At most receptions, the longest queue after the buffet is the one for the photo booth. Aunties who refused to dance will line up with their friends, hold a cardboard frame in front of their gele and pose like a girl group. It is one of the cheapest ways to keep a crowd entertained, and it leaves the couple with pictures the official photographer will never take.
Hire one or build one
There are two routes. A hired booth usually comes with a camera, lighting, a printer, a backdrop and an attendant. A do-it-yourself booth can be a decent camera or phone on a tripod, a ring light and a backdrop, with a friend in charge of the shutter. The hired option costs more but takes the work away from your family. The home-made option works well for smaller weddings where the guest list is under a hundred.
The backdrop
The backdrop is what turns a corner of the hall into a set. Flower walls, sequin panels, kente drapes and a simple frame with the couple’s names and wedding date are all popular. Choose something that matches your wedding colours so the photos fit the rest of your album. Avoid shiny materials that bounce the flash back into the lens.
Light it properly
Most disappointing booth photos come from poor lighting. Reception halls are often lit with coloured party lights that make faces look green or purple. A booth needs its own white, soft light pointed at the people being photographed. If the booth is outdoors in the evening, the need is even greater.
Props that work
Props give shy guests something to hold. Think oversized sunglasses, hats, fans, frames, chalkboards and signs with local jokes in Twi, Ga, Ewe or pidgin. Personal signs about the couple tend to be the most popular. Keep the props in a basket next to the booth and have someone return them to the basket so they do not disappear into handbags by the end of the night.
Prints or digital
Printed strips make a good souvenir, and guests carry them home in a way they will never carry a digital file. Some couples ask guests to stick a second copy into a guest book and write a message beside it. Digital booths can send pictures to guests’ phones or upload them to a shared album or the wedding hashtag. If you choose prints, make sure there is enough paper and ink for your guest numbers.
Placement and timing
Put the booth somewhere visible but out of the way of the main traffic, not beside the high table where it competes with the programme. Open it after the formal part of the reception so it does not empty the hall during speeches. Ask the MC to announce it once or twice.
Budget and contracts
Get the booth vendor’s price in writing, including the number of hours, the number of prints and what happens if the session runs over. Ask whether the attendant will stay with the equipment and who keeps the digital files afterwards.
Set up well, the booth becomes the place where your guests write their own record of the night, one silly pose at a time.
