Photo Booths 101

Seven years ago Todd Erickson brought a 50-year-old penny arcade photo booth to a wedding–a friend's daughter was getting married. His friend thought he was crazy. Fifteen minutes into the reception, 75 people were crowded around the booth looking at the pictures, eagerly waiting as their likenesses were captured in black-and-white and printed on a chemical-scented strip of paper. Who knew it would spark one of the hottest trends in weddings?

About 15 of the weddings planned by Mi Mi Design in Minneapolis have a photo booth at them, says co-owner Amy Fuerstenberg. At least five Twin Cities companies-and a few individual photographers-hire out such booths. In each case, guests enter an enclosure, push a button, and voilá—their pictures are automatically shot and printed.

But that's where the similarity ends. Each photo booth company in town offers something different: Some booths are restored stainless steel art deco structures, others are classic black-curtained boxes, and one is even a 6-by-12-foot vintage-style trailer.

"Brides are looking for something new and different—they want their wedding to be unique," explains bridal consultant Angie Swits, owner of By Your Side Wedding Planning in Woodbury.

 

WHY A PHOTO BOOTH?
Photo booths aren’t meant to replace a traditional wedding photographer. Rather, they each serve a separate purpose. A traditional wedding photographer memorializes the ceremony, takes candid pictures of guests throwing rice, documents Aunt Tillie hugging her newlywed niece, and captures old friends on the dance floor. Whereas, a photo booth is more of an interactive vehicle for guests. For the guests, "it’s an entertainment item just like a musician or an artist," Swits says. "It’s an activity."

"A photo booth extends the party beyond the dance floor," adds Bryan Smith, co-owner of Mobile Photo Booth based in Eagan. Photo booths provide more than entertainment.

Kelly and Adam Myre, who held their reception at the Mill City Museum, wanted photos as keepsakes for their wedding guests. "We did that instead of party favors," says Adam, likening the photos to tabletop chocolates. "I think our guests really enjoyed it."

 
Sue Zvers, from Milwaukee, also thought in terms of party favors. When planning her May 2007 wedding, she recalled a wedding she attended last fall that had a booth: "I just thought it was the coolest thing I had ever seen," she says. "We got to leave with a strip from the wedding, and to this day my husband and I still have it up on our refrigerator. What a great gift to give wedding guests!"

When it was time for her and husband Eriks Zvers to tie the knot, she enlisted the help of The Traveling Photo Booth in Minneapolis. "If I could go back in time and take things out to make the wedding more budgetable…the one thing I wouldn't have cut would have been the photo booth."

Her rental also included a linen-bound album into which duplicate copies of the photos were pasted, and it proved to be a huge bonus for Zvers. Four months after the wedding she still hadn’t seen the official wedding photos because the photographer was retouching them, but was able to instantly look at the photo booth album and laugh. "The things people will do in a photo booth that they won’t do in a regular picture are hysterical," she says.

An album can also double as a guest book. Erickson, whose company Photobooth Memories rents restored vintage booths, encourages guests to cut out one of the photos from the strip and paste it into the book along with a special message.

If you're set on the specific look of your booth, you’ve probably already made your choice.  But there are other differences to consider. Size, for example: Erickson has had between six to eight people in one of his booths. People pile on each other in there-others booths are designed to hold larger groups, or can open up to do so.

Processing is another consideration. Most booths use a digital process, which means the images can be archived, and printed in color, black and white, or sepia. But do your homework-not every company offers every option.

The Myres' chose to rent from Party Booths in Minneapolis; their package included a disc of all the images from the wedding, which they later printed and pasted into their guest book. Guests walked away with a 4-by-6-inch photo sporting four small images with the words "Kelly and Adam’s Wedding." The images, which could be downloaded for free or ordered as prints, were also hosted on a password-protected Web site.

At the Zvers' wedding, two strips of three images were printed on a single 5-by-7-inch photo paper.

An attendant snipped off one strip and pasted it into the album, and handed the other to the guest. Their Traveling Photo Booth rental also included 250 "thank you" postcards featuring the Zvers’ favorite strip. The images were also available online, where guests could order prints.

The couple decided to purchase a disc with the photos for an additional cost—and Sue is glad they did. "All my friends that know I have the disc have been asking me if they can get larger pictures printed off from their strip," she says.

Like the other digital photo booth rental companies, Mobile Photo Booth also hosts photos online. In addition, their booths have a second, networked, computer on site where guests can scroll through photos from the wedding. "Then we’ll print them manually for them," explains co-owner Smith.

Sometimes, though, brides just prefer an old-fashioned photo booth, many of which have their original porcelain adjustable seat, beveled leaded-glass mirrors and hardwood trim. Because they're not digital, only a single strip is printed and the photos can't be archived digitally.

But no matter whether you prefer the look and smell of a vintage booth, or one with digital-age capabilities, there’s no doubt that you-and your guests-will have a blast with a photo booth. Now-for the record-ready, aim, smile.