Top tips for a photo booth at your wedding.

Today's tips come from renowned photo booth dude, Dion, of The Amazing Travelling Photo Booth.

Thinking about having a wedding photo booth?  Then read on...

We know that people are at the same time generally shy when being photographed, but given the right opportunity and environment, love themselves, even if just a little. At a time when almost everyone has a camera at hand a photo booth, in theory, should not work. So we tried something like it, at our own wedding, and it did work! It needed some tweaking and finessing, but we knew we were on to a good thing. Our experience has taught us that there are three not so secret ingredients of a photo booth: a party, privacy, and prints that you can hold.  So we got to working on this, and a few years on, we now have nine uniquely designed photo booths attending weddings all over the country, from Waiheke Island to Wanaka. 

We’ve learned a lot in our travelling, so here are our top ten tips, for those of you considering a photo booth for your celebration. 

1. Make sure your photo booth fulfils that basic requirement of really being a booth. Your more shy guests will appreciate it, and everyone gets a giggle getting into that intimate little space.

2. People expect a photo booth to print real photos.

3. Consider your operating time carefully.  A booth can work pretty well between a ceremony and a reception, and really well, after dinner. Not so much during dinner.

4. Speaking of time, you may be thinking of a photo booth as a form of photography, which it is.  Your guests though, will see it as a form of entertainment. So however long you book one for, consider the entertainment value as well, and when in your plan you want that entertainment happening, and for how long.

5. Consider location. Keep it safe, such as away from stairs, out of the caterers way, and not right next to the PA. It is also very important to keep it visible. If people can’t see it then they can’t see people having fun in it. So why would they get in it? Give your MC a nudge to mention it too.  Make it as close to compulsory as possible, and people will have a guaranteed good time.

6. Just like your guests, you hope that they will arrive looking their best for the occasion. There are some great looking booths out there, and some seem to turn up as if they dressed in trackies. Go for the good looks, it’s your wedding day.

7. Consider an album.  Leaving a message in a guest book actually feels a bit like administration.  When they have an extra photo strip though, as almost all booths offer, they can’t wait to.

8. Have a look at the photos produced. Are people looking at the camera, or below the camera? Some booths are set up with digital displays inside. We have avoided this, as we get a greater rate of people making eye contact with the camera.  People look better when they are happily looking into the camera. Otherwise they look like they are Skyping someone.

9. Hiring a photo booth thing is not the same as hiring equipment. Most come with a host. Ask around about the service they provide.  If you have a stranger at your wedding, you want them to be warm, charming and fun, not just able to plug in a box, set up a camera and wait for the groomsmen to try and break it.

10. Consider your own creativity.  We offer props, but we consistently see that people who put just a little effort in to this department, produce awesome results that are a great reflection of them and their own humour. Sometimes, getting people to make fun with their own faces, has an enduring quality that a face full of feathers and crazy glasses can never fulfil."

So a great big warm THANK YOU! to Dion for taking the time to share his knowledge. Check them out, they're loads of fun.

Thanks to Clipic for the images.

Click on the image to download the info graphic!