Zuster News

Our GIF Photo Booth Was A Hit!

One of Geelong’s night of nights is the River’s Gift Gala Ball. Tickets sold out this year in a matter of hours. Held on Saturday June 23rd at the stunning Mt Duneed Estate, there is always a sense of mystery and excitement when it comes to the night as they never do thing by halves.
We enter through the main doors and are taken through a beautiful wooden wardrobe, past the warm woolly coats into what can only be described as an absolute winter wonderland. Snow capped trees, statues, lions, chalk murals and all things Narnia.

The team at Igby Productions excelled once again, the transformation of Mt Duneed Estate was incredible, the popular event venue was barely recognisable in fact.

River’s Gift Story

Alex and Karl are the founders of River’s Gift, who sadly lost their adorable son River back in November 2011 at just 128 days old. They have raised close to $1million since beginning their journey to raise awareness, to educate and to “Stamp Out SIDS”.

We were honoured to support this amazing cause with the addition of our GIF Booth for the night. Set up in front of a sleigh, guests sat down inside for some photo booth fun.

Hosted by channel 7’s Nathan Templeton, the night commences with a performance of “A Million Dreams”. If that wasn’t enough to give you goose bumps, we heard from many families who sadly all have babies forever sleeping. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house. Speeches, constant entertainment, dessert tables, turkish delight cocktails and our GIF booth of course, kept heads turning in awe throughout the entire evening. It truly was a perfectly executed evening indeed.

As their main fundraiser, there was a live pledge throughout the night. Guests jumped online and donated to River’s Gift. Over the course of the evening, they managed to raise over $100k, what an outstanding effort. The generosity of the Geelong community never ceases to amaze me.

I have so much admiration for Alex & Karl and all they have done in River’s honour. As a mum, what they have been through is unimaginable, so Zuster Photobooths will continue to support them in their quest to Stamp Out SIDS.

If you wish to donate to this incredible cause, please jump online at Rivers Gift

Be sure to check out all the talented suppliers involved:

Venue: Mt Duneed Estate
Event Styling: Igby Productions
Event Planner: Total Events Co
Band: Matt Bradshaw & GForce
Entertainment: Instinct Entertainment & Stefanie Choreography
Photography: Sara Taylor Photography
Photobooth: Zuster Photobooths
Dessert: The Sweetest Thing Cake Art

If you’d like to book one of our photo booths for an upcoming event, please make contact today! info@zusterphotobooths.com.au

Many thanks,
Caley…xxx

“I know. Let’s start a business!” Megan and I jumped into starting our own business a little naive I guess you could say. We thought if we run our own business we could be our own boss, choose our own hours and with that would come increased flexibility and we’d have more time with our little ones. Sounds amazing doesn’t it? You know, like it seems to be for everyone else out there running their own business?!

How wrong we were.

Starting our own business was possibly the hardest thing we’ve ever done. Aside from having children. So…mix the two together, and it can be a real struggle at times. There’s a huge difference between running one booth for pocket money and turning it into your full time gig. The fear of the unknown as you quit your day job and throw everything you have into your business. The computer is always open and the kids are always fighting for your attention. Oh, and making a phone call – wow. Kids really know how to turn it up when you’re on a business call. Thankfully, most of our clients ignore it just like we do! There’s so much work behind the scenes which people don’t see and so many sacrifices you have to make. You can never switch off. It consumes you. I hate to think about the amount of unpaid hours we have each put in. But, it’s what you do. And it is because of this, we are fiercely determined to succeed.

Then there’s the mum guilt. Feeling guilty you should be spending more time with your children. Would they be smarter if we spent more time with them? Would i spend less time yelling at them if I wasn’t so busy trying to run a business? Every time we pop our work shirts on to go to an event, the conversation in our house goes a little like this…

“You’re going to work AGAIN Mummy”
“Yes sweetheart. Do you know why Mummy and Daddy work so hard?”
“Yes Mum, so we can live in our new house, do fun things like to go Adventure Park, have a snow house and go on holidays together – so who will look after us while you’re at work?”

The flip side to this is that I hope to instil a strong work ethic within my girls. I want to teach them to become strong and independent women who work hard to achieve their goals. Life can be hard at times and they need to learn things just don’t get given to you. Megan and i were taught this growing up, our parents have always been (and still are) very hard workers

Megan and I couldn’t do this on our own. It really is a “family” business. We are extremely lucky to have an amazing support network. Working long hours over weekends is made even harder when my husband works away. Thankfully we have an incredible family who are willing to help out so we can reach our goals. The same goes for my husband. Every time he walks in the door, i literally walk out on my way to work for what feels like the duration of his time at home.

So every time we receive another booking, it is as exciting as our first. We get all warm and fuzzy inside knowing we are one step closer to achieving our goals. So thank you to each and every one of our clients who have faith in us and the service we are working so very hard to provide.

Caley Lister