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I'm debating whether or not to include a photobooth at my wedding and since it costs almost $2k, the FI needs convincing!
For those who had photobooths at your wedding, were they popular? How much use did they get? And what were your guests' opinions?
Thanks!
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its pretty much impossible to go wrong with a photobooth.
I'm actually going to come out and say that it may not be worth the money, and that there are other things that might be more worthwhile to spend your money on, like a band instead of a DJ, or more/better food and drink. But if you've got it in your budget, I think it could be a lot of fun.
Wow, 2K, that's a huge amount of money. Personally I wouldn't do it.
We're contemplating it as well. I loved it at my friend's wedding but 2k is much. It was used all the time at the wedding and I think everyone loved them. You also get all those pics of your guests...the company should give you a CD of all the pics.
I really wanted one, but wasn't ready to commit to the $1700 that photoboothscrapbooks charges. I looked around and found photographers that set up a basic photobooth for $700, including an assistant and materials to put together a scrapbook. It's not a real photobooth, but the results are similar and the price is definitely better. Look around and you may be able to find a better rate.
i think it's kinda played out like candy buffets and the "surprise" booty shakin dance interrupting the first dance as mr&mrs...
i'd rather spend it on honeymoon or something else
but go for it if that's what you realy want to spring $2K for
why don't you try this place: http://partybooths.com/rates.htm. the rates are much lower than 2k. I hope getting a partybooth is worth it because we just booked one as well. :)
I am going to set a made up photo booth with my digital camera on a tripod. I am planning to buy a few different fabrics for background options and hang them up with a curtain rod. I am also going to provide a chest full of props, hats, glasses, etc.
I hope it will work out. I am going to start looking for fabrics tomorrow.
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We made our own. Try http://snapstrip.com/ with a laptop and web cam. This is not the program we used, but very similar.
I wanted one for my reception as well but decided that I needed the money to pay some other wedding-related bill. 
If you want it and can afford, go for it. They are fun to have and is one way to keep the guests entertained. Plus the pictures are fun to keep.
Here's one that's quite inexpensive and I'm considering...
http://www.rentphotobooths.com/pricing.html
if you have it in your budget, why not do it? Its super fun for guests. I cant bring myself to spend that much money on a novelty but I have to admit, they are super duper fun! So, if you've got the money...go for it. But dont put something like that on your credit card, you know?
If your photographer has an assistant, you can have him/her do a photobooth for an hour or so with studio lighting equipment. The very popular Seattle photographer Kate McElwee does that. (ah, every time I mention her name my heart aches a bit - because she was long booked for my wedding date!!)
We are also using Partybooths and I think it is well worth it. However, we are spending much less then 2k. Guest can take unlimited amount of photos, all images will be available to view or purchase online, and we also receive a high resolution disk. We are also asking our guest to paste their pictures in a guestbook. Partybooths offers this as an option but I thought it was too pricey so we are bringing in our own materials.
They offer nationwide service so maybe you should check them out. http://www.partybooths.com/index.htm
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I found one for us locally for $1600 that prints a little bit faster (60 seconds) and in duplicate, so guests can get an exact copy (in a little pocket jacket) of what they'd put in the guestbook.
For a costly expenditure like a photobooth, I think location and getting the word out are key. The tips I read about it were if you can put it in a place where people don't have to venture too far get to it, it's fabulous! If the only place to put it is upstairs away from everything, don't do it. And if you "advertise" it somehow, that you're better off - mention it in the programs, have your DJ make an announcement, have your bridal party snag the camera-shy folks, etc.
Personally, I've been wanting a photobooth since I started planning! It took me months to justify it, and finally I just called the guy and arranged it. I'm sooo excited we're going to have a guestbook that's not just signatures...And I'm really looking forward to the wacky four-pose behind-a-curtain pictures that will get spit out, not just for the guestbook, but also for our guests as a little favor/memory of the day.
Also, our photographer spends a lot less time on posed formals - I think he says he has SIX traditional pictures he does. So, I figure this might be a way to get pictures of people "looking at" the camera. :)
$2000 is on the high-end, so I back the others' suggestions of shopping around and seeing what other possibilities/prices are out there.
Good luck!
I read a really great description on a DIY site about how to set up your own, but I can't find it again! It also shows how to make frames for your guests to take the pictures home as a favor. I plan to do that, especially if I can find the instructions again. The wife of the best man is an enthusiastic novice photographer and we thought that would be a great job for her that would help us out and she would have fun doing.
An alternative that you might look into would be having a caricature artist. I'm thinking if you hired someone by the hour it would cost less that 2K. A friend of mine did it at her wedding at it was a big hit.
We did a different twist on the photobooth idea. Everyone gets dressed up for a wedding, but rarely ever get a really good picture of themselves all decked out.
We hired a photographer who was just starting out for $500 to set up at the cocktail reception and throughout the reception taking nice full-lenth portraits of guests.
He had an asst. with him who would print it out ona color printer, then put the shot in nice 4x6 silver frames that we bought & provided. All the frames were set out on a table near the exits and that was our favor to our guests.
People loved it! It makes me smile when I'm in a friend's living room or office and see the picture they took at our wedding and am often told that it's the only nice, recent picture they have of themselves.
Check with the photographer professor at your local college to see if they can recommend a talented student who'd like to make a few extra bucks.
I was thinking of investing in/borrowing 2 digitial cameras that can be put on a stand and have a timer/or have an attendent. We would set up our own backdrop and one of those small picture printers. We thought it would be fun to provide a few props (boas, silly hats, big sunglasses, etc) to ensure enterianing pictures. We can alternate the camera on the printer and a tripod so that we can print out the pictures. The pictures can then be left out for people to take later or we will send copies with our thankyous to everyone. This is a lot more costeffective but still just as fun.
Thanks for the link Fifi and Novebride! I was actually not really considering doing something like this, but for around $1k for the whole evening including all the photos, it actually seems like a fun idea. You bees just keep getting my (and my budget) in trouble...
hey there!
We love the idea of fun candids of our guests so in lieu of a receiving line (smaller sized wedding) were having our friend (very gregarious, fun outgoing guy) stand right where people walk in with a polaroid. Retro and makes a super cute album and people feel it is the type of atmosphere where they wil have fun with it. a polaroid is only a couple hundred bucks + film and book WAY under the cost of a photo booth.
anyone have any suggestions for a photobooth company in the philadelphia area?
Have you shopped around for a photobooth? We are paying $800 for ours for 4 hours. I think $2000 is wayyyyyyyy too much money.
I think you either "must" have it or you don't really care and wouldn't miss it. Do you have a great photographer? If you do, you don't really need a photobooth.
I have been exploring them, I see most of them in the $675 range. I would not do it for $2k! For $675, if I wanted it, I would do it.
I personally have never seen a photobooth at a wedding! I wonder if they are popular too. Do you have lots of young people? Do older people both with them? Hmm...
I'm also using party booths and just booked them today! My friends have used them at their weddings and they're always a blast to work with. We're not having favors so this is what guests will get to take home and I've always found them to be incredibly fun.
Just a note - one of the attendants from party booths told me to just book the classic booth as almost all of the attendants will automatically set it up as a contemporary booth if it's a wedding. Of course, I did that and requested that attendant to be at my wedding :)
if you need a photobooth around philly...check out this guy's DIY booth. he rents it out too...created it for his sister's wedding using a Mac laptop.
he lets you download the application too if you want to DIY completely.
check it out: http://davidcline.wordpress.com/2009/08/16/diy-wedding-photo-booth/
Waste, IMO. Our photog is setting up a old school backdrop and were putting out a costume trunk (we're getting married on Halloween) and he's going to take a bunch of pictures of our guests dressed up crazy and having fun. He's including it as part of our deal.
OK Im from wisconsin so $600 probably doesnt sound like a whole lot however my budget is like 15-20 thousand and our photographer is $2,900, I considered doing a photo booth which starts here at $600 but I am not even half done with everything and my budget is at 11,000 so we had to cut the idea out :(
mmmm.. the photobooth debate rages on! In these (LA) parts most of the photobooths I've come across are $1200-$1600 which is a HUGE chunk of our funds, but so awesome that it's hard to do away with the idea completely. We DID manage to score an AMAZING photographer and so thanks sphbride for the suggestion of asking the assistant to please, please please get some photobooth style pics of our peeps! I think that may be the ticket! :)
In my city in the bay area they're about $500 with the attendant. It seems fairly reasonable -- all things considered. I think I might want one and that would be the favor for the guests.
I do think the idea is very trendy on wedding shows and blogs and such, just like candy bars, however I only have two married friends and no one I know is even close to getting engaged, nor have I been to any weddings that have had them. So, for my circle it would be seen as something fun and different.
That said, no way would I spend $2k on one, or even $1k on one. I would look for cheaper alternatives like the many that have been suggested.
We're doing a DIY booth and it's all the fun at a fraction of the cost. I can't wait!
For our guests, it would be a complete waste of money since it's something they are not into at all. Even a DIY setup would not be used. That is not to say that they don't appreciate photography or fun in general. I personally haven't been that into the photobooth shots that I have seen online of other weddings and would rather have quality photojournalistic shots from the photographer of the entire wedding.
Ok I had a dilemma with going back and forth on whether or not I should rent one. In the end, I opted not to. But my in laws had gone to a wedding with one and they said everyone absolutely loved it. They always seem like such fun too when I see them at the bridal shows! I decided not to just as a money saver and also because I wanted the guests to be more focused on the music and groovin instead of piling in the photobooth. Eh, it was more like I was too cheap but I use the other reason as an excuse I think to make myself feel better lol
@ Amy - are you interested in photography at all? Or learning about it? You could buy yourself a nice digital camera & have a friend who knows about photography take the pics. That would likely be cheaper than $2k & you'd have a new camera to keep & digital files of all the photos. Or hire someone from Craigslist to take pics.
Popular AND waste of money. Two *excellent* reasons to do something else with that money :)
I so desperately want one because I always really enjoy them at weddings, but I think I am just going to purchase a polaroid camera and some film on ebay and have guests take pictures, stick them in an album and sign.
I love photobooths and at every wedding I've been to that has had one, there have always been long lines to take the pictures! That being said, I don't think a photobooth is worth 2k! You could probably find one for a little less or maybe compromise with your FI and rent one for less time so that it'll cost less. Ours is costing a little over 1k. Not only is the photobooth fun for guests, it'll also be fun to look at the scrapbook (included in our rental) where everyone's pictures are included along with their messages to us.
I love photo booths, I've only been to wedding events with fauzto-booths, but would love to go to one with a real one!
I debated whether or not to get a photobooth b/c of the cost, and in the end went with it for our wedding. It was ABSOLUTELY worth it. It got EVERYBODY at the wedding involved. My husband's 93 year old grandfather got in the booth--with multiple groups. It made people who weren't big on dancing feel included and the pictures in the booth were amazing! It was nice to see really interesting pairs/groups come together.
We had a scrapbook set up so that people could give us one of the pics and leave us the other pic with a message in the scrapbook. Our guests LOVED it and said it was nice to see everyone else's pictures and to meet people at the scrapbooking table when they were writing their messages.
One way to save money is to have the booth for a limited amount of hours. At first I really didn't want to do that, but we just had it opened after dinner, which was perfect b/c people had had a few drinks and were ready for the booth. I think it was definitely worth the money. B/c our booth printed out 2 strips, we considered the pictures the favors--way better than Jordan Almonds...
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