This owner lied three times in the response to our Google review. Why would you hire a company that can't admit fault? If Big Hugs had simply written, "We made mistakes at your event. We see that and we are sorry," I might have softened or retracted parts of my review, and responded in kind. But they made a different choice. So we double down, too: Do Not Hire Big Hugs. We will let our contacts in Chicagoland know our experience, and we strongly recommend our lovely Naperville venue's clients look elsewhere for a photo booth vendor. One Star. original review: We were so surprised and aghast that this highly-recommended photo vendor failed so epically: 1) subjects were cut out of photos 2) backdrop was broken and we had to fix it Big Hugs was hired for a large Celebration of Life event bringing together relatives and friends from across the country. To memorialize the day, we provided this service so loved ones could take group and family photos. Only after the event, paging through the photo book, did we see that on the majority of prints, subjects were not even within the frame of the photos! We had approval in advance from Big Hugs to provide our own rented couch to set in front of the backdrop, and asked repeatedly if the couch would appear too low in the frame, or if those standing behind would appear too high. Big Hugs' on-site attendant assured us he would make sure and this would be no problem. Yet in about 35% of photos, taller guests' heads were partially cut off, and guests on the couch appeared only from the neck up. Some were out of frame on the sides of photos. The rest of the photos looked ridiculous because the people on the couch were way down in the lower third of the photo. So, why is an attendant present if it's not to ensure good photographs!? From a once-in-a-lifetime event, our guests took home ridiculous, unprofessional photos as their remembrance. This is not what we intended when hiring a professional photo booth vendor at a premium price. Prior to the event, as the attendant set up, we noticed the backdrop was hanging crooked. Two event planners and myself asked if he would fix this before guests arrived. He replied, "I can't. That's how it is." Our venue manager said to the attendant, "This looks terrible and is unacceptable." He did nothing. So she stepped in herself and created a fix for the broken backdrop provided by Big Hugs. Subsequently, our event planner reached out and explained the situation to Big Hugs, who pushed back saying the attendant reported everything was fine. Then offered a 20% discount. Our planner detailed again the numerous points of failure, and then Big Hugs offered 50% off the remaining balance. That Big Hugs charged us *anything at all* after their epic fail should be an embarrassment to them. Highly do not recommend Big Hugs to anyone seeking professional photo booth for an event they care about. read more

I wish I could recommend this photo booth - but they won't return my calls. I have yet to receive my photos or emails that I have already paid for. When you pay, you are supposed to receive something. Good luck on getting your pics! read more

We booked them for a wedding and no one showed up. Very bad business. Would not recommend to anyone as no one even answered the phone. They agreed to refund me and then refused to respond again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Horrible. Horrible. Shady company. I would never want anyone to go thru what we did for our wedding. read more

We initially booked Big Hugs for our wedding because it seemed like the most affordable option, and had good reviews. Our experience, however, was terrible. The attendant was extremely unprofessional and ruined the photo experience for my guests that evening. First off, we had multiple wedding guests comment to us that the attendant was eating the passed hors d'oeuvres during the cocktail hour. He was actually waiving the servers over to him. It goes without saying that these are for guests only. We graciously provided all vendors with meals during their designated break time. In addition, he put out an open plastic food container along with a handwritten message, on a napkin, that said "Please give Tips". It looked super unprofessional. To make it worse, when guests left the booth he said "tips, tips, tips, tips, tips" to everyone. He even did it to us, the bride and the groom. Tips, tips, tips, tips - who does that? I was mortified for my guests and apologizing to them all night for his behavior. We had paid a built in gratuity for the service, plus gave him an envelope with additional money at the end of the night, so he certainly got the tips he wanted so badly, whether he deserved them or not. Needless to say, we were quite disappointed with the service. But mostly humiliated that our guests had to witness / experience his behavior. Learned our lesson the hard way, you get what you pay for. read more

Big Hugs has great packages for weddings with a variety of options, all at good prices. They showed up on time and the photo booth was easy to use for our guests. CJ was helpful and responsive to all our questions. We highly recommend their services. Our only issue was that towards the end of the event, the printer broke so some of our guests were not able to receive their photo booth strips. Big Hugs was very responsive when we notified them of this issue and worked with us afterwards. read more

This is the review I wrote for Big Hugs and Stanley on their Facebook page after my wedding on November 30, 2013: Stanley and his crew are AMAZING!! Our wedding guests had the time of their lives in the photo booth and we will treasure the book with all their photos and messages forever. Thank you so much Big Hugs for making our wedding so fun!!!! Three words describe this company: accommodating, communicative, and affordable. We will definitely book you in the future!!!! Fast forward to my little brother getting married, and I decided that he needed a photo booth at his wedding and that that would be my gift to him and my lovely future sister-in-law. I emailed Stanley in April 2015 to make sure the date (11/07/15) would fit his schedule. He promptly emailed me back and once again was the best. vendor. ever. They arrived at the reception venue on time, set up their new high-tech photo booth machine, and we proceeded to once again make the craziest faces ever for 6 hours while his technicians put up with our antics. Stanley...BRAVO. I will continue to sing your praises far and wide. If you need a photo booth in the Chicagoland area, Stan is your man. read more

Having a quality photo booth was one of my top priorities. I've been to plenty of weddings with terrible ones, so I was determined to be an exception! After a bit of research, I stumbled upon Big Hugs and I was instantly impressed. Big Hugs beat a competitor's offer financially, and also included so much more for the price, including choice of backdrops, custom print design, 4x6 or strip print options, etc. Stanley was very responsive and all of my requests were met. What truly blew me away was the gorgeous custom design print that Christina from Big Hugs created for us. I sent her a sample of my other stationary, and her design matched PERFECTLY. It was beautiful and truly exceeded my expectations. I LOVE that Big Hugs gives the option of 4X6 prints instead of just strips, so my guests walked away with something they can frame! The photo booth itself was perfection. I chose the Party Photo Booth, which comfortably held up to ten people, while still providing a curtain for privacy. The props provided were great, and I was also able to bring my own custom props as well. My favorite part of the booth was the fact that it gave you time to re-pose in between frames, with a countdown, and you can see yourself as the photo is taken, so you know how it will turn out! There was even the option to print in color, black and white, or sepia, although I wish the attendant had made that more clear to our guests. Unlimited prints allowed all of my guests to walk away happy, but what truly impressed me was the gorgeous guestbook our wonderful attendant Paolo assembled on site from guest photos and signatures. It is one of my favorite souvenirs from our wedding day. Paolo was so friendly and accommodating to our guests, and was so approachable and patient! One of the biggest perks was receiving digital copies not only of all of the photo booth sessions from our wedding, but also the individual photos from each session, in extremely high quality. I can't stop looking at the photos, they are AMAZING! Big Hugs is the best photo booth out there from what I've seen, and the value is incredible. Do yourself a favor and make your wedding 10x better by having them there. My guests are still gushing about how much fun the photo booth was! :) Thank you, Big Hugs! -Sarah & Norm read more

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Well, my experience: good times taking the photos at the event. The photographer served us with politeness and patience. I appreciate that. They print out pictures immediately with a sticker on the back saying you can get the pictures offline. Don't expect the pictures to be up immediately. They seem to be busy and if you're understanding and realize that this is a business that seems to be short staff with a handful of gigs and printing all the limitless amount of pictures they'll allow you to take at the event takes time to upload cause #life #technology-- then you should go with them. Patience is a virtue and I truly appreciate the service that was given. read more

We just had our wedding last weekend and Big Hugs couldn't have been better. We all had so much fun!!! Their staff was incredibly too, and you can fit 8 people in the booth! read more

These guys are soooooo good!!!! I contacted them very last minute for our corporate holiday party. About a week in advance. Stanley was incredibly professional and is team was AMAZING. They arrived at the venue on time, made guests feel welcome, and key our party goers entertained and feeing good. I am sooooo happy to have used them and they will now be my go-to for photo booths and event photography. Awesome!!! read more

Stanley was great and made sure he accommodated all my sister's needs. For her quinceanera, answered all my questions and the photo designer Jessie was really patient and made sure that the prints looked exactly how we wanted it. Paolo was the best ! So patient and so nice. He made sure everyone had a good time and everyone got a copy of the pictures they took. Perfect for the price. Thank you big hugs for your services! read more

Used Big Hugs for our wedding downtown on 09/19/15. We got the largest photo booth with unlimited prints. Communication and booking with Stanley is easy and efficient. The photo booth was a BLAST, everyone had a fantastic time. Guests kept going back and the pictures are amazing. Booth attendant was great. I could not recommend Big Hugs higher! read more

I am a planner and hired Big Hugs because my other go to companies were booked. This was the worst decision I ever made and I would not recommend them. The tech person was having trouble with set up and unable to handle the issues. He did not.bring lighting for the booth when I told them they would be outside they were not prepared. The photos came out so small you could barely see the faces and he did not know how to adjust the camera to make it correct. Basically it was the only downside of our event and I would never use them or recommend them to anyone. To be honest I have trouble giving them one star. read more

Great selection. Great price. Nice people. I definately recommend for your next party or event.

Big Hugs, Stanley, was amazing for our Fundraiser. He was early to set up, made all the guests feel welcome to use the photo booth. They were true professional, from the initial consultation, to the planning and event I was amazed at the process and how organized everything was. Our event was more successful because of Big Hugs! read more

Big Hugs came thru at the very last minute after I was ripped off by another company (Gold Rush Photobooth). the booth was a huge hit and I couldn't have been happier. Thank you Stanley for working with me just 5 days before my wedding to make sure everything was a success!!!!!! I highly recommend this company! Thank you Again!!! Erica read more

There are about a million photo booth companies out there and thankfully we went with Big Hugs for our wedding. Stanley sometimes took a little while to get back to me but other than that he was very helpful and professional. Also our attendant for the night was very helpful and patient with our noisy obnoxious families who LOVE photo booths. My only real complaint is that there could have been more props and some of them could have been of higher quality, but everyone still enjoyed themselves and the pictures turned out wonderful. Also the size of the booth is great, because it fits a large amount of people. read more

Thank you Stanley & his team from Big Hugs Photobooth for their professional works! Especially, thank you for their graphic designers. They made my photobooth template matched the theme of my wedding & my wedding invitation cards. I'm very glad I had choose the right service. read more

Thank you so much Big Hug Photo Booth for making my and my son's milestone birthdays such special and memorable experience for both of us. Our friends - adults and kids of all the ages enjoyed the photo booth experience very much, they had lot of fun!!! read more

I was skeptical at first to do a photo booth at our wedding- I feel like they've been overdone lately and they're not always fun. I'm so glad my husband pushed us to do it because it was a huge hit! We didn't have a large space for a photo booth, but Big Hugs had a small option that was kind of like an old timey walk in photo booth with a curtain. They had just a few fun props- some other booths I've seen have about 50 options which is overwhelming- and the attendant was very friendly & personable. They even came up with a custom design for the bottom of the photo strips for our wedding. they sent us a proof of what they came up with, we didn't love it so we asked if they could try again- and they were more than willing to make any changes we wanted. The value was great as some photo booths we looked at were well over $1000. I'm very happy with our decision to use Big Hugs. They're a great company who really seems to take the client's preferences to heart. Thanks for providing a fun activity at our wedding. read more

This was such a fun way to add something different to our celebration. All of our guests loved it and we had so much fun looking through the photo book after our wedding. Stanley and Paolo were awesome to work with and we highly recommend by them for any event! They were accommodating every step of the way, communicated efficiently and effectively and went above and beyond to ensure we were happy! read more

We had a great experience using Big Hugs for a photo booth at our wedding!! I had purchased an impulsive Groupon deal and wasn't sure which vendor we'd be getting for our photo booth (the Groupon was for a broker company NOT Big Hugs), and I was getting nervous the Groupon had been a scam until they finally put us in touch with Big Hugs a few weeks before the wedding and I received an email from Stanley at Big Hugs Photo Booth confirming all the details of the event including timing, type of photo booth, and colors for the photo booth pictures. Stanley was very friendly, responsive, and amenable to last minute questions and a shift in timing of our photo booth. He had no problem shifting our time frame by 15 minutes just a few days before the wedding. The attendant was on site the whole time the photo booth was up at the wedding ensuring it was working properly and helping guests with questions. The attendant also even made sure me (the bride) and groom got a set of pictures in the booth before it closed since we had forgotten to get any of ourselves. In addition, setup and take-down of the photobooth was so seamless I didn't notice either occur. And lastly, the pictures are priceless. BIG THANKS TO BIG HUGS FOR MAKING OUR WEDDING DAY EVEN MORE UNFORGETTABLE! read more