Guides
Photo booth rental or a digital photo booth?
What a wedding photo booth rental costs, what you get for the money, and when a digital photo booth on every guest’s phone does the job better.
A photo booth is one of the most popular extras at a wedding, and it is easy to see why: props, a backdrop and a strip of prints to take home. It is also several hundred dollars for one evening. Here is what a rental actually buys, what a digital photo booth does instead, and how to choose between them.
What a photo booth rental costs
In the US, most wedding photo booth rentals cost between about $475 and $1,000 for a few hours, and a typical event comes in near $675. Mirror, glam and 360 booths cost more, and quotes in big cities run higher. Most packages include an attendant, setup, unlimited sessions and prints on the spot.
- Hours: most quotes start at three, and every extra hour is charged on top.
- Booth type: an open booth costs less than a mirror, glam or 360 booth.
- Extras: custom print designs and a printed guest book album are often add-ons.
- Travel: vendors usually charge more outside their local area.
What a rented booth does well
Posed photos with props, in flattering light, printed on the spot. A booth gives people something to do between dinner and the dancing, and the strip on the fridge afterward is a lovely thing. If those are what you want most, book one.
What it misses
A booth photographs whoever lines up for it, in front of the same backdrop. The toasts, the first dance, the kitchen at one in the morning and the guests who never go near the corner all happen somewhere else.
How a digital photo booth is different
A digital photo booth puts the camera on every guest’s phone instead of in one corner. With Capsule, guests scan a QR code, shoot a short roll each in their browser, and every photo goes into one shared film that develops at the time you choose. There is nothing to deliver, plug in or staff.
It costs one payment instead of a rental fee. Five people is free, and a hundred guests with twenty-four shots each is $27. What you do not get is props, a backdrop or prints that night.
Which to choose
- Rent a booth if prints that night and a prop table matter most, and the budget is there.
- Choose a digital photo booth if you want the whole day from every guest, or would rather spend the money elsewhere.
- Or have both: the booth takes the posed portraits and a shared film catches everything else.
Want to try the digital version first? A free film for five people takes two minutes to set up. How the digital photo booth works