The laws around giving notice for marriage changed on 2 March, which meant there was a new set of paperwork/items to collect. As I was making sure that we had everything, I noticed that both of us had to supply a passport photo. It was no problem for me as I keep a stash on hand since I regularly need them for visas, but Mr. Snarky didn't have any. We parked up at the garage in the city centre and were making our way to the Post Office since I remembered they have a photo booth there, when we spotted Max Spielmann.
Mr. Snarky suggested we go in and see if they do Passport Pictures, how long it will take, and how much. When we went in, there was a bit of a queue: one lady wanting to print pictures off of her memory card, another lady waiting for a print of her child (they had just had a photo shoot), and a very anxious man waiting for passport photos. I took off a star for the fact that the store is quite cluttered, making it 1) difficult to find a spot to wait without being in the way and 2) very easy to knock a bunch of frames onto the floor, shattering the glass in all of them.
Unfortunately the hold up seemed to be revolving around one machine that was being used for all of this, despite the other three sitting next to it. The staff, however, were extremely friendly and even humored Mr. Snarky when he was making jokes. For £7.99 you get 6 photos and it takes a few minutes... actually it probably takes less than that if there is no one else in the shop. The other man waiting for his passport photos was being very picky since his other set were returned by a government agency for being too dark. The lady lightened it up as much as she could but he was still unsatisfied and kept muttering under his breath. As the lady cut them, she did tell him that they are guaranteed, so if they are rejected again, he could come back and they would take another picture and reprint for free. I had no idea that they were guaranteed... so there you have it!
After all of his protesting, he finally left with his photos in hand. The staff member apologized for our wait and even gave us a 10% discount because we had waited for quite awhile. To be fair, we weren't expecting anything as there didn't seem to be much else they could do to speed things up as the other machines, they explained, are for different purposes, but it was a very nice gesture and this is where we will return if we need more passport/visa pictures. read more
