Are you planning a wedding or special event? Are you thinking of ways to entertain guests and capture magical moments? Photo booths are wildly popular and can be an exciting way to do all of these things without spending a ton of money or exerting too much effort. Check out the ultimate guide to wedding photo booths!
Why Are Photo Booths So Popular?
We are living in a modern world where convenience and technology rule the way we share images and information. It would be easy to assume that most guests that attend your wedding will take photos with their phones, and while this is likely true, it doesn’t eliminate the reasons photo booths are still maintaining their popularity. Check out a few reasons people are continuing to rent photo booths:
Photo Booths Up the Fun Factor
Wedding guests appreciate having ways to interact with other guests without awkward conversations or added pressure. Photo booths help with this because there’s less talking and more fun and ways to interact with people you know, and perhaps people you want to get to know. You (the client) or the photo booth vendor can add props and customized backgrounds which will offer guests the opportunity to get a printed memento or transfer the photos to their phones and social media outlets. In this day and age of social media, people love taking advantage of the opportunity to take cute and fun pictures that can immediately be posted online to show how much fun they had at your wedding.
You can also have your photo booth double as a video booth and allow guests to leave personalized messages for the wedding couple. Guests can congratulate the happy couple and let the newlyweds have an opportunity to look at videos from their friends and family expressing their excitement and joy for their new union at a later date.
Photo Booths Are the Best Wedding Favors
Determining what to give your guests as a wedding party favor is always a tough decision. Letting them keep printed photo booth pictures is a great option and offers a personalized touch to the wedding party gift. Photos hold memories, and what better way to have people remember your special day than by giving them tangible images that they can take with them?
Photo booths aren’t just great gifts for your guests — during the actual wedding, the couple usually has so much going on, and having the ability to view pictures later is an excellent way for the newlyweds to relive the occasion and get a glimpse into how their special day was from their guests’ point of view.
Too Much Happening for the Photographer to Capture it All
When you are hiring a wedding photographer, you should make sure that you are hiring someone who fully understands your desires; however, even the most trained and experienced professionals may not have the ability to capture everything at your wedding, especially during the reception. A wedding photographer is there to make sure they prioritize capturing professional shots of the couple and their wedding party. When they can, most photographers will try to capture your guests enjoying themselves, especially on the dance floor; however, having a photo booth gives you another way to make sure you capture pictures of everyone in attendance while they are having a good time.
Part of the allure of having a photo booth is the “amateur” look of the photos. Photo booth photos aren’t typically very professional and posed, so there is a realness and authenticity that could be lost if the photographer took all of the pictures. The photo booth option reassures you that the photographer can pay attention to what they are being paid to do and that you can still get photos of all of your guests enjoying the ceremony.
How to Make Your Photo Booth Awesome
We’ve established that photo booths are a must-have at your wedding, and renting one will add a fun and unique element to your reception; however, just having a photo booth is only half the battle. You need to make sure that your photo booth has all of its necessities to ensure an incredible experience for both you and your guests. Listed are a few ways to make sure that your photo booth is a success.
Choose the Perfect Location
Location is a critical component in ensuring that your photo booth is successful and that your guests use it. Your photo booth location will be venue-specific, so there isn’t one “perfect” location; however, in general, photo booths are located where there is a lot of foot traffic.
You can try to place the set up near the entrance or exit of the reception area; that way, when people walk in, they immediately know it’s there, and when they leave, they are reminded of its presence in case they forgot. The location of the photo booth should be noticeable to guests, but not in the way. You don’t want your photo booth distracting anyone from anything important like special toasts or the cutting of the cake, but you also don’t want the booth so far out of the way that people forget it’s there. It is also essential to take into consideration what you are going to have to surround your booth. If you host a buffet-style reception, you may not want to place your photo booth near the food area to avoid accidents with food or just giving people a nice distance from their food and others who may be rowdy while taking photos. Avoid placing the photo booth too close to the band or DJ’s speakers because it may be too loud.
If your wedding is held at an outdoor venue, make sure the photo booth isn’t near the portable restrooms and is in a shaded area if it’s a summer wedding. The best way to make sure you are placing the photo booth in a prime location is to do a thorough walk-through of your venue space and visualize all of your tables, decorations, and how they will be arranged. From there, you can see the available area and choose an optimal place to place your photo booth.
Draw Attention to Your Photo Booth
Drawing your guests’ attention to your photo booth goes hand-in-hand with finding the perfect location. As we’ve discussed already, the location of your booth will be dependent on how your venue is arranged; but once you have determined the best place for your booth, making sure people utilize it is just as important.
If you have a DJ or band as entertainment for your reception, you should coordinate a time within their announcement schedule to highlight that the venue has a photo booth and that guests can take pictures. Signage and decoration are also ways you can draw people’s attention to your photo booth. Make sure you create a nice balance with your attention-grabbing decorations. The decorations surrounding your photo booth should not be so overpowering that it drowns out the actual photo booth, and it starts to go unnoticed. You want to make sure that the decorations are distracting or overbearing but that they attract your guests to the area so they can enjoy the booth.
Another way to draw attention to your photo booth is to place it near the guestbook. Many weddings have a sign-in book where guests that attend the ceremony sign their name, leave their address (for thank you cards), leave a message for the newlyweds, and possibly leave their wedding gifts. All guests tend to sign or fill this book out, so having the photo booth next to this area will definitely encourage people to use the booth. You can even encourage guests to add pictures from the photo booth on their guest book page.
Plan a Custom Photo Booth Backdrop
Even though photo booths have gained popularity and you’re more than likely to find one at every wedding nowadays, there are still ways to make your photo booth stand out from other newlywed couples’ photo booths. Instead of choosing from pre-made options, having a custom backdrop you’ve designed yourself will ensure that your backdrop won’t be the same as someone else’s. Also, if there is a theme to your wedding, making a custom backdrop gives you the option to have your photo booth and backdrop coincide with your theme and add to the overall ambiance of your wedding. You can add your wedding hashtag to the background as well. This will add flair to your photo booth pictures that will surely stick out to your guests and make the experience unique and memorable.
Handpick Your Props
Customizing your backdrop is one way to make sure your photo booth stands out, but there is another element that can be customized to ensure your photo booth is unique. Handpicking your props is an easy way to ensure that your booth is unique to your wedding and your booth experience is what you want. Some photo booth vendors offer a set package that includes props that are usually used at several types of events. You and your spouse may not like those props, or they may not go with your wedding theme. Take the time to handpick your props, so you will be reassured that the props will go with the theme of your wedding and that the pictures you and your guests take in the booth will be a hit.
Live Stream the Photo Booth Photos
A new trend that is bubbling is to have a live stream of the photos from the photo booth be showcased during the event. The concept is to connect a screen to the photo booth and stream the images your guests are taking in real-time. This is a fun addition that allows guests to contribute to your special day, and it also draws people’s attention to the photo booth and can remind or encourage them to take their own pictures and join in on the fun!
Between the first dance, tossing the bouquet, toasts from the wedding party, and going around greeting guests and thanking them for coming, the couple is usually very busy and may not get a lot of time to mingle with family and friends. Seeing a live feed of their guests taking pictures and enjoying themselves will put the couple at ease and reassure them that their loved ones are having a good time on their memorable day.
Make it Easy For Guests to Share
With social media being such a prevalent factor in our everyday lives, many of your guests are going to want to share the photos from your booth. Depending on the type of photo booth you rent, there can be many different ways to receive the images you’ve taken. Some photo booths print out physical copies of your photos; some booths give you the option to send the images electronically via text message or email, while other vendors offer both options. People tend to take many photos in the booth with different people and may not always remember to enter their number to receive the picture; if it’s a group photo, the kiosk may not print enough physical copies for everyone to have one. This is where hashtags can come in handy. Hashtags for weddings are a great way to allow your guests to post the pictures they’ve taken at your wedding and give everyone a digital catalog they can search through on social media to find images.
Schedule Open & Closed Times
As much as you want your special day to last forever, the fun has to stop at some point. Scheduling an “open” and “close” time for your photo booth will assist with notifying your guests that they aren’t missing important parts of your reception. Having an open time assures you that guests won’t be distracted when the wedding party enters or the couple is doing a special dance. Announcing a “close time” will also give your guests a sense of urgency and entice them to take a picture in the photo booth while they have a chance, instead of putting it off and eventually missing their opportunity. Finally, having a close time also ensures that you’re shutting everything down with enough time to give the photo booth rental company enough time to break everything down. Some vendors have a set time that they operate, and if your event runs past the rental time, you could get charged extra money during times that have less traffic, which is an unnecessary expense.
Renting a photo booth for your wedding is an excellent addition to what will be a memorable night for you and your guests!!
PHOTO CREDIT:
https://www.dippphotobooth.com/