Option 1: the host pays

You buy a seat for each person who'll use the camera, at $2 per guest, per event. You count as one guest, so 50 guests plus you is 51 seats, or $102.

• You pay once, by card at checkout or by emailed invoice, and the camera opens for your guests.
• Guests just scan, enter their first name and email, and shoot. There's nothing for them to pay.
• Need more seats? Add them from the event page at any time.
• Seats are for one event. Unused seats aren't refunded, so it's worth a realistic headcount. (See the refund policy.)

Best for: weddings, birthdays, company events and anything where you're the host in the traditional sense. It's a gift to your guests, like the favors or the photo booth.

Option 2: guests pay

Each guest pays $2.50 when they join, by card, Apple Pay or Google Pay. Your own seat as host is free, and you set the maximum number of guests.

• When a guest scans the code, they enter their name and email, then pay on a secure Stripe page. Their seat is held for 30 minutes while they pay.
• Once paid, the camera opens straight away. The same phone keeps its seat, so closing the tab doesn't mean paying again.
• You pay nothing up front, and there's nothing to estimate: each guest covers their own seat.

Best for: chapters and student groups where members split costs anyway, club nights and venue events, meetups, races and community events, and any event where asking the host to pay for strangers doesn't make sense.

Free seats for some guests: guest codes

On a guests-pay event you might still want certain people to join free: officers, the guest of honor, a performer, the venue staff. Guest codes handle this. You buy free seats at $2 each under a code you choose (say, VIP or EXEC) and give the code to those people. When they join, they enter the code and skip payment. Each code has the number of uses you bought, and you can see how many have been used.

Side by side

Can I switch later?

Yes, with limits. A host-pays event can switch to guests pay until you've paid for it. A guests-pay event can switch back to host pays until the first guest has joined and paid. After that, the choice is fixed for that event, which keeps everyone's payments simple.

Promo codes

From time to time we run promotions. If you have a Memory Rolls promo code, enter it at checkout, whether you're a host buying seats or a guest paying to join.

Not sure which to pick? If you'd pay for the drinks, pay for the camera. If everyone's chipping in, let them chip in. Start an event and choose who pays when you create it.

Why the limit matters

On a normal phone camera, a photo costs nothing, so people take ten of the same thing and never look at them again. A limited roll changes behavior. Guests pause, frame the shot and wait for the moment. The photos get better, and there are fewer to sort.

But a limit that's too tight backfires. If guests think every shot is precious, some will save them all for "something good" and leave with a full roll.

A rule of thumb

Start from the length of the event and how much happens in it:

If in doubt, go with 12. It's enough to feel generous, small enough to make people choose, and it divides naturally into "a few at dinner, a few on the dance floor, a few at the end".

Do the album maths

Multiply your guests by the roll size, then by the share of the roll you expect people to use. Some guests won't use them all, so planning on about 70% is reasonable:

100 guests × 12 shots × 70% ≈ 840 shots to look through.

That's an evening's curation with coffee. 100 guests × 36 shots would be nearly 2,500, which is why "unlimited" rarely helps. If you're the one curating, pick a number you'll enjoy going through.

You can also set a total for the whole event. The camera stops for everyone once that many shots are taken, which puts a ceiling on how much you'll have to sort through.

Photos, videos or both?

With Event Camera, a video clip uses one shot, and you set the longest clip allowed (up to 60 seconds). Video is great for toasts, speeches and first dances, but long clips are slow to watch back. For most events, a limit of 15–30 seconds keeps clips punchy. Because a one-minute clip costs the same single shot as a photo, guests tend to reach for video. If you mostly want stills for the album, turn video off.

Tips for getting the roll used

• Say the number out loud. "You've got 12 shots" on a table card or from the DJ gives people a budget to spend.
• Give prompts. "One photo of your table, one of the dance floor, one of something we'd miss" turns a limit into a game.
• Let them know when the camera closes. Guests who know the camera stops at midnight use their shots before then.

If you get it wrong

You can change the number of shots per guest in your event settings while the event is running, for example to give everyone a few more when the night is going well. Guests see the new count next time they open the camera. If you raise it, check the total for the whole event too.

Ready to set your number? Start an event, or see how hosts use Event Camera for weddings, company events and nights out.

Two to four weeks before

Create the event. Give it the name you want guests to see. With Event Camera, invitations and the album email come from your event's name, so "Maya & Sam's Wedding" works better than "Reception test". Set the start and end times to cover the part of the day you want photographed. The camera won't open outside them.

Choose the roll size. Ten to fifteen shots per guest suits most receptions. Fewer than eight, and people worry about wasting them. More than twenty-five, and you're back to camera-roll sprawl. We go into more detail in how many shots each guest should get.

Decide on video. Short clips (up to 60 seconds) are lovely for toasts and the first dance, but each clip uses one shot. If you'd rather have stills only, turn video off.

Add your look. Your names, a colour that matches the invitations and a small logo or monogram make the camera feel like part of the wedding rather than an app.

Pay for seats. With Event Camera it's $2 per guest, and you count as one. Count everyone who might want a camera, including the wedding party. You can add seats later if the guest list grows.

The week before

Print the QR code. Download it from the host portal and put it on:

• table numbers or table cards, so every table has one in reach
• the welcome sign or seating chart
• the back of the program or menu
• the bar, where people wait with nothing to do

Add one line telling people what to do: "Scan me: you've got 12 shots to capture our day. We'll share the album after the honeymoon."

Send it ahead (optional). You can email the camera link to your guest list with Event Camera's invitations, so people have it before they arrive. On the day it only works between the start and end times.

Test it yourself. Open your own host camera link from the portal and take a shot. Your seat is already counted.

On the day

Get it announced. One sentence from the DJ, the officiant or the best man ("There's a camera on your table; it's got twelve shots, use them well") makes more difference than any sign.

Give a prompt or two. Prompts help guests who don't know what to shoot. Try a small card at each table:

• the people at your table, right now
• something we'll never see from the head table
• the dance floor at its best
• a selfie with someone you met today

Don't worry about the signal. Shots are saved on the guest's phone and upload when the signal comes back, which helps at barns, vineyards and basements.

After the wedding

Curate. Every shot is in your gallery. Filter by guest or by photos and videos, and star the ones you love. Only starred shots go into the album, so blurry shots and anything you'd rather keep private stay out.

Send the album. One button emails the album link to every guest who joined and everyone on your invite list. People can view the shots full-screen and download them.

Keep everything. Photos and videos are kept for 90 days after the wedding. Use "Download all" to save the whole album as one file, and keep the originals of anything else you want from the gallery.

Quick checklist

• Event created with your names, start and end times
• Roll size chosen (10–15 is a good start); video on or off
• Colour and logo added
• Seats paid for everyone who might join
• QR code printed on tables, signs and the bar, with one line of instructions
• Camera tested from your own host link
• Someone briefed to announce it
• Album curated and sent; "Download all" saved

Ready? Start your wedding's event or read more about Event Camera for weddings.

That fits far more events than the wedding table it's best known for. Here's a tour.

Why a limited roll changes the photos

Phones have made photos free, so people take too many of them and look at too few. A disposable camera puts back the one thing that made old film rolls special: a limit. With ten or twenty shots, people stop and choose. They photograph the moment rather than spraying a burst at it.

Two more details matter. Guests can't see, retake or delete their shots, so they stay present instead of reviewing the screen. And nothing goes to a group chat. Everything lands in the host's gallery, and the host decides what goes into the album.

Celebrations

The original home of the disposable camera, and still the easiest fit.

• Weddings and wedding weekends: engagement parties, rehearsal dinners, receptions, after-parties and destination-wedding excursions. See Event Camera for weddings.
• Bachelor and bachelorette parties
• Birthdays and milestones: big birthdays, quinceañeras, bar and bat mitzvahs, graduations
• Showers and reveals: baby showers, bridal showers, gender reveals
• Retirement parties and anniversaries
• Family reunions and holiday gatherings
• Memorial celebrations, where guests' photos of each other become something to keep
• Group trips: ski weekends, cruises, festivals and reunion vacations

Hospitality and nightlife

Venues host events every week, and their guests are already holding phones. A next-day album gives people a reason to remember where they were.

• Bars, clubs, lounges and nightlife promoters
• Music venues, concerts and DJ nights
• Hotels, resorts and casinos
• Restaurants hosting private dining, chef's tables and anniversaries
• Tour operators and group travel
• Festivals, fairs and ticketed attractions

More in Event Camera for venues and nightlife.

Company events

Corporate events happen in many rooms at once, which is exactly where one photographer falls short.

• Off-sites, retreats and all-hands meetings
• Conferences, trade shows and association meetings
• Product launches, sales kickoffs and client summits
• Team-building days, recruiting events and campus hiring
• Coworking communities and demo days
• Award ceremonies and holiday parties

Conferences and off-sites are a particularly good match: organizers get the breakout sessions, team dinners and booth conversations without sending a photographer everywhere. See Event Camera for company events.

Brand activations and marketing

For brands, the appeal is participation. Visitors shoot your experience on a camera with your name, colour and logo, and you curate the results.

• Pop-up shops, store openings and in-store displays
• Sampling tours, street teams and festival sponsorships
• Influencer events, press previews and creator retreats
• Automotive launches and test-drive events
• Fan zones, stadium activations and watch parties
• Premieres for film, TV, music and games

If you plan to use visitors' photos in advertising, ask for that permission separately. More in Event Camera for brand activations.

Education and community

• Colleges, admissions teams and alumni associations
• Formals, Greek life and student organizations (Event Camera for campus groups)
• Nonprofit galas, donor events, volunteer days and fundraisers
• Retreats and community events run by faith organizations
• Chambers of commerce, neighborhood associations and civic events
• Museums, libraries, zoos and aquariums hosting member nights

Sports and fitness

• Road races, marathons, triathlons and cycling events
• Fitness competitions and studio challenges
• Golf and tennis tournaments, charity sporting events
• Adult leagues, youth tournaments and sports camps
• Wellness retreats and yoga festivals

The trick here is one QR code printed in several places: packet pickup, the start, aid stations and the finish. See Event Camera for races and fitness.

Real estate and members' clubs

• Open houses, broker events and agent retreats
• Resident events in apartment communities
• Building openings and tenant events
• Private clubs and country clubs
• High-end party planners and destination planners, as a service for their clients

Where it fits best

What to look for in any event camera

Whatever the event, a few things decide whether guests use it:

1. No download. If joining takes more than a scan and a name, many guests won't bother.
2. A real limit on shots. It's what makes the photos better.
3. Host control over sharing. Guests shouldn't see each other's shots, and nothing should go out until you choose it.
4. A clear price. Per guest, per event, with no subscription for a one-off party.
5. A way to keep everything. Albums shouldn't vanish before you've downloaded them.

Event Camera does all five: QR join in the browser, a roll size you set, a private gallery you curate, $2 per guest, and a "Download all" button on the album. Start an event when you're ready.