Hiring a photo booth for a company: how much does it cost?

How much does it cost to hire a photo booth for a company?

In the agency quotes we have seen for a Marseille corporate party, the photo booth appeared at around €750. It is a useful benchmark: it includes the booth, its set-up, a host or not depending on the case, and the middleman’s margin. When you hire directly from a photographers’ collective, the packages break down as follows:

Be wary of very low advertised prices: they often refer to a booth delivered without set-up, with a limited number of prints, or a tablet with no lighting. At a corporate party, the quality of the lighting and the prints shows immediately.

What affects the price of a photo booth?

Prints

This is the main source of difference. An instant paper print is very popular, but it has a cost in paper and ink. Some offers cap the number of prints and charge for any extra. Ours are unlimited for the whole hire period: no counter to keep an eye on.

Customisation

A frame in the company’s colours on every photo, the name of the event, the date: this is what turns a fun photo into a branded keepsake. Check that customisation is included and ask for a preview before the day.

Digital sharing

Guests want to find their photos on their phones. There are two methods: sending by email or text message, which requires entering contact details, or an online gallery. PicShot goes further: the guest scans a QR code, takes a selfie, and the gallery shows them every photo they appear in, including the photographer’s.

Duration and hosting

Four hours cover most of an evening. A booth left on its own works, but a host who hands out props, gathers groups together and encourages the shy ones often doubles the number of photos taken. That is what our Complete Photo Experience at €790 provides, with a photographer on a photocall.

How much space and what set-up do you need?

A photo booth does not take up much space, but where you put it makes all the difference to its success. A few simple rules:

• A clear area of a few square metres, so that groups of five or six colleagues fit in the frame.
• A power socket nearby, with no extension cable running across a walkway.
• On the guests’ path: between the bar and the dance floor, never at the end of a corridor.
• Sheltered outdoors: a booth under a gazebo or an awning, never in full sun or exposed to the evening damp by the sea.
• A neat backdrop behind the booth: a neutral wall, a custom backdrop or greenery.

Photo booth, PicShot or photographer: which combination?

The choice depends on what you expect from the photos. If the aim is atmosphere and a keepsake for guests, the booth is enough. If you also want images for your internal communications or social media, you need a photographer. Here are the most common combinations:

To display the photos live during the evening, a 55-inch LED screen on a stand, hired for €300, turns the booth into a photo wall: guests see themselves appear on screen, which makes them want to pose again.

How many photos does a booth produce during a party?

It all depends on the location, the hosting and the timing. A well-placed booth near the bar runs non-stop during cocktails, slows down during the speeches and picks up again when the dance floor opens. Group photos dominate early in the evening; more spontaneous photos of two or three people come later. With unlimited prints, you do not have to choose: every group leaves with its print, and a duplicate can go into a guest book that the company keeps as a memento.

If you are organising a two-day event, such as a convention or a trade fair, the booth can also serve as a meeting point on a stand. In that case, specify the total time it needs to be there: the 4-hour package does not cover a full day, and the quote must take that into account.

What about guests’ personal data?

A booth that sends photos by email collects addresses; a gallery that recognises faces processes sensitive data. Ask your supplier where the photos are stored, for how long, and who has access to them. Let guests know with a sign near the booth. It is simple to do and it reassures the legal departments of large companies.

For more photo entertainment ideas, read our article on the photo booth and PicShot at corporate events.