I read a funny article in Vogue the other day. Not something you’d think I’d say, but bear with me it’s not my normal read, but rather that the quality of magazines in my dentist’s waiting room leaves a lot to be desired for us men folk! Laura Bailey was writing about her photobooth experience and it describes exactly how much fun can be had from hiring one. Even better, Cowes based Shuffles Events, can deliver it to you anywhere on the island.

‘.. My absolute latest must-have party accessory is not a bag or a pair of shoes or a sparkly hairclip…It’s a portable photo booth!

At a friend’s 40th recently, the girls were queuing up for the chance to pose with a friend (or three) in a super glammed-up version of the passport-photo machine I use in the tube station.

Once we realised that the prints emerged a minute later as if lit by Mario Testino – some of us went back for more…and more. The booth became our very best friend; nothing like a bit of photo flattery to get the party spirit flowing. A couple of relationships may even have been ignited in its cosy confines – ideal accidently-on-purpose flirting conditions. I still have my party pics from that night -great souvenirs – and the birthday girl gets a double of every single picture of her pals pasted into a keepsake memory book.

That machine worked in colour and the black and white version at my favourite ever Christmas party was even more addictive. As the night went on there was a natural progression (or deterioration?) from the demure to the debauched and the evidence has either been smuggled away in handbags or politely left behind to amuse our hostess the morning after….’