Questions to Ask Before Booking a Photo Booth
Whether you’re planning a Birthday Party, Wedding, Anniversary Party, Corporate Party or Product launch, your celebration will benefit from hiring a photo booth! And, it will benefit even more if you hire a professional photo booth vendor! So, where do you begin?! And, what are the most important questions to ask before signing the contract?! Well… since you asked, keep reading and we’ll tell you!
What is the quality of the booth itself?
We know that your upcoming event – and every event – is important and one of the last things you want when you hire a photo booth company is a silly DIY looking camera on a tripod in a corner at your event! In our travels we’ve seen quite a few different kinds set-up over the years. We’d go so far as to say that some of the set-ups we’ve seen hardly qualify as photo booths! We’ve seen ‘photo booths’ of all different shapes, sizes, and varying quality… and, while we understand that businesses have to start somewhere, we don’t believe your event should be the testing grounds. And, as the old adage goes “You generally get what you pay for.”We believe that what you should be looking for is a photo booth that is elegant, streamlined and professionally constructed, and should also come with a beautiful interface, where you can see yourself and the photos as they’re being taken.
Are the photos and prints high quality?
To a casual observer, a photo booth might not seem very complicated, just a quick and simple set-up and BAM, you have a photo booth! But there’s a lot that goes on behind the scenes that allows the booth to take high-quality images! So, it’s a good idea to ask the company you’re thinking of hiring to show you sample images; that way you’ll know what you can expect from the photo booth you’re thinking of renting. You might also want to inquire if the booth has professional style lighting! This type of bright front lighting ensures that the photos turn out well exposed, sharp and clean looking. Also look to see if the people in the photos are washed out against the backdrop. We see a lot of companies using flat black or white backdrops, with poor lighting, which generally don’t work well when the bride is wearing white and the groom wearing black. Lastly, find out what kind of printer they use for the prints. The professional industry standard is using a dye sublimation printer that can print either beautiful black & white or color photos, and can do so in about 7 seconds.
Does the company have liability insurance?
This is a big one! Don’t worry, nothing is likely to happen, but it should bring you peace of mind if the answer is yes! This question helps to separate the unprepared, make-shift/DIY photo booth companies from the reputable professional photo booth rentals. Generally those who run a photo booth business as a side hustle will not be able - or willing - to pay the costs of business insurance and licenses. In our experience, the more a company has skin in the game, the more invested they are in the outcome of the events they’re hired for.
What are the fees, and what do they include exactly?
From our extensive experience in the event industry, It’s been our experience that if a deal seems way too good to be true, it generally is! Sometimes companies have a low initial price, but once you actually receive a quote you see that there are all sorts of hidden additional fees that you weren’t counting on! So, sort out if the company you’re looking to hire is charging fees for mileage, delivery, setup/take down, props, USB drives, digital photo delivery, prints or an attendant. Sometimes a ‘cheap’ photo booth really doesn’t end up being a great deal!
