Santa photo booth in Riverside, California

The Festival of Lights lists a Santa Claus stop on Main Street between Mission Inn Avenue and University Avenue, open Thursday to Sunday, 5 PM to 10 PM. The Riverside Convention Center has also hosted the free Festival of Trees Holiday Fair, with photos with Santa for children. Santa photos are already part of how Riverside does the season.

A booth at your own event works differently. Guests skip the sidewalk line in the evening cold: the booth sits inside the party, and Saint Nick, the booth's Santa host, speaks to each group out loud. He greets them, asks their names and uses them, reacts to each photo after seeing it, and tells them when their strips are printing. His lines change every visit. He speaks English.

Some booths sold as AI photo booths turn pictures into AI art or add filters. This one does not touch the photos. The AI is the host's voice and conversation, and the pictures are what the camera saw.

Each visit is a short conversation, three photos, and a printed 2x6 strip for every guest in the group. iPhone users can AirDrop their photos from the booth. Strip designs can carry the event name, the date or a company logo, and gallery shows examples.

Saint Nick is the obvious choice for a holiday event. For a year-end office party that is more relaxed than festive, Charlie is easygoing and suits any crowd. Lola is warm and works with guests by name, which helps at a family party where people arrive over the evening. The client picks one host for the night and can switch partway through. The full lineup is at hosts.

The booth can stand on its own, sit inside a 5x5 enclosed booth with red velvet curtains so guests talk with the host away from the room noise, or go in front of a pipe-and-drape backdrop. An attendant sets up, stays for the whole event and packs down.

The host needs an internet connection to ask for and use names. If the connection drops, the host carries on with prerecorded lines and the booth keeps printing. Still, ask any venue about wifi before the date, especially in a large hall like the Convention Center, where the venue's own planning page lists internet and electrical power as services to specify in advance.

At the Convention Center, get the exact room or ballroom in writing, since the center has several halls and meeting spaces. Its planning guidance says to list power, internet, sound, lighting and loading needs when you request a proposal, so include the booth and its attendant there. It also notes that approved event diagrams may be required 30 days ahead where applicable, that outside alcohol is not allowed, and that vendor requirements are reviewed in the final contract, so ask the venue whether a photo booth vendor needs anything specific. Parking for guests is City Lot 33, entered at 3698 Third Street, not the Fifth Street address, and an organizer may arrange something different from the standard daily rate.

At a community center, the city's page says to contact the center directly about reservations. It does not state power, wifi or equipment rules for rentals, so ask the center about outlets near the multi-purpose room or gym, whether wifi is available, and whether a backdrop or a 5x5 booth may be set up. Weekend is when most centers list rentals, so plan a holiday party for Saturday or Sunday unless the center says otherwise.

Leave floor space for the attendant, a short line of guests and a spot where printed strips can be handed out.