Jessica Ellis operates a Velvet Turtle Events photo booth at an event in New York. Photo: Jessica Ellis
Jan. 14, 2025 By Shane O’Brien
The founders of Velvet Turtle Events, a Long Island City-based events and photography company, have attributed their exponential growth in 2024 to partnerships with community-based organizations and non-profits.
Over the past 12 months, these collaborations have fueled their success, allowing the company to triple its business despite challenges the previous year.
Founded by Jessica and Bobby Ellis ahead of the New York City Marathon in 2022, Velvet Turtle Events specializes in revolutionary open-air photo booths. These booths, designed for events across New York and Southern California, allow guests to create instant photos, boomerangs, GIFs, and videos while also offering customized branding to create unique and memorable experiences.
Jessica and Bobby, originally from California and Michigan, respectively, were inspired to launch the company after planning their wedding in 2021. In the three years since, they’ve worked tirelessly to grow Velvet Turtle Events, building relationships in communities on both coasts.
While the business began over two years ago, the couple considers 2024 their first true year of operation. The turning point, according to Bobby, came with a partnership with the American Lung Foundation, which opened doors to additional corporate events and brand activations nationwide.
Although their wedding inspired the idea for Velvet Turtle Events, Jessica and Bobby decided early on to take a different path, steering away from the wedding-focused photo booth industry. Instead, they prioritized corporate and non-profit events, creating meaningful partnerships that aligned with their values.
“Our work with nonprofits has been especially rewarding,” Bobby said. “It’s a cool way for us to engage in the community in a different way and make an impact.”
Velvet Turtle Events has partnered with Queens organizations such as the Hunters Point Parks Conservancy and Culture Lab LIC, recently providing photographs at Culture Lab’s “Pawliday” celebration, which invited members of the community to capture a festive snap with their furry friends.
Jess, who worked as a lawyer before starting Velvet Turtle, said she gets a real buzz when she sees how much joy the Velvet Turtle photo booths can create for members of the local community, recalling an incident before Christmas when Velvet Turtle had partnered with the New York Panettone Festival.
“It was below freezing… and I’m think, ‘oh my goodness, I don’t know if we can survive this physically’,” Jess said. “These two girls take the photo with Santa, and they’re a little apprehensive, as some children get with Santa Claus. And then the print came out, and the parents gave the children the photos, and they just started excitedly, jumping up and down.”
“All the thoughts I had about it being too cold just went away,” she added. “I just thought, ‘We’re in this now, and we’re making this magic happen’.”
Bobby and Jessica Ellis. Photo: Jessica Ellis
Bobby, meanwhile, pointed to working with musician Travis Barker for the Run Travis Run event at Citi Field last July. Velvet Turtle Events was hired for the high-profile run and wellness experience, and Bobby stated that working at the event gave him a rush like no other.
“I was like, ‘Did that really happen to us’?” he said.
For now, Jessica and Bobby have decided not to take on any employees and delegate any of the work associated with Velvet Turtle, stating that they are keen to retain the company’s personal touch for as long as possible.
That means the couple is able to sit down with clients and meticulously plan out events, but it also means that they must fly cross-country between New York and Los Angeles depending on when events are taking place on the West Coast.
However, for Jessica, it is also an opportunity to see her family regularly, making the long flight far more palatable.
“I’m very thankful to have that opportunity to return so often,” she said. “It was a challenge at the beginning to fly, but now it feels more like a bus route.”
