How-To Photo Booth: The Booking Process

A Walk Through the (Fun!) Process of Planning a Photobooth

Ok, so let’s pretend that you’re an anxious bride-to-be planning her wedding. Or maybe your aunt is turning 40 and is expecting a Roarin’ Twenties birthday party. Or maybe you’re Bethenny Frankel and your new Skinnygirl jeans are about to launch (it happened, we were there!). It doesn’t matter.

Whatever event has brought you to Shake and Share Media, you’re about to embark down the same path as countless satisfied planners before–and hopefully after–you! While we try our best to take some of the workload off of your shoulders, there are always a few important decisions that will sculpt your photo booth experience. A typical line-up would look something like:

Photo or Video Booth?**
Either option comes with nuances that will often prove a better fit for certain events. The photobooth is a quick experience that appeals to the masses (think your little cousin after too much cake and your Great Uncle after too much scotch). Guests will be able to step into a photobooth many times throughout the event and walk away with a tangible keepsake. On the other hand, the video booth is a showstopper. Crowds will gather around it and most people will only get a chance to do it once. However, the experience will last a bit longer and is more interactive, with that much more of an impressive momento.

**for today’s purposes, we will assume that you chose a photobooth

Still, GIF, or Boomerang?
Listen, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with the classic still photo. It’s simple, timeless, and easygoing! But if you’re looking to upgrade.. The GIF will take multiple photos in one session, then group them together into a stop-motion animation! The Boomerang booth is one step above this, taking three times the number of photos at a quicker speed, then looping them in the same slideshow format. Now, you COULD have your cake and eat it too with our Ring Light Boomerang Booth, which offers all three products, but will not have printouts. Our Luxury Open-Air Photobooth, on the other hand, will allow only still and GIF options, but with the prints.

1- 2- 3- or 4-shot?
What do I mean by this? Easy: how many photos do you want taken in each session? Are you looking for a single photo to share, or maybe the iconic photo strip of four? A single shot works best in formal settings, while multiples will allow your guests to change up their poses and props in a more energetic environment!

Backdrop: Sequined, Patterned, Green Screen…or something else?
The possibilities for the background of your photo is limited only by your imagination! We have an array of solid-color, patterned, and sequined backdrops that you can explore here on our Pinterest page. Or, if you’re feeling adventurous we can use a green screen and add in a custom or moving image (want it to snow in the background!?) And if you don’t see something you like, or have something else in mind – brainstorm with us! We will find it, create it, and dream it into reality with you!

Customize it!
Give us your themes, your hashtags, your links to websites and social media. If your package has prints, we’ll add any print you want to the overlay that surrounds the image! And if you’re taking advantage of our social sharing kiosks, let us know what kind of message you want to include in the texts and e-mails, or what content you would like posted with the photos!

Props, or no props?
Not every event requires props, but we always recommend them! But think outside the ordinary box of silly glasses and mustaches (although we have those, too!). The Shake and Share team prides itself on investing in a selection of props that range from fun and flirty to high fashion accessories. Don’t be surprised if your guests are trying to sneak out with some of the goods!

Have fun!
Sure, there’s probably more planning involved than you initially expected. But, we’re here with and for you the entire time! Let us do all the work, and you take all the credit. And – I cannot stress this enough– if you have any ideas; big, small, crazy, unheard of…please, please run them by us! We are a creative, and maybe even a little crazy, team that are open to just about anything!