A photo booth is one of the few things at a reception that guests take home with them, and it's also one of the easiest things to book badly. Most quotes read about the same: a booth, some hours, some prints. The differences are in the details nobody puts on the first page. Here are the questions we'd ask any photo booth company in Rapid City or the Black Hills, including us, and how we answer each one.
Should you rent an open air or enclosed photo booth?
For most weddings and parties, open air. An open air booth is a camera, lighting, and a backdrop with no walls, so big groups fit, the booth becomes part of the room, and people watching the line want a turn. An enclosed booth is more private and smaller, which suits some events and limits others.
We run an open air booth with a professional camera and lighting. The practical upside is group size: a wedding party of twelve or a whole table from the reception can squeeze into the frame, which doesn't happen behind a curtain. The other upside is that it's visible. Half of what drives a line to a booth is other guests seeing how much fun the group before them is having.
Ask any company what kind of booth they bring and how many people fit in a shot. If the answer is vague, ask to see a print from a real event.
Does the photo booth come with an attendant?
Ask this before anything else. Some companies drop the booth off and pick it up later, and some keep a person with it. A booth left on its own runs out of paper, jams, or prints a layout nobody checked. Ours comes with an attendant who stays for the entire rental.
The attendant's job is more than fixing jams. They keep the line moving, show people where to stand, reload the printer before it runs out instead of after, and make sure the guest book actually gets filled in rather than sitting half empty on a side table. Unattended booths are cheaper to run, which is why they exist, but you're the one standing next to it at ten o'clock when it stops printing.
Do guests get prints, digital photos, or both?
Both is the right answer, and you should ask for it. Prints are what people carry home and stick on the fridge. Digital copies are what they post that night. With our booth, guests get instant prints on the spot, can text or email themselves a copy right at the booth, and the full gallery goes out after the event.
Two follow up questions are worth asking. First, is the number of sessions capped? Some rentals quote a set number of prints, and a busy reception can blow through that before dinner is cleared. Our rental is unlimited sessions for the whole booking. Second, who designs the print layout? Ours is a custom layout built for your event, so your names, date, or company logo are on every strip, and you approve it before the day.
How much space and power does a photo booth need?
An open air booth needs about a ten by ten foot area, including room for the group and the line, plus a standard outlet nearby. Some rooms can make less work and some can't. Ask the company to tell you where the booth should go in your specific venue, not just how big it is.
Power is the part people forget. A booth with a camera, lights, and a printer needs an outlet, and it should be on a circuit your caterer isn't already loading up with warmers and coffee makers. A tripped breaker takes out the booth and the buffet at the same time. We sort this out with you and the venue before the date, so nobody is hunting for an extension cord during cocktail hour.
Placement is the other half of the space question, and it's where a booth either gets used all night or twice. We plan it ahead of time: close enough to the action that people walk past it, far enough away that the line doesn't cross the buffet or block the dance floor. In a lot of Black Hills venues that means a corner near the bar, but every room is different.
When does the photo booth get set up?
Before your guests arrive, and torn down after they leave. Setup and teardown should never happen inside your event window. Ask every company when they arrive, how long they need, and whether their rental hours count setup against your time. Ours don't: setup and teardown happen outside your event window.
If you're adding a booth to a DJ or sound booking with us, this gets simpler, because it's one crew and one load in. The booth is included in the Premium Production Experience and can be added to any other booking, so you have one point of contact for the whole night instead of a second vendor to coordinate.
What about backdrops and props?
Ask what backdrops are available and whether props are optional. A backdrop sets the whole look of the prints, and props suit some events and cheapen others. We bring a backdrop that suits your room, or we shoot against your venue's own brick, timber, or stonework when it's better than anything we'd carry in.
Some venues around here have backdrops we couldn't beat, and when that's the case we'd rather use them than cover them up. On props, you approve the set ahead of time or skip them entirely. A clean booth with a good backdrop and no plastic sunglasses is a perfectly good way to run it, and plenty of couples and corporate clients choose exactly that.
What should you ask a photo booth company before you book?
Here's the short list to take into any conversation, whether you're calling us or anyone else. The answers tell you more than the quote does, and a company that answers them plainly, without hedging, is usually a company that'll show up prepared on the day.
- Is the booth open air or enclosed, and how many people fit in one shot?
- Does an attendant stay with the booth for the whole rental?
- Are sessions and prints unlimited, or is there a cap?
- Do guests get instant prints, digital copies, or both, and how is the gallery delivered afterward?
- Who designs the print layout, and do we approve it ahead of time?
- How much space does it need, and where would you put it in our venue?
- What power does it need, and will you coordinate that with the venue?
- When do you set up and tear down, and does that count against our rental hours?
- What backdrops do you offer, and can we skip props?
- Is there a guest book option, and who keeps it filled in during the night?
What drives the cost of a photo booth rental?
Mostly the length of the rental, whether an attendant is included, and what's bundled with it: prints, a custom layout, a guest book, and the digital gallery. Travel into the hills or out toward Wyoming can factor in too. Rather than guessing, tell us about your event and we'll send you a quote that fits it.
Thinking about a photo booth for a wedding, a company party, or a school dance in Rapid City or the Black Hills? Tell us the venue, the date, and the guest count, and we'll tell you honestly whether a booth fits the room and where it should go.