Don't buy into bargain basement prices with a photo booth company.  Once you look at their services you are going to find out about all the additional things they want to up-charge you for.  Have you been on Groupon and think wow what a deal?  Then once you talk to the vendor they want to add on charges for custom template, prop box etc...  Once your all done the price is more than another photo booth you liked but thought they were too expensive. 

I often check out our competitors to see how they are doing.  One of the best ways to know how they are doing is read their reviews.  You can find out a lot about a company by reading their reviews.  This one particular company had several bad reviews.  What I found interesting to me is the up-charges.  They catch you by offering a low base price.  Then they add all these extra things that make them more expensive than another photo booth company that frankly is more reputable and honest.  Here are some of the things I've seen other companies charge to the unsuspecting potential customers.

• Stair fees
• Prop box
• Step and repeat stand
  
• Premium backdrop
  
• 4x6 double prints
• Scrap book options

If this isn't enough they call out on their contracts that gratuity is not included.  Gratuity (tipping) is not required and in no way should any photo booth organization imply it's required to tip them. 

Do your investigation read the reviews make sure you understand the contract and make sure their are no hidden fees.

In February's blog I talked about template design and introduced the terminology template and background.  The backdrops is the backdrop behind people in the photos.  Backdrops are an important part of the entire photo booth experience.  It enhances the template design.  Backdrops are always reused for events.  Prior to hiring a photo booth company you want to review their past events to take a look not only at the template design but the coordination of backdrops with the templates.  Some companies just starting out may have a small supply of backdrops.  There is nothing wrong with that but you want to make sure what they do have available looks high quality in pictures.  They should look like beautiful backdrops not sheets, table cloths or even raw material just thrown in the back. 

I recently read a review of another photo booth company that the client asked for a pink background and instead got purple.  This can be pretty disappointing and by the time your event has started it's too late and you accept that you aren't getting what you want.  There is a bid difference in color and if your entire party is planned around a color it's important that the backdrop is what you want and asked for.  My point is that you may see reviews that are all high rating but one or two low ratings you should read those as those will provide a lot of insight and may actually change your mind on using that particular company. 

Most photo booth companies don't have a store front so all your communication is done over the phone, email and text messages.  We often meet clients at a nearby Starbucks.  This allows us to meet face to face discuss their overall concerns and look at backdrops.  I am happy to bring backdrops to look at and let them pick out what they want.  We have an abundance of velvet backdrops, sequins and satin backdrops in an array of colors. 

Each photo booth company is likely to have a go to backdrop they use.  Something that is versatile and matches any template design.  You are likely to see that in their past events the most common backdrop they use.  If you don't like that backdrop or think that it's not high end you may want to rethink that vendor because this is likely the backdrop you will get.

The combination of a creative template, beautiful backdrop and great lighting your photos will look amazing.  We often here at events wow this backdrop is beautiful before we are even ready to start people are taking selfies in front of our backdrop.  The next comment is wow I look flawless under this lighting I wish I had this lighting at home.

Your template design is going to make or break your photo booth experience.  Before you commit to any photo booth company you should review their pictures to see what their templates look like.  You want to look over as many events as possible.  You want to make sure that the company is not reusing the same templates over and over again.  The layouts will always be the same standard layouts what I am referring to is the graphics on your prints.  See below example print.

Recently I saw one photo booth company use the exact same template three days in a row.  There is nothing wrong with recycling templates but you make tweaks to them to make them unique to that customer.  In this case this particular vendor used the same template for three different clients, back to back events.  This is what I call lazy and not providing quality service to their customers. 

In addition to looking over past events you should make sure before you choose a vendor that they commit to sending you sample templates before your event to review and approve.  You want to make sure you approve the template design and the text.  In some cases you may even want to change the layout of the pictures.  I typically contacts customer one month prior to their event to finalize.  At the latest 2 weeks prior to their event which gives them plenty of time to review and for us to go back and forth to make the appropriate revision.  I always tell customers my samples are a starting place for us to have a discussion of what you like and don't like.  Don't worry about hurting my feelings if you don't like what I provided to you.  You should be excited and happy when you see your template design and feel like it totally represents your party.

When looking at photo booth companies do not look at the quantity of events a company has done over a weekend.  Some companies may handle as many as 10 events in a weekend while others may handle 1 or 2 events per weekend.  The number of events a company can handle in a given weekend should not determine if you should hire one company over another.  We highly recommend you look at the quality.  Here's what you should be looking for.

1. Quality in the photos ~ Are the photos clear is the lighting consistent?  
2. Quality template ~ The template design should be unique for each event.  You may see similar photo layouts but the overall look and feel should be different.  You shouldn't see the same template used with just slightly different colors and names.
3. Quality in the setup ~ Do they look professional, do they look like a legitimate company?  Does the setup look like a bargain basement setup or do they look like they have taken the time to represent themselves as professional as possible?
4. Quality customer service ~ Are their attendants professional?  Do they dress professional?  Are they always available to serve you and your guest?

You may not know this information but you can always ask for referrals and read the reviews and see what other customers are saying.

Finally, someone who is doing many events in a single day is not paying attention to the details.  The quality of the work is lower and the quality of service is harder to maintain.  Even though we are a small family operated business all of our employees (husband, son, brother, niece and nephew) are all owners and operators.  They are fully invested in our brand and the quality of service we provide.  Each event is special to us and no matter what event we attend from a back yard BBQ, wedding or corporate event we are always in uniform and ready to serve you.

There are a lot of things to consider when hiring a photo booth company.  One thing that you might not ever think to ask is do they have insurance?  A reputable company will have general liability insurance and will be able to provide you a copy of their "Certificate of Liability Insurance".

Most venues will not require proof of general liability insurance.  However, some of your larger venues will require vendors to have proof.  Prior to hiring any vendors you should check with your venue if they require any proof of insurance.  Often time's vendors require a deposit or payment prior to the event.  If you find out that they don't have the proper insurance you may be out of your deposit or loose part of your payment.

Why wouldn't you want to make sure your vendor has insurance?  Don't you want comfort knowing that should any accident occur that you and your guest are covered?

The best way to hire a reputable photo booth company is by a referral.  It's always nice to get a referral from a friend who has hired a photo booth company in the past.  However, this might not always be possible.  You might be all on your own and need to do your due diligence.  The main purpose of a photo booth is to capture special moments of you and your guest during your event.  There are many things you should do in addition to this but this should be your first step to help eliminate the bad ones.

1. Don't just look at their website photos.  Most companies only post their best photos on their website so this isn't a true representation of their work. 
2. Website photos are often licensed photos from the photo booth manufacturer.  So this isn't always a representation of their work.
3. Check out their Facebook page and look at their photo albums or any photos they may have posted to review the photo quality.
4. Check out their Yelp page and look at the photos people have uploaded.
5. If you can't find photos available then ask the company to give you access to their photo gallery.  All photo booth companies have galleries. 
6. Don't just take the photos they send to you.  If you can't get easy access to their galleries this might be a sign this isn't a reputable company.
7. Don't just look at the prints but look at the individual photos. 

Quality of the photos is the most important.  What should you be looking for?  How do you know if their photos are good quality?

1. Photos are clear; they are not fuzzy or blurry.
2. Photos have good lighting.  Indoor or outdoor in a dark room the photos should look great no matter what.  
3. You should be able to clearly see each individual they shouldn't look like they are one big blob. 
4. Faces should be recognizable.  Do you see dark shadows surrounding people making it difficult to see their features?
5. Vibrant colors should be popping out.  The photos should not be washed out or too bright.
6. One thing people don't always look at is the backdrop.  Do you see what's holding up the backdrop in the picture?  Do you see part of the venue instead of the backdrop?  Accidents happen and sometimes you can't control it, if your backdrop is moved or pulled.  If you see a few then the attendant took care of the issue.  If you see more than a handful then its clear the attendant is in a rush and isn't paying attention to the details.  The backdrop should be in place from start to finish.  The attendant should be looking over the quality of the photos as they hand them to you.

Thanks for taking the time to read our tips.  We hope it helps you find the best possible photo booth for you in your area.

3 Dudes Photo Booth