The photo booth has become a fixture at wedding receptions as a form of entertainment and a way to generate unique keepsakes for the couple and their guests. Joan Nilsen, president and owner of Ambiente, says she’s seen demand for photo booths increase dramatically at her Minneapolis-based wedding and event planning business over the past few years.
“It’s interactive for all of your guests,” Nilsen says. “It adds that pop of fun and excitement to your wedding reception.” It isn’t just fun for the kids either; Nilsen says a bride’s 95-year-old grandmother enjoyed the photo booth, as did another bride’s 93-year-old aunt. Couples are also moving toward photo booth guestbooks instead of traditional guestbooks, she adds.
Christina Anderson, owner of Shakopee-based Christina Marie Events, sees photo strips replacing favors. “More couples are choosing this specialty at their wedding because it gives their guest something tangible to take away from their wedding that they can scrapbook, frame, or hang on their fridge,” she says.
Once you’ve decided to include a photo booth as part of your festivities, exploring the different types will help you choose a vendor to capture your wedding memories.
NO WALLS, STUDIO STYLE PHOTO BOOTHS
Kelly and Scott Schoeberl of Rochester-based Olive Juice Studios created the Photo Un-Booth as a way to push the limits of action and antics in traditional booth photos. Their “booth” doesn’t have walls; it simply consists of a taped square on the floor for guests to stand in, a backdrop, a lively photographer, and professional studio lights.
Olive Juice’s photographers set up the Un-booth after the speeches, the first dance, and parent dances are done. Then they loosen up the wedding guests for laughs and animated shots. They’ve documented karate kicks, tango dips, and air guitar.
“We don’t touch the camera after we do the initial focus and set the camera on a tripod,” Kelly says. “So Scott’s holding the remote shutter release and he’s pushing it at the right moment as he’s egging people on. He’s waiting for that perfect reaction to something he’s said or done.”
Bride Meredith Hayes hired Olive Juice to photograph her July 11 wedding in Rochester. “Scott got all of us, including my family, to go in the Un-booth,” Hayes says. “He really captures the moment, versus people standing in front of a camera and just smiling. Scott, Jessica and Kelly fit into the crowd and get things going. We got to see other people from the wedding, their friends and family we wouldn’t have been able to otherwise. And the photo resolution was awesome.”
The Schoeberls market the Un-booth solely as an add-on to Olive Juice’s wedding photography services, which start at five hours. They charge $920 more per hour for Un-Booth services. Along with Olive Juice’s other photographer, Jessica Ballou, they go to every wedding together to get a wide variety of shots, and say that spending the day with couples and their guests helps develop relationships that result in a lot of fun with the Un-booth.
After all is said and done, the Schoeberls give the bride and groom a CD of the Un-booth photos; they can choose which ones will go on a password-protected website for guests to view and purchase shots.
Pros to no-walls: Room to move/less claustrophobia, more-animated photos because the photographer is interacting with guests.
Cons: No photo strips on the spot, so guests can’t take them home as a souvenir or see them right away.
MODERN DIGITAL PHOTO BOOTHS
The Traveling Photo Booth has taken more than 750,000 photos since its digital photography-booth business began in 2005. The Minneapolis-based company’s booths, which feature high-resolution cameras and printers, print photos in less than 20 seconds. “We’re using some really state-of-the-art technology,” says Matt Gassman, co-owner with Jacob Stewart. “The computer’s basically analyzing every photo and making adjustments to have a really crisp, clean, nice-looking photo.”
The photos have a nostalgic feel, however, with black borders on black-and-white photos, white borders on color photos and vignetting along the border. “We call them ‘retrorific,’” Gassman says. “It’s the best of both worlds—bridging the old and new.”
Inside each booth the screen displays a video of what’s going on between each shot so guests can see themselves. If anyone’s getting cut out of the frame, they can adjust before pushing the button to take the photo.
Gassman, who has a degree in architecture, designed the booths with Stewart, who has a degree in photography. Features include a back curtain that opens up, allowing room for a number of guests (20 is the record), a 45-degree threshold, and spacious bench to accommodate older guests.
The booths print two identical photo strips of three photos each, so the guests get a copy as a party favor and the bride and groom get a copy for their guestbook or photo album. A Traveling Photo Booth attendant helps guests with questions and helps build the guestbook for the bride and groom.
The Traveling Photo Booth also provides a password-protected online gallery that acts as a virtual guestbook where visitors can view photo strips or purchase a CD of images. The company can also customize photo strips with the bride and groom’s names and wedding date. Its standard three-hour Saturday package, May through October, costs $1,195, which includes a guestbook and 100 thank-you postcards.
Bride Kate Anderson used the Traveling Photo Booth for her July 18 wedding at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. She and husband Jon chose the company for its quick digital processing. “We enjoyed the fact that we got a copy of all of our guests’ photos and that our guests were able to take a copy home with them,” Anderson said. “We chose to have all of our copies for our guestbook in black and white, but we liked that we could give our guests the option to have their take-home copy be in color or black and white.”
Pros of a digital photography booth: Quick processing time, customization with wedding date and couple’s names, option for color or black-and-white photos, ability to share photos online with guests.
Cons: Less of an antique feel. Guests can see what the photo will look like as it’s being taken, so it might be less candid.
ANTIQUE PHOTO BOOTHS
Todd Erickson’s St. Paul-based Photo Booth Memories features photo booths from the 1940s, ’50s and ’60s in a classic, Art Deco style, with porcelain doors and seats, hardwood tops and rounded edges. Erickson says there are only a few dozen such booths left in the country, which adds to their vintage appeal, and they’re often a draw for couples getting married in an older building. “The nostalgia factor’s a huge thing,” he says.
Erickson’s been in the photo booth business for more than 30 years. He studied science in college, so he was able to alter the developing process of his booths to produce a “better white and a better black” for contrast. Photo Booth Memories uses archive-quality silver nitrate paper to prevent photos from fading over time.
Although it takes two minutes and 35 seconds for photos to be printed in his company’s booths, they can process up to seven photos at one time. The booths take over 150 wallet-size strips per hour, with four photos per strip.
Erickson says the bride and groom can help encourage their guests to participate in the photo booth by going in themselves. “I try to get at least 10 strips of the couple,” he said. “If the bride and groom hop in there a few times, it helps set the tone.” Erickson and his wife Leslie also help encourage guest participation and put together guestbooks featuring the photos after the wedding.
Photo Booth Memories charges $1,095 for three hours for a Saturday wedding during the summer, but Erickson said a lot of people book the booths for five or six hours. He offers discounts for Fridays, Sundays, and off-season weddings.
Bride Annette Nelson hired Photobooth Memories to help capture the spirit of her Aug. 23 reception outside Holy Trinity Orthodox Church in St. Paul. She said she loved the uniqueness of the antique booth, which was visited by many of her 400 guests, especially the kids.
“I chose Photobooth Memories because I had been to a wedding that they worked many years ago and I loved what I saw,” Nelson said, adding that she still has pictures from that wedding. “I liked that people were taking home a memory.”
Pros of an antique photo booth: Vintage appeal, conversation piece, detailed photos that don’t fade, Underwriters Laboratories-approved for safety.
Cons: It’s not easy to duplicate photos after the event because there is no copy other than the original strip.
Photo Booth Tips
Do:
- Check out vendors’ photos and test the booth you’re going to rent.
- Get the photo booth for enough time. The standard three hours may be too short, especially if you have 200 guests or more. Find out how many strips the booth can take per hour.
- Find props like glasses and hats at thrift or discount stores to increase the fun.
- Make sure guests are aware of the photo booth; have someone mention it during his/her toast.
- Allot some photos for your guestbook and allow guests to take the rest home.
- Get a CD of all of the photos later if it’s an option.
Don’t:
- Wait until the last minute to reserve a booth. Vendors’ calendars fill quickly, especially during the warmer months.
- Be shy about asking questions about pricing, including whether there are discounts for off-season or Friday or Sunday weddings.
- Put the photo booth in a location that is not convenient for guests (e.g., outside, on a different floor, or in an isolated corner away from the festivities).
- Try to squeeze too many people into a photo booth at one time; heads might get cut out of the frame and expressions might be hidden.
- Have the photo booth set up too late in the evening, or you’ll miss older guests and families with children.
- Forget to join in the fun! It will encourage guests’ participation.
