During our 10 years of running a photo booth business we have heard couples say they want to have a photo booth for their wedding reception. However, “for that sort of money we could make our own”! Of course, everyone should plan their wedding according to their budget. We get it! But before you get into this ambitious project of DIY photo booth, let’s review what exactly you are getting yourself into with the various options….

A True DIY Booth

With all of the amazing technology that exists today, this option is becoming easier and easier.  The simplest approach is an iPad on a stand, with a simple backdrop.  All together, this a fairly basic and quite doable photo booth solution.

  • A sturdy iPad stand can be found on eBay.  You are looking for about 5ft in height and ideally it’s a tiltable stand.  Sturdy is KEY!
  • There are plenty of iPad Photo Booth solutions available.  Most are designed for professional businesses conducting multiple events.  Finding the right app will just take some time based on your needs and budget.
  • Your backdrop can be a simple curtain.  Ideally you will need something 8ft wide to fill the frame of the picture.
  • Lighting can be tricky.  iPads tend to drag a little bit when the reception hall gets dark.  You will need some type of continuous lighting to light the subjects.

The big sacrifice with a DIY booth is your photos will likely not be printable in the 2×6 or 4×6 format.  The sub-dye printers that most photo booths use is north of $1000 and they just don’t work all that well with iPads — even for the professionals!  All In, on a shoe string budget, the above setup is going to cost a few hundred bucks.  Not too bad, but it has some drawbacks.

Referenced from eventplanner.net

Booth by Mail

This solution has become more popular before the pandemic.  Basically, you rent a photo booth to setup at your event.  Companies like Booth By Mail (and many others) will provide a solution they ship to you and then you send it back when you’re done.   These offerings typically cost between $500-$600 for an event using an iPad and a small printer.  Their packages include 100 or 200 prints, which is quite low as most photo booth events will print 500+ strips.

For a few hundred bucks more than the DIY solution, you get a more professional setup for sure.  The drawbacks here are mostly convenience and service.  You have to receive & ship it back… and find somebody to set it all up for you and ideally have somebody watch it.  Can you imagine how your friends would treat and unmanned photo booth?  Yikes, so be careful here!

Hire a Professional

Hiring a professional is the most expensive option & also the most convenient.  Most Photo Booth companies will offer a high quality setup and provide your guests with digital and printed strips on the spot.  There is much less fuss with this option.

While DIY photo booths are a viable option, event hosts should consider how much time they have to deal with this during the party.  DIY can quickly become overwhelming for hosts.  Enjoying your event should be a priority for you as well, this is probably something you should consider offloading to a professional.

Regardless of which option you select, a photo booth will provide you with plenty of candid shots during your event!  Having all your family and friends make silly faces into the camera will provide them loads of fun, and you’ll have blackmail material on them for years to come!

The Sleek Booth Surround