Two local women recently started a unique photo booth business, making use of a vintage camper to help make memories at area events.

Reflections Photo Lounge is the creation of Denise Wiese and Tina Cheek, two friends who have known each other for about 20 years as they’ve worked together at a St. Louis nonprofit.

As Wiese described, the pair began talking about starting up their own business when she retired a few years ago.

This conversation, combined with both of their individual interests, led to them purchasing a 1963 BeeLine Honey Bee camper as they wanted to put a small twist on the photo booth idea.

“The idea for the vintage camper photo lounge seemed perfect for us because I’m a photographer, so it combines my love of photography with her passion for event planning,” Wiese said. “We really just enjoy helping people make fun memories with their family and friends and just wanted this business to be a unique and fun experience for everybody.”

Wiese said the camper – which they fondly call Ella – has had some substantial interior work done. Having purchased the camper from a seller in Indiana last year, Wiese, her husband and Cheek focused on building a cabinet for the photo equipment as well as getting the rest of the camper decorated.

She also noted the camper can seat about eight adults on its interior bench.

With Ella serving as Reflections’ photo booth, Wiese described how different of an experience the environment can provide compared to a more typical booth.

“The vintage camper, we just feel like it brings a nostalgic, intimate experience for guests, and that just isn’t there with a standard photo booth setup,” Wiese said. “We want people to step inside and relax and just have fun with their pictures.”

The camper features a number of amenities for those stepping inside, among which are a collection of props to help make any photos unique.

As far as the pictures themselves, Wiese said the booth can text and email pictures as it takes them as well as post them to social media. The equipment can additionally make GIFs or Boomerang recordings.

Guests can also have small photo strips printed if they’d like a physical copy of their pictures. These strips can be customized at the client’s request to better suit any particular event.

Reflections officially began business just a few weeks ago, and the business has already worked a number of events Wiese said have gone quite well.

“We have had a couple of test runs with people, and it really has worked out perfectly for us,” Wiese said. “We haven’t experienced any challenges.”

When it comes to changes for the business, Wiese said the biggest addition down the road is a planned generator for the photo equipment for when the camper travels to more off-the-beaten-path events.

As she explained, the chief on-site requirement for the booth is that they have access to an electrical outlet.

Aside from electricity, Ella is currently fully equipped to help record some memories for a wedding or any other event for folks in Monroe County and beyond.

“Our vision for Reflections is to really just create an elevated interactive guest experience,” Wiese said. “Whether it’s large weddings, family celebrations, birthday parties, family reunions, all the way to business grand openings, customer appreciation days, we don’t have any limitations on what type of event we’ll book. We just really like to chat with the clients and see what their vision is for their event.”

For more information on Reflections Photo Lounge, visit reflectionsphotolounge.com, call 314-766-1827 or email reflectionsphotolounge@gmail.com.