When was the last time you sat down with your closest friends or family in a photo booth? Was it at an amusement park, adrenaline rushing from gravity defying ride? Or at the local roller rink, candy in one hand, glow stick in the other. Maybe even just on a whim between kiosks at the mall. The idea of a photo booth brings a sense of nostalgia to many, and a smile to all that walk out from behind the curtain.

Used most commonly to obtain photos for IDs in countries like Japan and France, Americans have taken the concept of the photo booth and turned it into an amusement. Within the past decade, photo booths have moved out of common areas and into banquet halls. Photo booths are becoming a staple at many events, especially proms and weddings, and for good reason.

Photo booths are an all-encompassing addition to any event. The opportunity itself is a great side alcove to bring people together and give them a reason to smile. Photo booth pictures paired with a few well wishes upgrades the ordinary guest book.

The traditional strips of black and white photos are now an option, rather then the norm. Modern photo booths give you a chance to personalize your photo layout (2×2 rather then a single vertical strip), color or black and white, or even add your own message and custom design. The resulting photos provide favors for the night by capturing all those candid moments that make the best souvenirs.

As with many things, size matters. Photo booth vendors offer traditional bench-style booths that will probably be most familiar. A more modern option is a portable booth with a changeable curtain to match with any events décor. Fitting up to ten people and wheel-chair accessible, this style of photo booth really adheres to the idea of the more the merrier.

A photobooth is not just a camera, but also a chance to remember the faces that made your special day that much more extraordinary.

Photo Booth Express has all the above features and more. Check out our packages to see what would work with your event to make it picture perfect, or call us at (877) 492-6684.

As the popularity of photo booths at Chicago weddings continues to grow more and more companies are entering the market, this is good and bad for you the consumer. More companies means a wider selection of services and price ranges however, it also means there are many less than reputable companies entering the market.

When selecting a company to provide a photo booth for your wedding you want to find a Chicago based vendor that will deliver a quality product at a reasonable price. Keep in mind that price should not be the only determining factor. Cheaper companies are often cheap for a reason. If you do your homework and research your photo booth companies well you should have little to worry about on your wedding day.

After checking out their websites you should narrow down your search to 3-5 companies who serve your area and then contact each one either by email or telephone. Do they answer the phone when you call? If not, how long does it take them to respond to you? This can be a good indication of their focus on customer service.

Once you have contacted a company there are 10 questions you should ask.

1. How long have you been in business? Ideally the company you choose should have been in business for at least several years and have a proven track record of successful events. You want to make sure they will still be in business when your wedding day arrives!
2. Do you have references? If you are dealing with a reputable company they should easily be able to provide you with a list of satisfied clients. What do their past clients say about them?
3. Where are you based out of? Where is your office? Do you want a company that is locally based or that has offices far away? Does the company even have an office or is it a fly by night company working out of someone’s garage?
4. Are you licensed and insured? Many venues now require vendors to carry liability insurance. This is a good way to weed out those less than professional businesses.
5. Is there a contract? Will you receive a written contract stating the responsibilities of both parties?
6. Have you been at my venue before? Is the company familiar with your venue, where to set up, the load in procedures, etc?
7. What kind of back up plan do you have in place in case there is a problem at my event? What will they do if something goes wrong on the day of your event or at your event? Do they have back up equipment available? Will they have an attendant at your event as well as an on duty technician they can call for support?
8. What kind of equipment do you use? You want to make sure they use high quality professional grade cameras and lab quality dye sublimation photo printers in their booths. No web cams or ink jet printers.
9. What types of packages do you offer and what do they include? Do their packages include on site prints, a web photo gallery, digital copies for you, a scrapbook, etc?
10. And finally, how much do you charge? Are there any “hidden” fees or travel fees?

As stated before, the cheapest price may not be the best deal. After you have gathered these important facts you are in a much better position to make an informed decision about the photo booth company that you should choose for your wedding day.

To find out more about renting a photo booth for your wedding contact the experts at Photo Booth Express today!

There were also players and staff from the Chicago Bears and Chicago Blackhawks in attendance. The Warriors and their families got to mingle and have their photos taken with some legendary Chicago sports figures. It was really great to see how the players and coaches interacted with the Warriors and their families and how appreciative they were of everything that the veterans have done for them and this country.

Throughout the night the Warriors and their families got to jump in and out of the photo booth and take some great shots with everyone.

Some great music was provided by the Bobby K and Steve Duo and the food at Pinstripes was fantastic. After dinner the players, staff, coaches and Warriors had some fun bowling and playing Bocce.

This was a fantastic event to honor some incredible individuals and support a great cause.  Thanks to all of the sports figures that came out and everyone who donated to the event.

To find out more about the Wounded Warrior Project or donate visit www.woundedwarriorproject.org/

As a small gesture of our appreciation for everything you do for this country Photo Booth Express would like to offer a military discount for photo booth rentals for any member of the military getting married in Chicagoland area.

Please contact us for further details.

We are currently taking reservations for holiday photo booths in Chicago, the Chicago Suburbs and Rockford. Check the availability of a photo booth for your holiday party here or give us a call at 877-492-6684.
Mention promo code HOLIDAY11 and receive free Premium Graphics, Double Prints and Props!

The photo strips can be customized with your school logo, the homecoming theme or any graphics you would like.  The photos print out immediately after the students exit the booth and are theirs to keep. Your students will also get a password to the photo gallery where they can download their pictures for free! We also have a old school photo booth where the students can post their photos to their Facebook page right from the dance! In addition to the online photo booth gallery the school will also receive a DVD of all the event photos they can use for the yearbook, end of year photo montages, the school paper and anything else.

Photo Booth Express has been providing Chicago area schools with homecoming photo booths for over 4 years now and almost all of our schools invite us back for homecoming every year because they know how easy it is to work with us and how much the students enjoy the booths.

A photo booth at your Homecoming Dance or during Spirit Week activities will provide your students with hours of entertainment and priceless keepsakes of Homecoming. Call us today at 877-492-6684 to reserve a photo booth for your school’s Homecoming.

Photo Booth Express and MDM Entertainment sponsored the 2011 Chicago Biz Bash Expo and Event Style Awards for event planners last week. We got the chance to meet and mingle with event planners from all over Chicago and the Midwest. As always, the photo booths were a huge hit. We had a steady stream of event planners and other special event vendors in and out of the booths all day long. Everyone had a great time with the booths and had some great souvenirs of the day to take home with them.

Judging by the overwhelming response from the planners we talked to the Facebook feature of our Classic Booth is going to go over huge at corporate and private events. The Facebook feature allows the photo booth users to post their pictures directly to their Facebook page from the event as well as email themselves a digital copy. A lot of people were also interested in the video messaging feature.

The Express Booth received a lot of  praise for it’s ability to hold large groups of people and it’s portability.

Both booths have the ability to add custom graphics to the photo strips which make them great favors at private events or perfect giveaways for corporate branding events. Give us a call today to determine which photo booth would be the best for your event.

Thanks to all the event planners for coming out and stopping by! You can see all of  your photo booth pictures here or on Facebook of course.

The Ramada has a very large room that for hosting events, that is great for guest accommodations of at least 200 people. Not only is the room large enough for a nice sized reception, it also allows room for extra amenities such as a photo booth. There is a very beautiful landscaped view of a large lake in which many couples are attracted to for their actual ceremony. Jennifer and Chai were drawn to Galena for its wonderful view, as well as the perfect outdoor ceremony that the Ramada offered.

This was such a great reception, I honestly felt like family while hosting the photo booth. Jennifer’s mother was my actual contact for the event, and she was so great to work with! I got the pleasure to meet up with the family about 4 weeks before the event when they stopped into our office to finalized details. We laughed for quite a while after sharing a few stories before we actually began finalizing things. The unfortunate part of the whole meeting was that they had so much fun with our staff that they wanted all of us to be present on their big day!

I met some really great people that evening that I am really looking forward to seeing and working with again in the near future. Heidi Lee Photography (Heidi, Heidi and Drew) was there for the duration of the event taking lots of photos as well as video. I have to admit, they really did do a great job of capturing Jennifer and Chai’s wedding day. Not to pat myself on the back, but I would say that Photo Booth Express did a great job in that department as well. Not only did we take photo’s in the booth, but we also put together a great looking custom graphic’s for their photo strips, and their very own photo guestbook. I noticed while assembling the guestbook, that Chai’s family was not only leaving great messages in English, but they were also writing in Chinese! The combination of the two really made the book come together nicely.  

All in all, I was very pleased with how their event turned out, and I was very happy to be a part of their big day. Thanks Jennifer, Chai, and mom Lori for making me feel like family. I hope you enjoyed yourself as much as I did.