Say Cheese: Snapshots Photo Booth

“It’s a whole experience,” she said. “Our vibe is high-end, unique, vintage.”

A new prop that was brought on recently was an audio-phone, which people will pick up the vintage-style telephone and leave a message.

“It’s a personal message left by your guest, and your loved ones, and your family in their voice,” she said. “I just had a girl a couple of weeks ago text me she’s like ‘Thank you, I’m so glad I did the phone, my grandma just passed away and her now her message is on my phone and I listen to it all the time.’”

Ms. Gill described herself as being passionate toward her business.

“We think everyone deserves a photo booth,” she said.

When prospective customers initially reach out to Ms. Gill, they receive what is called a “look-book” where they can see what exactly is available.

The photo booth will take three picturess and everyone will get the typical photo booth slip.

Snapshots also offers handmade memory books, which normally includes the name and date where guests can leave messages.

“I’m always trying to figure out what I can do next to elevate our business,” she said.

Prices vary depending on where the event is taking place, but normally packages start around $850 for north country residents.

Ms. Gill said she originally started the business as a hobby while she was working at Bonnie Castle before it escalated to doing multiple weddings.

She also said that she has traveled all over the country to have her booths everywhere.

“I never even anticipated getting calls to go to Long Island, Virginia, Indiana,” she said. “To me, that just wasn’t in my wheelhouse, I didn’t even think about anything like that.”

Social media is extremely important to the business and Ms. Gill said that her social media presence led to her traveling to Washington D.C. for a party for the man that owns some of the Washington D.C. area sports teams.

Other notable names and organizations she has worked with include Anne Burrell from The Food Network and the Buffalo Bills.

“It’s been a pretty exciting ride, and it just keeps kind of growing,” she said.

She said going to Anne Burrell’s wedding was an experience that she thought was pretty cool.

“That was exciting to see people that I admire, and I watch on TV on a regular basis, and have them jump in my photobooth and have so much fun,” she said.

Ms. Gill said that she really enjoys her job.

“It’s the best job ever,” she said. “It’s the most fun, I love handing a photo strip to people, and seeing their reaction… I love what I do, I couldn’t imagine doing anything else.”

Ms. Gill said that even though she looks at that event as being the most fun, she loves every event and all of her customers.

“It’s all amazing, I love it all,” she said.

She said that when she goes to events, she wants people to remember her for another celebration.

Snapshots began as a tent, but has since progressed into what Ms. Gill called “an open-air style.”

She said she does the open-air style because she thought it would make her stand out.

“People see other people doing it and then they like (come) on over,” she said.

Ms. Gill also spoke very highly of the nine people that work for her, adding that they too, love what they do.

“They love going to functions, they love people, it’s like so fun,” she said.

There are enough photobooths for Ms. Gill and company to do nine functions in one night, which she said has happened before.

“Logistics can be kind of a nightmare,” she said. “I’ve really really done my homework, and I’m going into my 10th season so I’ve learned. You learn as you go, you always learn something new… It’s a lot, but honestly, I love it.”

Originally, she had purchased a photobooth for fun, for her daughter, and to potentially do parties locally, the rest is history.

“I’m in charge of my own destiny,” she said.

There are also a few events such as an event with the American Heart Association, which she does free of charge.

“We’re all about giving back to our community and to people who support us, which I think is really important,” she said.

Ms. Gill said it’s rewarding to take a step back and look at the bigger picture.

“I do 150 weddings between April and October, and I think ‘God I only had one mistake, that’s pretty impressive,’” she said. “I’m just amazed at what I’ve built.”

She used the downtime caused by the pandemic to look at the backside of the business to see how she could improve the business.

“I came up with a whole bunch of new systems for everything,” she said.