scheme or table centrepieces, try to give it the wow factor.

Just like different variations of New Zealand bingo games are available, so are a variety of backdrop possibilities. You can bang something together with wood, nails, and a hammer, or you can use clothing racks, string, hay bales, balloons, bunting, paper rosettes, and other materials to create something.

3. Add a Few Fun Props

A photo booth at which guests can have some fun is bound to be a memorable part of your event, and not only because of the pictures. The best photos of people are taken when the subjects are relaxed or having fun, so do not be afraid to place silly hats, costumes, cardboard speech bubbles on sticks, and theme-related props in your booth.

You can also consider adding a large, glassless frame behind which guests can stand, as well as smaller glassless frames they can use as props. Large frames are easy enough to make using cardboard and a few carefully chosen items.

4. Enhance the Booth With Lighting

Lighting is one of the most important factors to consider in photography, so ensure people who use your DIY photo booth have the best light for it. Try to take advantage of a space that receives as much natural light as possible. If you need to supplement light, use floor and table lamps to do it.

6. Encourage Guests to Share Photos

While you can ask a professional photographer to take photos at your DIY booth, it is better to let them get on with doing what they do best. Leave the booth for guests who are probably only too happy to use their smartphone cameras. Encourage them to share their photos on Instagram, Twitter, or another platform by using a specific event hashtag.