Christmas photo booth: frames, wording and planning ideas

Why a photo booth works at Christmas

Family Christmas photos tend to look the same: everyone around the table, and someone missing because they are holding the camera. A photo booth changes that. Everyone goes in with whoever they like, grandparents with grandchildren, cousins together, and leaves with their own print.

At work, the Christmas party is the most common occasion for a photo booth. It mixes departments, fills the quieter moments and leaves a keepsake carrying the company name. At a school fair or community event, it is a welcome alternative to the photo with Father Christmas, letting families choose their own poses.

Christmas colours, no tree required

A Christmas frame does not need to be covered in trees and baubles to feel festive. Colour is often enough, and it ages better on prints people keep. Our catalogue does not include Christmas designs as such, but several frames share the season’s palette.

• Green and gold: Emerald pairs a deep jewel green with fine gold in an Art Deco style that suits a family dinner as well as a dressy office party.
• Deep red and gold: Burgundy Marble uses burgundy marble veined with gold, in five formats including the strip and the square.
• White and frost: Melting Snow uses a bluish white with frost clinging to the edges, for a softer Christmas.
• Winter night: Starry Night traces constellations on midnight blue, a lovely choice for Christmas Eve.
• Sparkle: Crystal Chandelier lets its hanging crystals shine against a dark background, for the most elegant evenings.

In the editor you can change the background, each of the design’s colours and the colour of an individual line of text. A brighter red, a pine green instead of emerald: a few tweaks bring the frame closer to your decorations. For more seasonal shades, browse the winter wedding collection, whose frames also work for a family celebration.

What to write on a Christmas frame

As with any photo booth frame, keep it short: one readable main line and a second line for the date or place. A few ideas:

• “Merry Christmas!”, followed by the year;
• “Christmas with the family”, “Christmas at Nan and Grandad’s” or the name of the house;
• the company name and “Christmas Party” for a work event;
• “Oakfield Primary Christmas Fair” or the name of your club;
• the date of 24 or 25 December, in words or figures.

Each design shows sample text where your words go; simply replace it, and move or resize a text box if your line is longer. Our guide to customising a photo booth template walks through every step.

Running the photo booth at a family Christmas

At home, the photo booth follows the rhythm of the meal: children before dinner, adults between courses, everyone when the presents come out. A few simple tips:

• set the camera at a height that works for children too, or provide a sturdy step;
• fill a basket with seasonal props: Santa hats, reindeer antler headbands, scarves and deliberately tacky Christmas jumpers;
• keep the backdrop simple, a string of fairy lights or a plain curtain, so the printed frame stays the star;
• have plenty of paper: children love to go back ten times.

The prints make lovely last-minute gifts for grandparents. Stuck in a notebook with a message from each guest, they become a family memory book; our photo booth guest book guide explains how to set one up.

The office Christmas party

At a work event, the frame becomes part of your brand: company name, brand colours and perhaps the theme of the night. Choose an understated design and replace the names with the event name. Customising Emerald shows what is possible in a few minutes.

Our corporate event photo booth guide covers location, hosting and sharing the photos. If your party falls at the end of December, with champagne and a countdown, the ideas in our New Year’s Eve photo booth guide apply too.

Print size, files and printing

A 4×6 print holds one to three photos and readable text; a 2×6 strip lines up three poses, perfect for a sequence with the children. Our guide to choosing a photo booth print size compares the options.

You download a high-resolution PNG overlay, transparent where the photos go, together with a file giving the position of each photo slot. To set it up, follow our guide to installing a template in dslrBooth. Dark backgrounds and gold tones are worth a test print on your own paper before the day: print at 100% scale, with no fit-to-page option.

From Christmas to New Year with the same frame

A frame that works at Christmas can be used again a week later: change “Merry Christmas” to “Happy New Year” and update the date. The text of your design can still be edited from your account. For a livelier mood on 31 December, the New Year’s Eve collection offers black and gold, champagne and fireworks frames.