You just have to have a bit of patience.

So excited! I just found out today that the effort to bring the Polaroid instant camera and film back has paid off. After a somewhat noisy campaign by a group of Polaroid ex-employees and enthusiasts (under the umbrella of Florian Kaps of the Impossible Project), it was announced today that The Summit Global Group signed a licensing agreement that will enable the (re)development of analog Polaroid cameras and film. The products will resume production in an old Polaroid factory in Amsterdam under the watchful eye of the Impossible Project team.

Interestingly, the Summit Global press release neatly knits analog into the broader fabric of future-forward Polaroid products, then glosses over it completely by focusing on its digital instant photography gadgets. For example, consider the Polaroid Two, a “digital version of the instant camera that produces instant digital photos.” Think “Polaroid technology within a 5mp camera,” (so says TechRadar.com) and add in an LCD screen, a zoom function, limited image-editing capability, and a 2×3 image output in 40 seconds.

Yeah.

I’m not yet sure how well this will sit with Polaroid devotees, who have presumably been clamoring for the return of analog camera and film because of its unique textile, visual, and nostalgic qualities. But no matter. What matters is that the analog Polaroid camera is indeed coming back — as part of a broad family of iterations.

What does all of this mean for weddings? Everything. Think about it: from DIY photobooths to guest books to fun favors, Polaroid photography has had its hands all over weddings in recent years. During the last few months it’s been out of production, it even made an exclusive (if now thankfully brief) appearance at weddings as expired Polaroid film (thus making it more exotic but no less striking, as seen here (scroll down) and here). And now, an increase in production — not to mention an expanded product line — can only yield an increase in creative use. Am I right?

I’ll close with this quote from the “State of Affairs” section on the home page of the Impossible Project website:

Large-scale production and worldwide sale of The Impossible Project’s new integral film materials under its own brand will already start in the beginning of 2010 – with a brand new and astonishing black and white Instant Film and the first colour films to follow in the course of the year.

I am tossing out my prediction now: black-and-white Polaroid photos will be one of the prominent wedding memes of 2010. I know I, for one, would be all over that trend.