Top Tips
Top Tips - Your Dream Events
With any big event, you only get one chance to get it right. As you can imagine, we have been to quite a few parties and you would be shocked at some of the set ups we have seen, there have been some real shockers! You know the sort of thing we mean …..
- It is supposed to be a photobooth, but actually it’s just a camera on a tripod hidden behind a saggy curtain!
- The light hanging overhead is so bright it kills the total atmosphere that the venue and DJ have spent hours creating…..
- You eventually get to the Selfie Mirror and there’s only one member of staff, not really interested in what’s going on whilst the guests have trashed the cheap cardboard props and can’t write in the memory album as it’s a cheap slip in photo album from Boots!
- You come out to retrieve you print, and the print is so blurry you start to question how much you have had to drink!
As a result we’ve pulled together our Top 10 Tips to hiring Photobooths and Selfie Mirrors, to help you shape the event of your dreams. Our wide industry experience will help you get it right, whether you’re planning a wedding, corporate event, anniversary celebration, school prom, university Ball or a Bat or Bar Mitzvah.
1. Background
Choice & Availability
What choices are there? Some companies don’t have any choice. Others, like Odyssey offer you a wide range of background options including the ultimate Green Screen option where your friends and family could be floating in space, in front of the Eiffel Tower or on a white sandy beach by the Indian Ocean! The Odyssey Selfie Mirror is even able to provide Green Screen Technology…. Without actually having a green screen – it’s totally magic!
2. Booth Butlers
How many, uniformed, trained, enthusiastic? All valid questions…
It’s the Booth Butlers that can really help your event go with a swing. If you have chosen a Memory Album or you are expecting a large number of guests (150 or more) then your Photobooth Company should supply at least two Booth Butlers with the Photobooth. Any less than this and your Memory Album could end up looking like something from a primary school art class, or your guests could be left up to their own devices, meaning that the photos don’t come out well at all.
3. Contracts & Insurance
These are just the boring bits, right?
To ensure that there is no doubt as to what you are expecting the Photobooth or Selfie Mirror company to provide, you must insist on having a contract or booking form. This will not only protect you in the event of something going wrong, but it will also ensure that you and the company you employ are both planning the same!
Any reputable company will be able to provide you with a certificate to prove that all their equipment has passed a “Portable Appliance Test” or PAT Test. Many venues will also require Public Liability Insurance too. These are there to ensure that you, your family and friends are going to be using equipment that is safe, but also, should anything happen, you have safeguards in place.
4. Keepsakes
Will I get to keep a copy of the photos?
When you book an Odyssey Photobooth or the Odyssey #SelfieMirror not only will your guests be taking home fantastic quality photos to treasure, but the Odyssey Booth Butlers will be creating an awesome Memory Album for you to take home too. Filled with the same great quality photos, accompanied with messages from your guests, it will have pride of place on your coffee table or in your kitchen and keep you grinning from ear to ear.
With a range of albums available, you’ll be able to choose the best album to compliment the theme of your event. We only use our own card and interleafing sheets so we know that you albums and photos will last a long time.
Finally, at the end of the event, you’ll be presented with a USB Flash Drive containing a digital copy of all the photos and all the prints handed out throughout the event. You can make extra prints, load them up to Facebook or simply use them for blackmail!!! It’s entirely up to you.
5. Position
Where is the best position for a Photobooth or Selfie Mirror?
For a social function such as a Wedding or Birthday, it’s always best to endeavour to keep all your guests together in one place. Somewhere that is in plain sight of everything else going on is ideal. However, this isn’t always possible due to the layout of the venue. If the Photobooth or Selfie Mirror is in a different room from the main event you may need to put in place something to remind your guests it’s in a different room. i.e. consider asking the Band or DJ to make regular announcements, have a TV showing photos or perhaps have signs up asking people to “Strike a Pose”…
6. Print Artwork
Templated or professionally designed?
Your guests should be taking home and treasuring the prints that you provide them on the night, so you want them to look and feel just right. Simply adding basic information such as your names/name of the event isn’t really going to cut the mustard. Prints should complement your event theme, with the colour pallet and typeface tailored to capture the spirit of your event.
7. Props
One of the most important elements to all those hilarious photos!
Ask to see a typical set up including the range of props. When you book an Odyssey event we will fill a 6ft table full of props – with more to spare! This means that your guests will have an almost unlimited supply of quality and unique props, which will help them to come back time and time again.
8. Theming
Going that extra mile to help your chosen theme?
There are several different models of Photobooth around, however, many of them follow a very similar look, and they will have one, two or perhaps three “skins” which you can choose from.
When you choose the Odyssey Photobooth or Selfie Mirror for your event, you also have the option to have it themed to compliment your event theme. Whether you opt for one of the pre-set themes such as vintage, 80’s, Hessian & Lace, Mirrored or colourful, you can also have bespoke graphic panels for the Photobooth printed for very little cost, life-size cardboard models to pose with for the Odyssey Selfie Mirror or perhaps have a bespoke range of props chosen especially for your event Whatever you choose, you know that we will blend in with your chosen theme.
9. Venue
Getting your venue lined up for a perfect event
Venues are generally very used to seeing Photobooths and Selfie Mirrors at events; however, there are a couple of things that you can touch base with them about to help for a smooth running on the day. Ask them to have a props table ready – a clothed 6ft table is great for us. If access is going to be limited to a certain window of time, or perhaps we will need to bring in the Booth via the back door – these are all great things for us to know beforehand. With regards to power, how close is the nearest power socket?
10. What Camera?
How will your images be captured?
At the heart of the Photobooth should be a good quality digital camera. This will ensure that each photo captured will be vibrant and, of course, in focus! Do NOT choose a Photobooth that utilises a Web Cam. The photos tend to come out looking rather flat and they often can’t cope with lots of people moving around at the same time. Why not ask to see some samples from previous events, you’d be surprised at how many blurry or simply out of focus samples we see!
