Everything on this list is something people work out at their first event, usually at the worst possible moment. None of it is complicated. All of it is easier the night before than during.
1. Bring twice the paper you think you need
The estimate everyone makes is based on the number of guests. The actual consumption is based on the number of *photos*, and groups take several.
Run out and you do not go and buy more. The shop is closed, you are the person running the booth, and the party is still happening. Twice what you calculated is roughly right, and unused paper keeps indefinitely.
2. Tape the power cable down before guests arrive
Not after someone catches it. Before.
A booth has at least two cables — tablet and printer — running to a wall in a room where people will be moving in low light, holding drinks. Gaffer tape across the run takes ninety seconds and prevents both the obvious injury risk and the less obvious one, which is your printer being yanked mid-print.
3. Test the venue's wifi, not your own
This catches almost everyone once.
Everything works perfectly at home. At the venue, the wifi is shared with a hundred guests, the router is three rooms away, and the sharing feature that worked flawlessly in testing now times out. Test on the actual network before doors open — and if it is bad, know in advance that you are running print-only.
4. Print a sign explaining how to use it
Without one, you are standing next to the booth all night explaining it.
That is the hidden cost people do not anticipate: not the setup, but being tethered to the booth for four hours because every new guest needs a fifteen-second explanation. One printed sign — press here, wait for the countdown, take your photo — buys back the entire evening.
5. Charge everything the night before
Including the one you forgot about.
The tablet is obvious. The things that catch people out are the ring light with an internal battery, the backup phone, the portable speaker. Everything with a battery, the night before, because the morning of an event is not when you discover something needs four hours on a charger.
The short version
- Twice the paper you think you need
- Tape the cables down before guests arrive
- Test the venue wifi, not your home wifi
- A printed sign, so you are not explaining it all night
- Charge everything the night before
If you are still choosing hardware, our device requirements guide covers what actually works.