What an ice-breaker a photobooth is – and Kate and her team from In The Booth have created a great experience, where you really can be as silly as you like and yet take quality pictures. Not your normal shabby, not chic, mall photobooth of old, In The Booth provides booths that are clean, spacious and well run by an unobtrusive well dressed operator – there when needed, but always in the background. I’ve always hated my photo being taken, but I found myself being cajoled into stepping inside In The Booth’s photobooth at a recent wedding – and acting like a misbehaving child for a few minutes was well, F.U.N. And the long lines and constant laughter erupting from the booth was evidence that others thought so too!
What was the catalyst that started your interest in the photo booth business?
I was intrigued when I read about passport photo booths appearing at weddings. Being a retro lover at heart, I thought it was an amazing idea but, being a photographer, I knew these booths were sadly lacking in quality and style – two attributes that are essential at any special event! Together with my husband Steve, we set about designing a photo booth that would bring both image quality and aesthetics to every event; from weddings to twenty first birthdays, corporate functions and everything in between! We wanted to offer an experience that was unlike any other and so some things were essential: exceptional customer service and a booth that provided the age old magic of having your photo taken behind the curtain but was completely portable, looked unapologetically stylish and captured the whole story of the event, not just the faces! Before long, we were taking enquiries from all over Australia – in fact, one of our earliest events outside of Brisbane was because a client called to book a booth for their wedding at Rydges Southbank. Little did we know, there also happens to be a Rydges Southbank in Melbourne! To honour our commitment to all clients, a booth was driven to Melbourne for one very happy bride. One happy bride led to another and In the Booth is now Australia’s leading photo booth franchise with offices all over the country.
In what areas of Australia are you located?
In the Booth has local providers in the following areas:
- Brisbane
- Gold Coast
- Sunshine Coast
- Toowoomba
- Whitsundays
- Hamilton Island
- Mackay
- Townsville
- Darwin
- Broome
- Perth
- Adelaide
- Melbourne
- Sydney
- Canberra
- Port Macquarie
- Tweed Heads
Are you able to travel to the more remote locations of Australia?
We often travel in order to bring the entertainment of the booth to couples outside of our immediate areas. We don’t like saying no, so we will more often than not find a way to say yes!
Where are your photo booths constructed, and what sets them apart?
Our professional photo booths are a unique design unlike anything else in the photo booth market. After extensive research in both Australia and overseas, we were unable to find a commercially available booth that would give us the high quality experience we were determined to achieve.
So, after two years of engineering design and development, we began producing our own unique booths, right here in Australia in our purpose built construction facility. They are completely portable (to date there has not been a venue we could not get into) and yet large enough to fit 8 people comfortably and more if personal space is not an issue 😉
We also designed our booths to capture full length shots so you are guaranteed to get the whole story, and not just your guests faces! Not to forget the dress! You spent a whole lot of time choosing that dress, right? Our booth images give you the opportunity to capture it and much, much more!
We firmly believe that our booths, with their classic aesthetic, will add to any style concept or theme and therefore can be a main attraction rather than being tucked away so as not to detract from the look of the event.
Can you briefly describe the packages you offer?
We love nothing more than ensuring that the booth contributes to the couple’s chosen theme so our all-inclusive hire packages include a choice of entry curtain and our range of backdrops that will seamlessly integrate the booth. Our large range of on trend instant print designs can be customised with details and thank you message. Guests absolutely love adding their photo strips to the included black leather guest book and writing messages and couples then have a fantastic keepsake to take home at the end of their reception.
Our booths also include video guest book options which allow guests to leave unlimited fifteen second video messages. All the video files are then supplied in a USB folio along with the high resolution photo files after the big event. Our couples always tell us how much they love the Highlights Reel included in their package. We want our couples to feel just like they did on their wedding day when they receive their images so this is our little way of reliving the excitement and fun and is also something they can then share with their family and friends!
How do you set yourselves apart from other photo booths?
Easy question. Our client focus and commitment. Quite simply, we strive to make the experience of booking us for an event the easiest and the best. We want our clients to be pleasantly surprised by how far we will go to make their experience exceptional, memorable and seamless. Contributing to the story of our couple’s day is a privilege that we take very seriously and we want to be part of creating ‘The Best Wedding Ever!’, so we make sure that hiring us is the best decision a couple can make; from the booking process through to the little package they receive in the mail soon after their event. We have built our business on reliability and the trust that comes from consistently providing excellence in service.
How do you ensure that the images are of good quality so that they last?
Being a photographer I needed the image quality to be of the highest professional standard. We are committed to using industry leading software and imaging equipment and we designed our booths around our imaging requirements, not the other way around.
There would be no point going to the lengths we have in creating great images if the booth prints didn’t go the distance. Our booths use professional, photo-lab quality printers that print in less than twenty seconds, including a clear protective coating, and land completely dry. Unlike the traditional arcade photo booths, there’s no fingerprints to worry about here! Our print quality is second to none and of archive quality, so they will be treasured in albums, wallets and on the fridge for years to come!
Do you deliver and set up the photo booth before the event? What facilities are needed to operate a photo booth?
Our attendants will be on site to set up the booth generally around an hour and a half before the event hire begins. We are very conscious, however, about not having set up occurring in the vicinity of ceremonies so we will always work with our couples and/or their coordinators to ensure the set up time suits the flow of the wedding day.
We have had our booths set up in lounge rooms, basements, high rise apartments, boats, heritage listed buildings, concert venues, on islands, and under outdoor marquees. Stairs, lifts, and corridors are rarely a problem – if you can host a function there, we can get the booth there! All we need is a level surface, access to standard power and, if outside, shelter from the elements in undesirable weather. To date, there has never been a venue we couldn’t get into.
What is the role of the photo booth host and how do they assist the guests?
Our attendants’ role is to ensure our couples and their guests get the most from their photo booth hire and are highly trained to ensure the event runs smoothly. As well as set up and pack down crew, they will be there to ensure any guests who require a little extra assistance are well looked after! From hot tips on perfecting the winning pose to ensuring guests make good use of the guest book, our attendants will add to the ‘vibe’ of the booth experience. They always look the part too, bringing that extra element of booth magic to the experience.
We are very proud of the fact that our attendants and the service they provide are more often than not the stars in the great comments and thank you notes our couples leave for us after an event!
To inspire creativity, what do you consider are the best props to use? Do the bride and groom need to supply these themselves?
We are big fans of styling booth props to suit the theme of the event. Everyone can buy big glasses and feather boas, and while they certainly add some fun to the booth images, they can start to feel a bit same-same throughout the event – ‘Where’s Wally’ style.
While we do not provide props we do have loads of prop inspiration on our website, including some great places to find the perfect pieces. Our Best in Booth galleries on our Facebook page are also fantastic real life inspiration 🙂
Blackboards are always a great idea for cute, heartwarming or downright hilarious messages to the bride and groom. Picture frames will allow your guests to get creative with frames inside a frame and classic props on a stick will give that old-school magic to your booth images without the hygiene concerns that other props can bring.
Ultimately though, our favourite style of prop is the ‘free style’ prop. When guests are left to their own devices in the booth real magic can happen. We have had guests create an ATM story with the card going into the camera and the money coming out. We’ve had pregnancy announcements, outfit swaps (try doing that in three snaps!) and lots and lots of kissing 😉 We’ve had surfboards and furniture and pot plants and puppies and kittens in the booth! Not to mention the new jewellery couples have to show off and the good old photo bomb!
Our best advice? Less is more. Style your booth with a few props that suit your chosen theme and then let your guests bring the real magic. They’re your friends because they’re fun, right?
How does installing a photo booth enhance a wedding reception?
Our photo booths are a great addition to wedding reception entertainment – the ultimate party starter! People are in and out of the booth all night long and the laughter coming from the booth is contagious! Just what a photo booth brings to a wedding reception is best told by one of our couples, Daniel & Hayley:
‘Every-time we looked over to the booth there was a huge line to get in, lucky for us we got straight to the front every time 😉 Everybody loved it. The added bonus of the album is a fantastic idea. It was amazing to go through all the photos the next day. It’s great because you don’t get your photos back for a while so to have the ones from the booth is fantastic. It really shows peoples’ personalities and how much fun they had.’
The guest book is full of the first images from the wedding that the couple will see; images of grandfather and granddaughter, flower girls looking up to bridesmaids, and friends and family misbehaving. Our booths provide a fly on the wall experience for our couples with video messaging capturing the magic of the day along with the instant prints and high resolution digital files the couple receives. A wedding day passes so quickly and booth images that end up on fridges and in frames contribute to the lifetime of memories from the couple’s big day.
Being able to provide a service that not only contributes to the joy of our couples’ celebrations but also captures life long memories is, quite simply, awesome 🙂
What is it about photo booths that brings out the actor in people?
Ha! We are completely convinced that the old age magic of an enclosed booth allows people to relax a little and channel their inner ‘silly’. I think that people can relax in the booth because there is a general air of booth images being informal and fun so there is an absence of pressure. Anything goes, so to speak (Well, maybe not anything!). Being able to get in the booth with at least 7 (or more) of your nearest and dearest and be silly and clever together means there is also safety in numbers and a general hilarity that is contagious. The buzz of being with friends and family at a joyous occasion certainly helps to set the vibe required to put a booth to good use 😉
What are some of the funnier things you’ve seen?
Haha! That would be telling!
Seriously though, we have seen some cracker scenes played out in the booth. We mentioned the outfit swaps earlier. It has been done a few times now, but one couple actually changed outfits and then swapped back in the course of three images! Now that is commitment!
We are also constantly laughing at the unpredictable and unexpected things people bring to the booth. Like this image:
Or when they use a common prop mixed in with their own creativity to bring something to life that we have never seen before:
We might be the photo booth provider, but we also get to be the audience to a whole lot of clever that happens in the booth and this in turn motivates us because we are always keen to see more 🙂 It is just so inspiring!
What do bridal couples tell you about including your photo booth at their wedding?
We are very fortunate in that we work with couples who take the time to provide us with their thoughts about their experience with us. This is great because it allows us to reflect on where we are meeting our goals, what people really like and what we could make even better!
Here are some couples’ thoughts:
“Wow, thank you so much! We absolutely loved having In the Booth at our wedding! It was such a great way for us to get everyone up out of their seats and get their photos taken so we’d have a lifetime of memories to look back on. Brett was fantastic! Very engaging with all our guests and encouraging of everyone to get up and give it a go. The photo quality is great, the booth is huge so heaps of us could fit in at once, the album is the perfect added extra, the outside of the booth looks great and best of all, it was loads of fun!! Thanks so much for helping us make our wedding night so memorable.” – Kayla & Shane –
“I must say it has been an absolute pleasure dealing with your company, the whole process has been so smooth and hassle free from start to finish. The quality of the photos was so much better than I had ever expected and the feedback I am getting from people that attended the wedding usually starts with how fantastic the photo booth was. I would not hesitate in recommending your company to others and hopefully will need your services again someday in the future.” – Nicola & Joe –
“On behalf on myself and my wife Ellysha, we would like to THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH for attending our wedding on the weekend! Everyone enjoyed the photo booth and your video teaser is amazing! We can’t wait for the folio to arrive! Hope to see you guys at more Malay weddings in Perth.” – Hafiz and Ellysha –
I would give the gift of………
Home made dinners and baked goods. I’m practical like that. In hard times, you still need to eat and that’s when you least feel like making anything!
What do you like to do in your spare time?
Refer to question above 😉 I have an office of staff who like cakes. What can I do? :p
My favourite place for a great night out is…….
Nonna’s house. Being in the events industry, my ideal party is a quiet and cosy affair with my closest friends and family, and Nonna’s cooking on the table. Can you see a theme emerging here? 😉
Thank you Kate for sharing your story. To find out more about In The Booth visit the website.
All images courtesy of In The Booth.
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