From childhood photos to engagement pictures, reception slideshows are a fabulous way to offer your guests a glimpse into your lives, both apart and together at last. Consider these five tips from slideshow pros to guarantee you’ll get your guests laughing (and maybe crying), but certainly not nodding off to sleep!
1. Set a time limit. Professionals say your show should be about 10 minutes long. “The reason is simple,” says Brian Mahon of Pictures in Motion based in London, Ontario. “The human eye tires.” Mahon recommends displaying each picture for only five to nine seconds. Lisa Barth of Saskatchewan’s Story Garden Photo Memories adds: “There’s only so much that we can handle of other people’s pictures.”
2. Hire a professional. If you’re tech-savvy, creating a slideshow might be something you can do on your own. However, Mahon explains that hiring a professional can be easier and quicker, and result in better quality; and it will leave you with something that’s easy to pull out and watch with friends again and again. Slideshow production can cost around $600, and you’ll have a snapshot of your lives leading up to this milestone.
3. Plan ahead. Most companies need a few weeks to compile a slideshow, especially if they balance wedding shows with funeral tributes that have a 24 hour turn-around time. However, some companies, like Pictures in Motion, can arrange to have photos from the ceremony inserted into the slideshow and ready to play for the reception.
4. Chose the perfect pics. A slideshow should give guests a glimpse into your lives, from all those embarrassing baby photos, to special moments (graduations, awards, proms, sporting events), to meeting and falling in love. “We want to capture the life–not just the wedding and one moment—but their lives from birth all the way up to the big day,” Mahon says.
5. Final touches. Finding the perfect music to complement your slideshow can be a difficult task, especially with royalty issues that infringe copyright when producing DVDs. Most companies have a selection of songs you can choose from, but look for tunes that have personal meaning to you. Another word of advice from Barth is to use horizontal photos as opposed to vertical, because they sit better on screen. At the end of the process, print extra copies of the show to hand out as favours or thank-you gifts after the big day.
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