Wedding Supplier Review: Photoman vs Photobooth

My thoughts on Photoman vs Photobooth supplier

Tbh, weddings I’ve gone to typically utilize a photobooth, but WAWIES helped me realize that the photoman concept works really well too! For my wedding and receptions, I was able to utilize two photoman companies, and one photobooth.

For me, mas sulit talaga ang photoman. I noticed that they always gave me more shots at the end of the event. This is likely because the photoman is the one who approaches the guests. So if your guests aren’t the type to queue up for the photobooth, much better ang photoman! Also I really like how the photoman was able to capture different areas of the event. I had my wedding at Arocarria, which had so many beautiful backdrops so I was glad to see all these in the photos. On the other hand, I had my reception at East Ocean, which is kinda blah right? So for that one, I had my stylist create a simple backdrop which guests could use

Plus, it’s nice because the photoman can also take pics of the event itself. I requested the photoman (from both companies) to take pics of major program happenings + candid shots of guests. These weren’t printed, but they were part of the raw shots they turned over to me. So yay! Parang I got an additional photographer narin. Super sulit

Not only that, but I find that the photoman is a lot more efficient. Click and shoot lang. No need for poses, no need to take multiple shots for one print. The photographer takes a pic of you and off you go. Once printed, they’ll then give you a copy.

Pro tip: If it’s a group of friends being photographed, have them request the photographer to take multiple shots, so they all get a copy. Most photoman won’t re-print a shot because it affects the printer efficiency, but if you take 4 shots (even of the same people) then they’ll each get one copy

I think the only area where the photobooth is better than the photoman is really the lighting. Since the photobooth is stationary – they can set up the lighting properly. Versus the photoman is subject to the area where the guests are standing. Anyway, it wasn’t that big of a deal for me

 

So in summary, I would prefer photoman over photobooth given all the reasons listed above, but of course, do take into account your guest preferences too!

 

Photoman and photobooth suppliers review

M&M On-Site Printing

• Link: https://www.facebook.com/mmsonsiteprinting
• Booked for wedding cocktails + reception
• Package C: 4 hours unli photo & print -> Mixed Polaroid Style (Guest’s copy) x Polaroid with Message (Couple’s copy) x 4R landscape walking photobooth
• Peso Power (booked Feb 2023): PHP 8,000 + PHP 1,000 OOTF (Tagaytay)

Love them! When I was canvassing for photoman companies, I was really overwhelmed. Ang dami kasing options. But out of all the quotes, the one that stood out to me was M&M Photoman because they had an option where the guests get a polaroid shot, the couple gets a 4R landscape version plus a polaroid shot (smaller) with space for guests to write well-wishes on. I love this! It’s so much more meaningful to read messages when it comes with a photo of the well-wishers (especially because some of my husband’s guests, hindi ko naman ganun kakilala).

In particular, I want to commend M&M because they were really super diligent in roaming around to get shots of my guests! AND they were really insistent in asking guests to write a message. I’ve been guilty of this, where I just tell the staff to come back and get my message (then promptly forget to write), but with them, they really wait for the guest to finish writing. My guests were joking nga – binigyan ko ba ng quota? Bakit ang kulit magpasulat ng message?

Also, M&M captured highlights from our dinner program + he also went with us in capturing photos of us with each of the table guests. I’m super happy because our official photographer team was really focused on just getting photos of me and the groom, so some of our guests (e.g. older relatives) weren’t captured in their shots. But with M&M, everyone really was part of the photos – kahit one shot lang.

At the end, they transferred all the raw copies and prints to my hard drive, and promptly turned over all the hard copy photos in an envelope. Print quality was good – matte, which is how I prefer it. They even gave us a freebie framed photo of me and my husband!

 

MNL Photoman

• Link: https://www.facebook.com/mnlphotographyph
• Booked for Manila reception
• Package: 4 hours unli photo & print -> 4R landscape (1 copy for guests, 1 copy for couple)
• Peso Power (booked January 2024): PHP 8,000 (no OOTF charge for East Ocean Palace)

For context, I had a second reception in Manila for older relatives and parent’s friends who couldn’t make it to my Tagaytay wedding. This was super low-key and really just a simple dinner with AVPs of the wedding day being shown. I didn’t want to get a photographer anymore, and decided to just get a photoman because I really enjoyed my experience with M&M at my wedding.

What I really appreciate about MNL Photoman is I requested if they could capture shots of the tables, styling, candid shots (no need to print) and just share the raw copies with me, so at least I had documentation. I knew this technically wasn’t part of their job, but they did it! When they sent me the raw prints, meron nga! Also, at the end of the program, despite having packed up already, when some guests requested if they could take their picture (alam mo naman, iyong palabas na sa venue, then magkikita-kita mga tao and they go “uyy picture tayo”), they gamely agreed and proceeded to take photos for another 15 minutes. Of course, these shots didn’t have any more printed copies (their printer had already been packed up) but they shared the raw prints with me!

At the end of the event, they saved all the raw prints on the hard drive I gave them, and sent over a Google Drive link as well after the event. Hardcopies were also handed over to us promptly. Very nice working with them!

Between MNL Photoman and M&M On-Site Printing, I’d say both were equally good in terms of quality, and service. I think you can’t go wrong with either. BUT I really liked the Package C of M&M – kakaiba talaga. I really liked the handwritten messages from my friends and family.

 

 

Epic Moments Photobooth

• Link: https://www.facebook.com/epicmomentsphotobooth
• Booked for Manila reception
• Package: 3 hours unli photo & print (layout for 3 photos), with 30 mins stop time
• Peso Power (booked January 2024): PHP 6,000 + PHP 500 (Transport Fee to East Ocean Palace)

Epic Moments was a last minute decision, because my dad was suddenly worried a week prior na baka kulang ang isang photoman for our guests. So I rush canvassed and booked a photobooth to add. I was choosing between PIXL POP and Epic Moments – full disclosure: I chose Epic Moments because they were cheaper. At this point, I was like, I don’t want to spend anymore!

Honestly, compared to the photoman, mas sulit talaga photoman. I noticed that my photobooth was fully utilized during registration (before program start). My set-up was – while guests queue for registration, photoman snaps a pic of them by the styled wall. Then they register. After registration, they’re directed to the photobooth to take a picture. Thankfully, my guests arrived over a span of one hour, so there was never any long queue to contend with.

But I noticed that once the program started (e.g. dinner served, AVPs shown), halos wala na lumalabas for the photobooth. This makes sense tbh! I already had a photoman inside the venue who were taking photos of people, why bother going out pa right?

What upset me a bit though was I had told Epic Moments that their official time start would be 6:30PM to 10:00PM (3 hrs + 30 mins stop time). I had an early bird guest arrive at 5:30PM, and unbeknownst to me, EPIC Moments opened the booth at that time. So that meant they were already packed up and done by 9:00PM. I felt this was super sayang because from 5:30 to 6:30PM, literally there were only ~10 guests in the area? But from 9:00-10:00PM, that’s when the program ended so guests were exiting and were excited to use the photobooth sana. Anyway, I wish they had asked us / confirmed with us before opening the booth, but ohwell.

Unlike both photoman suppliers, Epic Moments wouldn’t place photos in the hard drive (unless it’s brand new and unopened). Gets ko naman, since they’re also worried about potential viruses. They promised to send me the Google Drive link to the photos the day after the event. But I don’t know, maybe they were super busy during this period. I ended up having to follow up for ~2 days before they finally sent the link to me. Not a super big deal – just something I remembered because I really wanted to send thank you messages to my guests with an accompanying photo of them (which I had with the photobooth) and couldn’t because I was waiting for them to get back to me

But the hard copy prints + the freebie magnet (they gave us magnetized prints for the couple photos) were handed over promptly after the event