AI photo booth for birthday parties in Long Beach

In Downtown Long Beach, Events On Pine occupies the third floor of a converted building on Pine Avenue and describes itself as built for sweet 16s and for 50th, 60th, 70th and 80th birthdays. It hosts one event per day, so the whole floor is yours. About two blocks away, the Long Beach Convention & Entertainment Center rents what it calls turnkey spaces for private parties, and the Fairmont Breakers Hotel lists birthdays among its private social events.

For an outdoor party, the city's Marine Bureau rents shoreline locations for birthday parties. In the Downtown Shoreline area that means Shoreline Park, Rainbow Lagoon and Marina Green. Farther east, in the Alamitos Bay and Naples area, are Mothers' Beach and Marine Stadium, which the city describes as a good spot for a company picnic or private party. Marine Stadium was built for the 1932 Olympic rowing competition.

The booth has an AI host, a character with its own voice who talks to each group out loud. It greets guests, asks their names and uses them, reacts to each photo after seeing it, and announces that the strips are printing. The lines change every visit. The booth does not alter the photos or add filters. The AI is the host's conversation, and the prints show exactly what the camera caught.

For a sweet 16, Tiffany (a 90s mall girl) and DJ Pulse (a dance floor DJ) suit a room that moves from dinner to dancing, which is how Events On Pine describes its own sweet 16 setup. For a 50th through 80th, Velvet Ray brings 70s soul, Lola knows everyone by name, and Miss Sass roasts the guest of honor with love. The client picks one host for the night and can switch mid-party. The full lineup is on hosts.

Each group has a short conversation with the host, takes three photos, and every guest gets a printed 2x6 strip. Strip designs can carry the birthday person's name or the party date (see gallery), and iPhone users can AirDrop their photos straight from the booth.

An attendant sets up, stays through the party and packs down. You can have the booth on its own, a 5x5 enclosed booth with red velvet curtains so guests meet the host away from the music, or a pipe-and-drape backdrop. The enclosed version is worth considering in a single open room like the Events On Pine floor, where the dance floor and the booth share the same space.

At Events On Pine, WiFi is available throughout and the floor resets for seated or standing layouts, so ask where the booth can sit away from the dance floor and the bar. The venue says outside vendors need approval and proof of insurance at least 14 days before the event, so raise the booth early. Ask also about load-in: the venue has elevator access, and the floor is the third floor.

The host needs internet to ask and use names. If the connection drops, it keeps talking with prerecorded lines and the booth keeps printing. At the Fairmont Breakers, the Convention Center and the shoreline parks, the venues' own pages do not state power or WiFi details for individual spaces, so ask the event contact at each. That matters most for HALO and The Terrace, which are open-air, and for the parks, where you should ask the city's Special Events office whether power is available at your site before you plan around it.

For the enclosed booth or the backdrop, ask whether the venue allows freestanding curtains and how much floor it needs. If you expect more than 200 guests at a city park, the city says the inquiry goes to the Special Events and Film Office first.