Who does Portrait Parties?

[HotHolly]

Just wondering if anyone has done AND had success with portrait parties? I haven't heard them discussed too much on here, so I assumed not too many did them. Just curious...

[ndsimm]

Check with LadyDiva, I think she does something like this around Valentine's Day that has worked well for her...

[HotHolly]

Thanks Nathan!

[Gordon]

So with HotHolly and LadyDiva doing Portrait Parties, I think I'm thinking they are something a lot more fun than the actual reality probably is.

What is the idea behind these ? Never heard of it before.

[HotHolly]

Ha ha! Gordon, you're letting your imagination get carried away...but then again, if I advertised with the name HOT HOLLY (rather than Belles) we might have a better turn out. The problem would be who turns out and what they're expecting. ;o)

Portrait parties are a know-off on the home party idea...eg Discovery Toys, Pleasure Parties for those of you still stuck on hotholly and ladydiva. A hostess invites all her friends to her party and gets a kickback in exchange for the sales. In this case, the hostess usually gets free images. The higher the sales, the more stuff she gets. In other words, we take peer pressure and throw it into the adult world to make some money.

Home parties work well when the hostess is pushy/ opinionated. I've never seen one go well when the hostess is more demure or shy. That's why I asked. I was wondering if Portrait Parties are the same beast or have their own set of fangs.

[DEMDeepEllumMusic]

Tupperphoto
The Home Photographer
Photo-way
Guess if you have a bunch of friends who don't have good cameras it may work as long as the wine cork isn't popped too early.

[ladydiva]

Originally Posted by HotHolly

Ha ha! Gordon, you're letting your imagination get carried away...but then again, if I advertised with the name HOT HOLLY (rather than Belles) we might have a better turn out.
Portrait parties are a know-off on the home party idea...eg Discovery Toys, Pleasure Parties for those of you still stuck on hotholly and ladydiva.

Oooh.. I had a senior moment for a second! I was totally clueless! Er um, Gordon, no. Interestingly the way I got my screen name is b/c of a promo I was running and "Diva" was the catch word so i just used it. Who knew that it would come back to bite me, now days when someone meets me from the forum out in public they go, "Lady Diva?". As a matter of fact at the Bridal Show, my sisters were helping me out and people kept coming up the table asking for "Lady Diva", it took a long time for me to explain. ROTFL! Anyways back to the subject.

I have portrait parties once or twice a year, but I keep them at the studio, never at anyones home because you are limited to the people/ friends of the hostess and like Holly said, if the hostess is pushy/ opinionated you do well, otherwise its like flipping a coin.

[dragonspyke]

I'd like to learn more about these portrait parties. I googled and see the concept, but I can't find any way on how to work it in your business.

[hhscr]

I did one for my daughters 15th birthday, she invited friends, of course I did not do it to make money. We had a good time and all the girls got some pictures looking like fashion models.

As best I can tell the auto response when you point a camera at a girl wearing a nice outfit is almost instant photo material. Must be one of those built in genetic reactions.

[kamari]

I tagged along with my sister who hosted one in DC over the thanksgiving weekend. She had a bunch of neighbors, friends & coworkers stop by in groups every half hour. Another one of my sisters was the photographer. It gradually turned into a nice lil party with wine and laughter as a good number of guests hung around after the photos and just shot the breeze. I've been lookin to put one together with a group of female friends. No offense but guys just don't go for this.

[R & J Photography]

We actually do them but on a "Little Diva" scale... Kathi has it set up where a group of girls, usually 6-12yr olds throw a "Diva Party"... We bring them ALL into the studio and provide a MUA, Feather Boas, props etc... They all get a chance to be "Models" and be "Diva's" for the day. We then put together a slide show of the images and present each of the girls a special CD of the event... It is a HUGE hit... Drop Kathi a line for more info...

[Clayton Wallace]

No offense but guys just don't go for this.

Speaking for men (which isn't wise), no offense taken. I've thought about doing these parties for some time, but just can't seem to muster any real interest (in me, not in hostesses).

Some people just have different tastes in markets (some people even shoot bunnies) :0

[DEMDeepEllumMusic]

Yeah this is a chick thing, except some wives may have the husbands taking the photos.

[dragonspyke]

Originally Posted by kamari

No offense but guys just don't go for this.

True, it does sound mostly feminine, but I think it does sound like something that even some of the guys can get into, when most of your clients will be family oriented. So if anyone knows how to run them, can they PM me?

[vandecarr]

This is like the psychic that goes to a house and does quick readings for the guests and gets some quick cash.

I have a system used by the so called psychics and I plan to implament it into this idea with the portraits BUT....I'm probably going to tie it in with someone who already has mary kay parties going on at the same time so they can get their makeup done and then get their portrait at the same time.


Mike V