On your never-ending search for the best blog content, you’ve likely stumbled on a few DIY ideas you want to try. Photo booths, for example, aren’t just fun; they’re content gold mines.

With the help of your friends and family, you can make memories and generate likes at the same time. What’s more, photo booths are easy to design and may only take a few hours to set up. You can even use your own holiday decorations to make a low-cost booth in your home.

Whether you’re celebrating Christmas, Hanukkah, or anything in between, you can use the ideas on this list to add some extra holiday cheer to your photo books or social media feed.

How to Design a Photo Booth for the Holiday Season

A holiday photo booth can help you capture the happy faces of your guests. They’re the perfect addition to any party because they encourage bonding and can be featured on the internet.

Think of Photo and Video Ideas

It’s a good idea to come up with or look up a few holiday photos or video examples before you start setting up your booth. If a loved one is also celebrating their birthday during the holidays, check out these birthday video ideas to have fun with your friends and family members.

Bring in Some Holiday Decorations

There are plenty of holidays that take place between December and January, including Fiesta of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Hanukkah, Yule, Christmas, Kwanzaa, and Omisoka (and sometimes Ramadan). If you want to include all major holidays, you’ll need to get a lot of decorations.

In America, a holiday booth will almost always include Christmas elements, like a Christmas Tree, wrapping paper, ornaments, candles, and stars. Many of the other Abrahamic holidays include these elements but may add something distinct, like a Kwanzaa or Hanukkah menorah.

Create Your Booth Background

Your background will also be determined by what holidays you want to represent. For example, Kwanzaa colors are green, red, and black, and Christmas colors are red and green. Use colored fringe, tinsel, or bows that use your holiday colors as a base if you want something specific.

On the other hand, there are plenty of options for a generic holiday booth. For example, you can include wintery elements or general holiday decorations, like snowmen, stars, and snowflakes. You can also mute the religious elements of holidays, like having Santa instead of Jesus.

Set Up a Standing and Seating Area

Some photo booths are perfect for standing photos or videos, while others only work if the party is sitting. For the sitting booth, add couches or chairs that match the decor. For example, if you’re using blue and white for your booth, drape a blue blanket over a white loveseat.

Have a Dress Code and Color Theme

No matter what colors represent your holiday, it’s easy to coordinate all decorations and outfits under a single theme. If you’re focused on how your images or videos will look online, then be sure to speak to your guests about a dress code which includes outfit and color choice.

Even if you’re using three or more colors in your photo booths, black and white are always great options. You could also do something silly, like asking your guests to dress as Santa, elves, snowmen, or reindeer. Ugly Christmas sweaters or fuzzy pajamas are other great themes.

Don’t Forget the Food and Drinks

No holiday party is complete without food and drinks. Not only can they be great props for your images, but they also help loosen up your guests. Consider hiring a company that can bake or cook Instagram-worthy foods or hors d’oeuvres like cakes, cookies, and a holiday roast.

Cut Out Some Holiday Booth Props

Decorations help set the scene, while props bring life to your photos and videos. You can find holiday photo booth props online or make them yourself. We recommend getting paper hats, glasses, mustaches, speech bubbles, presents, candy, signs, and other holiday-specific props.

Make it as easy as possible for your guests to hold them by gluing sticks to them. Or, you could glue the hat props to headbands. If you want to make your own headbands, buy them from the dollar store and coat them with glitter. Add holiday decorations or bows and pompoms to them.

Get Everyone in the Holiday Spirit

Some guests may be unenthusiastic about the photo booth idea, and that’s okay. However, you can help them get into the holiday spirit by playing music or putting a movie on television. Not only does this give your guests something else to do, but it can bring on nostalgic feelings.

You should also be clear that you won’t share their pictures or videos on social media if they aren’t comfortable. This takes the pressure off and allows guests to enjoy the party. If you have permission to post some images online, use hashtags to make sure they’re seen by many.