Hiring a photo booth: questions to ask before you book

Hire or build your own?

A hired photo booth arrives ready to go: booth, camera, lighting, printer and software set up to work together. It is the most relaxed option for a wedding or a corporate event, where nobody wants to fix a printer at midnight. A home-made booth suits a smaller party, with a camera and printer you already know well.

If you are unsure, our DIY photo booth guide covers what you need to build your own. Either way, the printed frame around the photos is what your guests take home.

Questions to ask the hire company

Before booking, ask for what is included to be confirmed in writing. The points that really make a difference:

• Printing: how many prints are included, and what happens beyond that?
• Print size: 4×6, 2×6 strip or square? It decides which frame you can use.
• The printed frame: is it personalised with your names and date, who designs it, how many changes are possible and until when?
• Set-up: floor space, power socket, set-up and take-down time, venue access.
• Whether someone stays on site, or the booth runs on its own.
• Digital photos: online gallery, email delivery, sharing on the day.
• Props and backdrop: included, to choose from, or for you to provide.
• Travel area, hours and cancellation terms.

Comparing two offers like for like

Two quotes that look similar can hide important differences. To compare them, check them against the same questions: hours of operation, number of prints, print size, whether the frame is included, and whether set-up and travel are included.

Ask to see real prints made with the booth on offer, not just photos of the booth itself: print quality, colour rendering and how sharp faces look matter more than the look of the machine. Also look at the event photos the hire company publishes, to judge the lighting in a real venue.

Finally, check what happens if something breaks during the evening: spare paper and supplies, someone you can reach, and how quickly they can step in. A photo booth that stops just as the dance floor fills up leaves a less happy memory than planned.

The printed frame: included or yours to supply

Many hire companies include a personalised frame. Others accept your own file, which leaves the choice of style to you. In that case, ask which software they use and which file format they expect.

Our templates are personalised online and downloaded as a transparent 300 DPI PNG overlay, with a file giving the position of each photo slot and a file ready for dslrBooth. Our pages on the PNG overlay and dslrBooth templates explain what you will hand over. For a rustic wedding, for example, Wild Eucalyptus or the whole rustic wedding collection show the kind of styles available.

Matching the print size to the booth

Print size depends on the booth’s printer, not just your taste. A 4×6 print holds one or more photos and readable text; a 2×6 strip lines up three poses in a narrow keepsake that slips into a guest book. Some booths print two strips on one 4×6 sheet, which is then cut.

Ask the hire company which orientation is set up (portrait or landscape) and how many photos per print, then choose the frame to match. Our guide to choosing a photo booth print size compares the options. For a party, Champagne, for instance, comes as a portrait or landscape 4×6 and as a strip.

When to book and how to prepare for the day

Summer Saturdays and the end of the year book up quickly: reserve as soon as your date and venue are set. For a wedding, our guide to planning a wedding photo booth includes a full timeline.

A few weeks before the event, send the final frame to the hire company and check a test print together. The day before, confirm the set-up time, the exact location and who to contact on site. On the day, keep a table for the props, some space for group photos, and one person who knows the hire company and can act as the point of contact if needed.

Preparing your frame in a few minutes

If your hire company accepts your file, choose a design, replace the sample text with your names and date, adjust the colours to your decor and download the overlay. Customising Wild Eucalyptus takes a few minutes, with no account needed, and the text stays editable afterwards. Our guide to wedding photo booth frame wording helps you find the words.