Our response to covid-19 in the world of photo booths

PHOTO BY SMS PHOTOGRAPHY

Updated on 9/21/2021

A note from our owner, Kelsey Harrison:

As the impact of COVID-19 continues, I wanted you to hear directly from me about the mitigation efforts that Oh Happy Day Booth has enacted to reduce the risk of infection of our team members, our clients, and their guests. My focus remains on supporting our Oh Happy Day Booth team, while at the same time doing my part to preserve the health, safety, and well-being of all those with whom we come in contact.

I think it is extremely safe to assume that everyone has been significantly impacted by COVID-19 in one way or another. The entire photo booth industry relies on a healthy events industry, and the events industry relies on the ability for us to be able to come together as a community and celebrate special days. As we look toward the future and anticipate what it holds for us, we at Oh Happy Day Booth work every day to ensure the level of customer service our clients are accustomed to is not diminished.

We continue to closely monitor and assess this evolving situation, and any changes in company policies and procedures regarding COVID-19 precautions will be based on scientific studies and official reports, and any changes we make will be updated here. I can’t emphasize just how much I am itching to get back to celebrating in full swing, and I am making sure that we are able to get to that point as safely as possible by expanding and refining our safety policies. If you have any personal questions requirements or preferences, please email me at hello@ohhappydaybooth.com and we will do our best to accommodate within reason.

1. Masks // In addition to their usual all-black and white attire, our staff will be required to wear masks at all times while on the property for an event.

2. Portrait Booth and Glam Booth activations // For the foreseeable future, our team members will monitor the photo booth from afar, keeping an eye on the booth at all times, but limiting direct interactions with guests. Your point of contact will always know where our team member is located, and the team member will be there in a flash if something happens like the printer paper and ink need replenishing! We love our clients, and care about their guests, and want to be there to support them on their big day and by physically distancing our team members from the booth itself, we are able to make sure they are healthy for our couples the following weekend as well. To accommodate this distancing, we have changed and optimized our start screen graphics for these services so the photo booth process is seamless and straightforward to ensure guests are able to use the booths without the hands-on assistance of a team member.

3. Sanitized Selfie Stations // Our Selfie Station rentals will operate as usual, but our staff will sanitize everything before the event begins and at the end of the rental.

4. No props // We know this is a significant bummer, but there is no feasible way to properly sanitize every prop between guests, so we will be foregoing props for the foreseeable future. Clients who have this upgrade as part of their package are encouraged to choose another upgrade as an alternative!

5. Photo guest books // For clients who would like to stick with their photo guest book, guests can pick up a clean pen from one bin and put it into one labeled ‘used’ when they are done. Pens will be sanitized between events.

6. Sanitizing all equipment before and after events // All our equipment will be sanitized before and after events, and all our boxes and equipment will be sanitized inside our storage facility as well.

7. Increased pay // All of our team members providing services at events are doing so with the utmost caution to ensure your guests have a great time. During this season and for the foreseeable future, Oh Happy Day Booth has increased their hourly rate without raising client costs. If you feel so compelled, any and all tips given to the booth attendants during events will be retained by the team member working the event, and would be greatly appreciated.

What we are requesting from our clients:

1. Masks // Please encourage your guests to wear masks. This has been proven by the CDC to protect other people from getting sick if you are sick, even when asymptomatic. This is a really wonderful way to respect your hardworking vendors whose lives depend on being able to work events every weekend.

2. Set up location // If it is possible to put us away from the dance floor and other major foot traffic spots, that is ideal.

3. Following the CDC’s minimum standard health protocols // We know rules are no fun, but they’re here to protect us all. Please encourage your guests, planner, vendors, and venue to follow appropriate guidelines regarding large events.

six reasons why roaming photography is the new go-to Event photography service

Photo booths will always have a special place in our heart. They’re the bread and butter of our business, but if you’ve been reading our blogs for awhile you’ve seen a huge recent trend in roaming photography for our clients. We’re huge fans of this service! If you’re stuck between renting one of our photo booths or booking roaming photography, check out these reasons why roaming could work for your event:

1. Mobility – Roaming photography allows our photographer to move around your event space and capture it all versus being stationary like with a typical photo booth! This is an ideal concept if you have a large guest list so we can maximize and take photos of the whole party like we did at this fundraising event. This is also ideal if you have several stations or rooms your guests will be visiting during the event! You’ll get photos of guests enjoying all elements of your event versus waiting for them to hop in front of the photo booth.

2. Time efficient - With a traditional photo booth, it’s easy for a line to form, taking your guests away from your event! Roaming photography is the perfect way to alleviate this challenge because it only takes our team 20-30 seconds to take a photo versus 45-60 seconds with a photo booth. This way your guests can get the same photos they would with a photo booth then back to having fun at your event! We did this for an event here, and they absolutely loved our efficiency!

3. Minimal space – Because only a photographer is needed, roaming photography takes up no space! If anything, our photographer is just another person at your event like at this Bumble event we did this summer! If you decide to add printing to your service but still don’t have much space, no worries! With the table and printer added, we only take up 2x4’ of space!

4. Increased interaction – The beauty of our roaming photography is having a positive and professional photographer with a DSLR camera take candid and posed shots of your guests at your event! Our photographer will even let you know when to smile if you need the heads up as well, so you truly are picture perfect with every shot!

5. Facial recognition – Yep, you read that right (Cue Mission Impossible theme song). Our software uses facial recognition so your guest only has to put in their information once and every time they are spotted in a photo, it automatically gets sent to them! Which gives the guests the power of printing their own photo in seconds! Gone are the days where a guest needs to type their phone number or email in each time they want a photo, wait until their friend uploads the photo, or it’s finally sent to them days later.

6. Budget friendly – Roaming photography can work with any budget. It’s perfect for any type of event you wouldn’t normally pay for a full time photographer but still want great memories! Some popular events we’ve done with roaming photography are: rehearsal dinners, wedding receptions, corporate and social parties, grand openings, pet friendly events, boat cruises, and sorority events! Roaming photography can be used to supplement what your photographer may otherwise miss or you have a smaller budget.

As far as upgrades with roaming photography, we can easily add any of our luxury backdrops or installations, extra time for detail shots of your event and anything that you would normally get with a photo booth! Still not convinced or have questions? Check out the video below and shoot an email to our team today to learn about how roaming photography can be used at your next event! kati@ohhappydaybooth.com

Roaming photography at a ranch styled rehearsal dinner

Roaming photography at a rehearsal dinner? Yes please.

We had our roaming photographer at Horseshoe Bay’s newest event venue, Cap Rock Pavilion, for the venue’s first event ever. Our client wanted to have a professional photographer take pictures of their rehearsal dinner where their closest friends and family could celebrate before the big day! The ranch style rehearsal had a cohesive theme throughout the night! From the guest’s cowboy hats and boots, to the venue decor and meal, the vibe was apparent. The couple had a custom iron display with their initials monogrammed brand and that same brand was matermarked on their photos! Yee-haw, y’all.

Now you may be wondering, “What’s the difference between a traditional photographer and our roaming photography?” With roaming photography, our photographers actively engage with guests and take their photos. The guests can instantly share right from the tablet to their phones via text and email during the event! It’s perfect for an event where you want to share immediately versus waiting several days or weeks for the photos!

We understand in the midst of planning a wedding, it’s easy for documenting the rehearsal dinner to fall at the bottom of the list. However, we feel it’s an important celebration to look back on! Want to learn more about adding roaming photography to your rehearsal dinner? Contact our sales team today! Kati@ohhappydaybooth.com.

Bumble BFF at Upstairs at Caroline

Uhhhh did we just become best friends?

Our team spent Saturday afternoon with the Bumble crew celebrating National Best Friend Day! The Austin-native app threw the brunch after party at Upstairs at Caroline to spread awareness about its launch and encourage the community to go out and meet new friends! Current BFF’s or friends that wanted to meet others on the infamous app were all in attendance. There were giveaways like Bumble endorsed hats, fans, stickers and sunscreen (because Texas), a Kendra Scott giveaway, Packed Party gifts, and if the attendees showed their Bumble BFF profile they received a drink on the house! Does this sound like the best way to spend your Saturday? That’s because it is.

Bumble decided on roaming photography for the event because it allows our team to interact with the attendees and get a diverse amount of shots. Roaming photography is perfect for events like this, where your guests are focusing on mingling and interacting with each other and we can maximize the space and time.

For the overlay, we used Bumble BFF’s infamous blue and the brand’s honeycomb hive. We added the fun holiday at the bottom left corner and Bumble BFF’s logo in the top right!

Thank you for having us, Bumble, we’d always swipe right on a Saturday like this!