how do you guys "physically" present the slideshow at a wedding?
I understand I could use a slideshow app, but I'm more concerned about the equipement side of things.

Say you have a laptop, possibly hooked up to a projector.
Do you then have someone watching over your equipment? Personally, I'd be wanting to watch it like a hawk, and that would kinda take me out of the action at the reception. I'd be worried someone pinched it or something

PS: I'm a total newb at wedding photography... with an interest in getting started in this field.
A slideshow at the reception sounds like a great idea, but was wondering how you guys handle this

I have an assistant who sets it up and stands by it. She is a high school student, and people think she is great. She smiles, answers questions that they may have, and encourages them to leave their email address so they can be notified when the photos are released online.

If you have a dependable high school student, I would highly recommend it. I pay the girl who helps me $20/hour with a minimum of 5 hours work. She love it b/c it's great pay for a high school student - and I certainly don't mind paying someone that much who is giving up a weekend night and is reliable.

We use a laptop on a cool-looking stand. First we load all the images into the computer, bring them into iView MediaPro, choose which ones we want, and copy those into a folder on the desktop.

Before the wedding we create the slideshow folder on the desktop, and set the screensaver to that folder.

Then, once the images are all in the folder, we just run the screen saver by putting the cursor in the "hot" corner.

Thanks for your feedback Adam and Jill!

Jill, do you use a projector / large LCD / laptop screen?
Adam, do you have an assistant "guarding" your laptop?

Thanks!

No "guard" but Jill's idea is an interesting one. We use a laptop lock and cable it through a part of the table or something. Nothing too conspicuous. Just want to keep the honest people honest. I think if someone was over there with bolt cutters, we'd notice.

We also cover the keyboard/trackpad with a sheet protector with a piece of paper. Since the laptop is small and white (12" iBook G4) it looks really clean.

I have my assistant setup and run the slide show. The last two weddings are the only ones I have done a slide show for and both times the couple was already doing a slideshow, so I just used the projector they had setup. I use Showit and people love it. Having the slide shows timed to music really makes them stand out, especially since I am competing (attention and retention vise) with the couples show. I think once they get the next version of Showit out (I have heard it will be in a week or two), which will have easier full screen modes, Showit is going to be an amazing tool for receptions.

I use one of these dealios with a cart skirt (black, fastens to the cart with velcro). Laptop sits on the middle shelf (hidden) and I have a Viewsonic 19" flat panel (widescreen display) which was only $249 at CompUSA. The cart was a little over $100 and the skirt (which I had to buy from a commercial AV equipt dealer) was about $50.

I use a Sandisk card reader and only upload the small jpegs. (Takes maybe 3 minutes for ~1200 images)

I do event cards and I fan them out all over the top of the cart (so no one is tempted to set a drink down on the cart).

I prefer to put the show near the bar or the gift table. I figure if there is anything shady going on...a crook would probably steal the couples wedding gifts (esp. the envelopes) before they'll mess around with something that looks like it's fairly secured. (Most people -- including most of my assistants! -- think that the reception site provides the AV cart so I guess that adds to component of "there are too many eyes around for me to mess with this thing."

One of the nice things about the Viewsonic is that it's BRIGHT...I can pretty much see it from almost anywhere in the reception hall ('cept the potty).

The downside to slideshows is that when you are ready to pack up and leave...that's usually the time you have 20 people gathered around your slideshow!!!