event Archives | koibooth

A standard photo booth hire can range a bit here and there. But there are some things over here at koibooth that we consider to be must haves for any event.

When it comes down to it, booking your photo booth should be a very easy and straightforward process. Mostly because everything is already sorted out and included. You just have to make a few decisions regarding the backdrop, photo strip designs, props, you know - the fun stuff!

There are always add ons and customizations you can make here and there. But if you were to just book the standard package without all the extras you should have everything you could possibly need to make your booth hire a hit at your party.

Here’s what any standard photo booth hire should include:

Unlimited sessions with prints
Props
Backdrop
Print design
Photo booth attendee(s)
Instant social media sharing
Gifs
Link to digital library after event (sent to the host)
Delivery, set up & breakdown (30 min. prior and 30 min. post booking time)

If any of those items are not included when you go to book your photo booth I would say that you’re not getting the best deal. Even the instant social media sharing and gifs are standard these days because we photo booth folks know how important those things are to our guests. It wouldn’t be right to charge extra for something that everyone will absolutely want!

I should mention that this information is also based off of the most common type of photo booth hire. Should you chose to go another route such as something like a photo booth camper type of set up or a ring light selfie booth set up, there may be other standards for those that I cannot speak to.

But I cannot stress enough how important it is to go over this with the rental company that you choose. Make sure that there are no hidden fees for things... like extra prints. If there are, just make sure that you’ve considered that into your budget as I promise, it will come up. At koibooth for example, it happens frequently (as I’m sure it does with many open-air booth styles) that you have a large group of guests hop in for a session and they all want their own print when it’s done. Our printer automatically prints out two prints. But if we need to print, say six more, we’ll happily do it right there on the spot. And we don’t charge extra because...well that would suck for our host.

Some companies may have it in their policy that they must charge more if they need to print more on the spot but hey, to each his own. I can't say that it’s an “industry standard” that they must print more if guests ask for it but it’s just something to be aware of. For us here at koibooth, we just want every guest to walk away with that special memento from your party.

Something else to note...

One last thing I will touch on is travel costs. Now, I wouldn’t say this is hidden because it should be the companies right to charge a little extra for travel if they have to travel a pretty significant distance. But it shouldn’t be much! Maybe it’s an extra $1/per or so. Honestly if the company is transparent, they will tell you if you need to pay extra for travel as soon as you give them your event location.

And that’s everything, folks! I hope this helps clear the air for what should be expected when booking your photo booth. Just make sure that you remember to ask questions if something isn’t noted or it’s even a little unclear. The more you know, the more you can be positive that it’s the right photo booth for you.

"...gifs are standard these days because we photo booth folks know how important those things are to our guests. It wouldn’t be right to charge extra for something that everyone will absolutely want!"

Happy Partying!

Published by Kelli in Bookings, Photo Booth, Uncategorized

*photo booth rentals can really spruce up any party because they give guests of all ages a fun activity to enjoy throughout the night!!*

With a photo booth, one of the biggest things that comes up for us is "how long should my photo booth rental be?" When planning a party, there are a TON of decisions to make and it can get pretty overwhelming pretty quickly. However, a good way to tell if you’ve hired a great vendor is by how well they can help guide you with concerns such as these and hopefully help take some of the pressure off.

At koibooth, we take pride in our abilities to help you with any booking concerns but for the sake of this article, we will be focusing on how long you should rent your booth for.

There are a few things to consider:

Type of event
Other activities planned
Location and/or location moves
Schedule

Having these details can be very helpful for any photo booth rental booking because some influence others which impact your schedule overall.

For example...

If your event is a wedding you probably have a packed schedule with many activities happening throughout the day/night. Normally the booth is set to run during the reception, right? But there are important things that occur right when a reception starts. First, it takes time for everyone to get settled in. And once they’re all settled in, the emcee will ask that everyone stays seated while the wedding party is introduced. Shortly after that, the first dance tends to happen, and so on and so forth.

I think you get the idea right?? This is NOT an ideal time for your booth to be running as no one will be able to go and enjoy it.

It really isn't until dinner is being served that people start movin’ and groovin’. That all being said, if your schedule looks similar to what I just described, I’d consider waiting to start your photo booth hire once the meal is either about halfway through or wrapping up. Now I know that there are still many activities that take place such as cake cutting, performances, etc. but not to worry ! It only takes a few seconds for people to take the photos and it’s a good idea to have other things for them to do while all of that is happening.

I want to mention one very important thing...

Let’s say your reception starts at 4pm but you want your photo booth rental to run from 7-11pm. As long as your reception location is available and okay with it (they ALWAYS are), your photo booth team should be in there BEFORE guests start to arrive at 4pm. All set up and ready to go. They might not have the props out and may choose to just have a sign that notes when the photo booth will run. This ensures that you are getting every second of the time that you’ve paid for.

We practice this at koibooth and find it to be crucial in making sure everything is flawless. We also noticed that it gets people excited for it! It shows guests of all ages that there’s going to be this fun activity all night long once the party gets going. I would even go as far as saying that it builds up the excitement to a point where people actually take more photos. Which means more memories for the hosts to look back on. We LOVE that!

Just one more point to touch on here: If you start the booth hire later on into the party, guests tend to be much more comfortable getting silly in front of the camera. It’s kinda like the ultimate ice breaker (I may have said this before...but I mean it! It really is!).

Now I’m not going to go into the details of every party but I hope you get the gist of what I’m trying to say. Just really take a moment to look at your schedule/plan for the event. And if you still need guidance, I’m sure your photo booth hire will be happy to assist.

Let's talk location moves.

Something I mentioned in the above things to consider: location moves. This comes up because parties may start with a cocktail hour in one part of the venue and then the main event will happen in a completely area of the venue. My best advice for this is just to decide where the booth is going to be and keep it there. Yes, it can be moved (and I’m going to have to speak specifically for koibooth here) but packing it up, moving and restarting everything can take about 30-45 minutes. That’s considering that there is a clear space to walk through and there are rockstar attendants moving quickly and efficiently.

But it's important to note that any moving time is included in your hire (aka: your time does not stop during the move and then start up again). Meaning that you’re essentially paying for unused time. You’re also risking the possibility of stopping everyone from using the booth even if they are already waiting in line.

Ultimately it's your event and your decision to make. But to get the most out of photo booth rentals, we highly recommend to our clients that they just have the booth stay in one location for the entirety of their event. We just want everyone to get the most bang for their buck!

Finally, what length of time is best?

I always tell our koibooth clients that 3-4 hours is a perfect amount of time. There are special circumstances like say corporate parties that are 6 hours long and it makes sense to run the booth during the entirety of the event. But if it doesn’t make sense for your event, you should really just pay for what does.

I hope this helps but just know that whomever you hire should be an expert and they will be able to tell you from experience, what will be perfect for you and your event.

Happy partying!

Published by Kelli in Bookings, Events, Photo Booth

Tags: Bookings, california, camera, entertainment, event, koi booth, party, photo booth, photo booth rental, photo booth rental san diego, reception, san diego, silly, wedding

What should be included in a standard photo booth hire?