Deciding If You Should Rent a Photo Booth
When planning an event, there’s a lot that needs to be taken into consideration. Everything from booking the venue to planning an itinerary must be taken into account.
Often, booking the entertainment is one of the final considerations when planning anything, from weddings to corporate retreats. But… if you’re in the midst of planning any event that requires entertainment, take some advice from your humble photo booth rental company: book a photo booth.
“Are photo booths worth it today” is a question we’ve seen frequently. We’ve seen it so frequently, we decided to do a whole post on it.
The answer we typically give is “yes and no.” Yes, there is such a thing as a tacky photo booth. But no, that’s not what PBPC offers.
We believe renting a photo booth is worth it for the following reasons:
- No extra work for you when it comes to planning and implementation
- They’re customizable to your event and aesthetic
- An easy way to provide entertainment for everyone
- And a perfect way to show off branding or custom event graphics
In short, yes photo booths are worth it. If you’re able to get the right photo booth for your event.
No Extra Set-Up For You
Keeping Your Plate Clear
We’ve been in events for a long time. So we know how much planning and potential sleepless nights can go into planning and throwing a full-scale event. There are definitely many many factors to consider.
But one thing you shouldn’t have to worry about is your photo booth. With everything properly planned, when the big day rolls around, you should be able to sit back and enjoy the entertainment.
An experienced and professional photo booth company will work directly with you to get a feel for your event and what makes it unique. Many times, photo booths aren’t a one-size-fits-all situation. Some booths are better for some events than others. But it’s the responsibility of the photo booth rental company to figure out which booth would be perfect for your event.
When a photo booth company works one-on-one with a client, they also get a feel for the flow of the event. A photo booth for a wedding may have a very different timeline than a photo booth for a private party or a corporate event. These are factors that are crucial to know for a seamless photo booth experience.
Finally, when done correctly, this translates to a stress-free experience for you and your event. The photo booth rental company knows your day-of timeline and knows what to expect on the day itself. They know how much time is required for set-up and how much time should be allotted for different parts of the event.
That’s how working with a professional and experienced photo booth company can simplify your event planning. Don’t settle for anything less.
Customize Your Event With the Right Booth
Adding to Your Ambiance
Photo booths are great for events in general. But what really makes a photo booth perfectly sync with an event is customization. Luckily, many modern photo booths are extremely customizable.
Many folks have an outdated view of photo booths. They think of a dusty, boxy thing hastily jammed in some corner. So yes, if you’re having a modern wedding or event, something like that probably wouldn’t be worth it. It would continue gathering dust and repelling guests. We 100% believe that those kinds of booths wouldn’t be worth it.
But if you were, say, having a Gatsby or Roaring 20s party complete with costumes and a classic ambiance, then a Vintage Photo Booth could be a perfect way to compliment the night. Plus, your guests would be able to show off their dazzling 20s attire.
There’s just no beating that.
Memories, Memories, Memories
One of the markers of a successful event is how memorable it was. Events that fall flat are forgotten right away. Then it’s like they never even happened. When you spend the time, money, and effort to create a memorable event, it should be memorable.
That’s where the right photo booth comes in. When you have perfectly printed photo strips, it’s impossible to forget how good of a time you had. And when judging the success of any event, memories made is one of the most solid indicators of a success.
Entertainment For Every Guest
Ensure Everyone Has A Great Time
Many events have a wide variety of guests. How do you plan something engaging for everyone? We have another answer: book a photo booth.
When it comes to a wedding, you may have booked the best band or DJ in the world. But sometimes even the funkiest music can’t get everyone on the dance floor. Or if you’re throwing a corporate event, you may have planned the best activities money can buy. But you’ll still have stragglers. How do you plan for moments like this when you’re planning your event?
The answer is simple: adding something that everyone has a good time doing. And everyone has a good time taking photos.
One thing that’s so great about photo booths is how versatile they are. Guests of all ages line up to put on oversized sunglasses and hold up crazy signs. Unlike dancing or other activities, a photo booth is an activity that isn’t polarizing. Even guests who may have retired from the dance floor years ago can tap into their inner child with the right photo booth.
Modern photo booths even have the capability to fit dozens of guests in a single photo. No one wants to be left out when the rest of the office group or bridal party is getting together to show their pearly-whites and cut loose.
Show Off Your Custom Event
From Logos to Hashtags, Photo Booths Rule
A staggering statistic we recently came across suggests almost 2 billion digital photos are taken every single day. That’s more photos in a day than existed in the world even 75 years ago. To say that photo booths are on the decline isn’t a matter of opinion. It’s factually incorrect. More and more people are taking photos and more and more people are sharing them online than any other time in human history.
That’s a statistic that can’t be ignored.
When it comes to your business event or wedding, digitally shared photos can be the perfect way to make sure your event not only stands out in the crowd, but that it gets the attention it deserves.
Wedding Hashtags Galore!
More and more couples are leaning towards a social-media heavy wedding. They create custom hashtags and tag their vendors and friends in posts leading up to the day and on the day of the event itself. If you’re looking to amplify your social presence, then a photo booth capable of adding hashtags to the print-outs is an unbeatable method.
For wedding guests, it also gives them something tangible to remember your big day. They can hang the photo strip on the fridge, use it as a bookmark, or just have it around. No matter what they use it for, every time they see it, they’ll remember the fun they had on your big day.
How’s that for a way not to have your event be forgotten?
Unbeatable Branding Opportunities
Another hypothetical: say you’re unveiling a new product or throwing an event that requires social or media attention. You need to get your branding out there. If no one knows about your company or product, you may as well not exist. This is particularly true in today’s web-savvy marketplace.
Adding custom logos, branding, hashtags, or even websites to your photo print-outs is one of the best ways to make sure your brand makes waves online. As guests are sharing beautiful pictures of themselves, your brand is also being shared. That’s the kind of attention many companies pay big money for. But the secret is: it can all be achieved with one photo booth.
So is it worth the cost?
One of the most common questions is simply whether it's worth the money. PBPC rentals start at $850 for a 3-hour Classic print package, $650 for the Social digital booth, and $600 for the Freeform roaming format, with most wedding and corporate clients landing between $1,100 and $2,500. For that price you receive the booth, an on-site attendant, custom printed or digital templates, and after the event a link to view all the images captured. So the value question is less about the booth and more about whether your event wants a participation point that also produces content. For weddings, that calculation usually lands in the booth's favor — it's one of the most-booked guest entertainment options, per The Knot's real weddings data. If you're weighing it, the photo booth rental hub lays out every format and what's included, and the pricing guide breaks the numbers down.
A booth vs. the alternatives
It also helps to compare the booth against the alternatives, namely a roaming photographer or your guests' phones. The booth has an advantage over both: it gives attendees a souvenir of their experience immediately when they participate, it keeps interest and energy up during the slower periods of the event, and it runs without requiring anyone from your organization to manage it. If your event has downtime to fill and you want guests leaving with something, that's usually where a booth earns its keep. PBPC runs that math in every market it serves, from Seattle to Boston.
A Quick Summary
Why Photo Booths Are Worth It
When it comes to the question “are photo booths worth it,” the answer is an ambiguous “yes and no.” But when you dig into the question a little more, it becomes clear that modern, stylish photo booths tailored to your event specifically are absolutely worth it.
Cost is usually the deciding factor here — our photo booth rental cost guide walks through what actually drives pricing by booth type, hours, and event size, so you can decide whether the value pencils out for your event.
What’s not worth it is dusty, out-dated booths. We agree that they often sit unused in a corner. But when you have a photo booth that’s perfect for your event, you can often expect:
-
No extra set-up stress
Customized props and aesthetic - A way to ensure everyone has something to enjoy
- And an amazing way to promote your hashtags or brands online
In short, modern photo booths are worth it.
If you’re debating booking a photo booth for your upcoming event in Seattle, Des Moines, Connecticut, or New Hampshire, shoot us an email. We’ll be happy to go over your event specifics and come up with a game plan for how a photo booth can be tastefully and skillfully added to your event.
Common questions: are photo booths worth it?
Is a photo booth worth the money?
For most events, yes — for $850 and up you get the booth, an attendant, branded output, and a gallery, plus a participation point that produces shareable content all night.
How much does renting a photo booth cost?
PBPC starts at $850 for a 3-hour Classic, $650 for the Social digital booth, and $600 for the Freeform; most weddings and corporate events land between $1,100 and $2,500. See the pricing guide.
Is a photo booth better than a photographer?
They do different jobs. A photographer documents the day; a booth hands guests a keepsake and keeps energy up during downtime. Many events book both.
What do you actually get with a rental?
The booth, an on-site attendant, branded print or digital templates, and a post-event digital gallery of every photo.
