Photo booth options?  Open or Enclosed?

Open or enclosed?  We get this question a lot.  Some photo booth providers offer one type of photo booth option.  It’s either an open photo booth or enclosed, so choice is eliminated from the start.  As a photo booth provider for over three years in central Pennsylvania, we’ve been offering open and enclosed photo booth options from the start.   We think client choice is important in everything.

What’s the difference?  Do you recommend one photo booth option over another?

For our customers, it’s been a matter of choice.  Roughly half our photo booth rentals have been enclosed, which means half of the others have been open photo booths.  It’s really a matter of preference of our customer.  Depending on the event type and/or location, we may make a recommendation to our customers, but it is ultimately up to them.

Photo Booths in general provide a lot of nostalgia and often generates fond memories.  It takes people back to the boardwalk setting or an amusement park.  Jumping in the photo booth and taking fun, goofy pictures.  Of course, the photo booth pictures are held on to and reminisced about.   Maybe displayed on the refrigerator.  Maybe on a wall.   “Remember that week down at the shore?  Wasn’t that fun?”  Every time people see those old pictures it takes them back to a memorable time or occasion.

On more occasions than I can remember, we’ve had a client or a guest talking about their first time in a photo booth.  It was a date or they were on vacation.  All smiles.  Bright eyes.  Brides, grooms, great-grandparents.  No one seems to be immune to the nostalgia the photo booth brings back.  They also note, how they have changed so much over time.

Why do customers choose an enclosed photo booth?

In our experience, nostalgia plays a part in choosing an enclosed photo booth.  The old time variety of a photo booth was an enclosed, curtained area where to people sat in front of a camera.  It was a private, intimate setting for photographs to be taken.

Our enclosed photo booths typically sees 2 to 6 people at a time, though we can accommodate 10.  We’ve even had sixteen (yes, 16!) squeeze in for a 3 shot session and you could count 16 faces in the photo strip pictures.  The bottom line for most people is the “privacy” the enclosed photo booth ensures, especially if people seem to be shy around cameras.  Many guests remark that the enclosed photo booth is larger than they thought it would be, but it does allow or permit for the semi-private, intimate nature of the old time photo booths.  If you have the fear that the whole wedding or party can watch you get your photos taken, you might opt for the enclosed photo booth.

Why do customers choose an open photo booth?

Again, it is matter of preference.  Open photo booths are great for a variety of venues and occasions, like corporate events.  Sometimes, they are just a better fit for the occasion.  Sometimes, people just want to been seen having fun and a good time.

As an example, you would probably prefer enclosed photo booth in a climate controlled venue over an outside setup, especially for a summer Wedding or party.  Why?  It could get hot in an enclosed photo booth if the setup is located outside on a typically, muggy summer day in Lancaster, York or Harrisburg.  If you live in this area, you know what we mean.

If you feel larger groups will be taking photo booth photos together throughout the evening, maybe an open photo booth is the way to go.  Maybe it’s the “team” at work or the cousins from out of state or the guests from Table nine that want to hit the photo booth together.

Based on our experience, if we were to put an average on the number of people that take photo booth photos in any one session, it wouldn’t be higher than 2.5.  Meaning, more often than not, photo booth sessions tend to be a couple.  On occasions, it’s a family of four or a group of friends or the Wedding party together.  However, more than half the time, it is a couple or just two people together in the photo booth:  a boyfriend/ girlfriend, siblings, grandparents, husbands and wives, etc.  It doesn’t seem to matter if the photo booth is open or enclosed, most often the sessions contain two people.

For us, either way works.  High quality photos and prints, using high quality equipment will produce excellent results each time.  Our goal is to provide a reliable and memorable photo booth experience each and every time out.

If you are looking to hire a photo booth for a party, wedding, celebration or some other event, consider your options.  Do you want an open photo booth?  Do you want and enclosed photo booth?  What type of photo booth fits best with your personality?  Your guest’s personalities?  The venue?  The Location?  The timing?  These are some things to consider when looking at your options.

There are any number of photo booth companies in the Lancaster, Hershey, Harrisburg area.  Finding the right fit for your event can be a challenge.  In planning to rent a photo booth, keep in mind some other factors to consider when choosing your provider:

• Does the photo booth provider provide choice in photo booth setup?
• What kind of backdrop options do they offer, photo strips and other customization?
• Does the photo booth company have a reliable reputation? Reviews?
• Does the photo booth provider carry liability insurance? Many venues require this of vendors.
• Does the photo booth service have back up equipment in the case of malfunction?

If you are undecided about your options, let us know.  We’d be happy to discuss your event and assist you in choosing the best fit for the occasion and your guests.