Booth business proves to be picture perfect
Couple rent out portable machines
Booth business proves to be picture perfect

By Sara Ganus

Published: September 14, 2007

When Louise Birdsell's brother got married this spring in Phoenix, she and her husband, John Birdsell, were surprised to see a photo booth at the reception.

"It was just off to the side, and everyone was just taken aback that there was a photo booth,” she said. "It was like, ‘What's that doing here?'”

Curiosity quickly turned to fascination when both took notice of its popularity with the wedding guests. For the rest of the night, the booth was full of bridesmaids, groomsmen, and friends and family of the bride and groom.

When the Guthrie couple returned home the next day, they couldn't help thinking about what it would be like if they started a photo booth rental business in Oklahoma.

"We started talking about it on the plane home,” Louise Birdsell said.

By May, she had researched manufacturers, and in June, they purchased two 800-pound portable photo booths and two trailers from a company in California for $45,000.

Now they call themselves The Oklahoma Photo Booth, though they also travel to Texas, Kansas and Arkansas for business, ranging from corporate events to bar mitzvahs.

After their first event at a San Antonio trade show in June, the Birdsells have rented their booths for wedding receptions, fundraisers, a surprise birthday party and even a student carnival at Kansas University, which was one of their busiest events.

"I hate the phone, but I called (my wife) and said, ‘Honey, you won't believe this, but there are 60 people waiting in line,'” said John Birdsell, a concrete contractor who also owns two storage unit businesses in Edmond.

"I couldn't believe it.”

Although Louise Birdsell didn't go to Lawrence, Kan. — she's also a stay-at-home mom — she usually attends most of the events while John Birdsell transports and sets up booths.

Just like old-fashioned photo booths, these rentable ones, which cost about $1,500 for four hours, allow guests to hop in and take a series of six passport-size photos that are printed on a single sheet.

For most events, Louise Birdsell then splits each sheet and places one set in an album for the event hosts and gives the other to the guest.

The $1,500 includes unlimited booth use, a customized album and a CD for the hosts.

"When you're at a wedding, there are so many people there,” she said. "You're interacting with them all, but you really don't remember who all was at your event. Well, this way, you have a lot of pictures and can say, ‘Oh, these people were really here at my reception.'”

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