Photo booths are a great addition to any event; whether it’s a corporate dinner, wedding, graduation or birthday party. They bring fun and laughter to your guests, by providing a safe space for them to let loose with their friends.
Best of all, your guests can bring home beautiful prints of themselves. It’s a memory of your event that they will cherish forever, in permanent physical form.
Props are an important part of any photo booth—they contribute to the overall experience by bringing out your fun-loving side. If you’re camera shy, photo booth props can ease your awkwardness by guiding you to different poses.
When you rent a photo booth (like our award-winning Aura), you can expect it to come with a range of props.
Alternatively, if you’re doing it yourself, you can purchase them online or offline.
Here are the 9 different types of photo booth props you can find.
Type #1: Stick Props
Stick props are printable cardboard cutouts which you can hold with, well, sticks. These are the most common and affordable type of selfie prop, and almost every photo booth will come with a variety of them.
They usually come in packs, designed for specific occasions or themes like rustic weddings, Harry Potter birthdays, rockstar graduations, Christmas and new year parties. Popular designs include speech bubbles, emojis, mustaches, lips, hats and glasses.
Type #2: Glasses
These are plastic frames that come in different styles, colours and sizes; sometimes, they are oversized to comical proportions.
You can choose geeky glasses for the more serious events, so that your guests can have fun without looking out of place. For casual events, go for the over-the-top designs like emoji glasses—they allow you to act silly without feeling self-conscious.
Type #3: Hats
Nothing says party like funky photo booth headwear; we’re talking about pirate hats, viking hats, rabbit ears, rainbow-coloured afros and wigs.
Hats are fantastic for drawing a crowd to your photo booth. Nothing attracts more attention than a group of guests outfitted in hats and in full swing. It just screams, “here is where the fun is happening.”
Type #4: Frames
Cardboard or wooden photo booth frames add interest to your photos and are so easy to pose with. They literally bring your guests together by forcing them to squeeze in for the shot.
Photo booth frames can be designed in an infinite number of ways, to fit any theme. Imagine a custom Instagram selfie frame with your brand’s profile picture, a classic floral frame for your wedding or a Harry Potter frame for your birthday party.
Type #5: Masks
When you think of photo booth masks, you think of a masquerade ball—and they do go hand in hand. But masks are great for other themes too!
With the popularity of superhero movies like The Avengers, your guests will love roleplaying with Iron Man, Spiderman and Hulk masks. When it’s Halloween, give them scary zombie, Dracula or Frankenstein masks.
Even if there is no special theme, you can still work with the more generic and cutesy animal masks. For camera shy guests, photo booth masks can be a godsend for overcoming their awkwardness.
Type #6: Inflatables
Inflatables are not just a hit with children; they are perfect for adults to goof off with. These are especially great for creating a pool or beach party vibe—think large, colourful unicorns and donuts.
Inflatables just give off a playful mood. We’ve had guests bash each other with inflatable hammers or shred inflatable guitars, all in the middle of a serious business conference!
Type #7: 3D props
If you’re looking for more intricate and sophisticated photo booth props, consider renting them. The possibilities are endless; from vintage-style props to LED letters.
Reach out to companies that specialise in renting out props for events, or work with your photo booth company to create the full experience.
Type #8: Costumes
If you really want to commit to your theme, you can rent costumes.
We’ve been at events where guests could choose from a rack of costumes; not just for the photo booth, but for the whole event! It never fails to create a buzz of excitement—what a wonderful way to energize an event.
Check with your local shops. There will be a few that specialise in costume rentals.
Type #9: Custom Props
Despite the wide variety of ready made photo booth props, there are times when you might want to make custom props.
For example, you might be celebrating a festival that is less popular, and your photo booth company does not have the specific props for it. In this situation, try searching for suitable printable props online—it’s always cheaper to buy off-the-shelf.
As another example, you might be planning a company event like a roadshow or product launch, and you want your guests to pose with branded props with your logo.
Start by asking your photo booth company for advice.
At Ubersnap, we design and produce custom photo booth props as part of our service. We’ve accumulated years of knowledge over 1,500 events, so we’re a great resource for our clients.
Foam Board Props
When it comes to customisation, foam board props are the most common and affordable option.
Designs will be printed on a foam board, which is a thick and dense styrofoam. Because the printable props are laser cut with a machine, you can work with complex shapes. What’s more, you get nice and smooth edges that are not possible with hand cut props.
Foam board props can vary greatly in size. For hand-held props, we make them about the size of an A4 sheet of paper—it’s a nice, comfortable size to hold and pose with.
Of course, you can have them really large too. We’ve made props as tall as a person!
3D Props
3D props can be elaborate works of art. Unfortunately, most photo booth companies can’t help you fabricate those—it’s just not what we specialize in. That’s where event styling and production companies come in.
Looking for a plastic model of a delicious burger, the size of a football? Or a human-sized mockup of your newest lipstick? These are all standard jobs for production companies.
But what if you’re working on a tight budget?
Think about how you can repurpose items. Let’s say you’re a travel company and you want photo booth props for your guests to pose as tourists with. Use your existing suitcase and camera, and brand them with stickers of your company logo!
Or head over to the thrift store for vintage items.
Conclusion
Remember, not everyone is comfortable posing at your photo booth. Some guests are camera shy and props can really help them.
If you’re renting a photo booth, most will come with a wide variety of props. But it’s fine if you want to bring your own too!
Most importantly, talk to your photo booth company about the possibilities. They are your partners and want to make your event successful too.
