How Long Should You Rent a Photo Booth For?

Most weddings and parties need 3 to 4 hours of photo booth time. That covers cocktail hour through the first big stretch of dancing, which is when guests actually line up. Our Essential package gives you 3 hours for $800, and Signature gives you 4 hours for $900.

How Many Hours Does a Typical Event Need?

For most receptions and birthday parties, 3 hours is plenty. Think about how your night actually flows. People arrive, find their seats, eat, listen to speeches, and then the energy picks up. The booth gets busy once guests are out of their chairs and looking for something fun to do. That window usually lasts about three hours, give or take.

If your whole event is short, like a two hour cocktail reception or an after-work office party, you still don't need more than the Essential package. You'll likely run the booth for most of the event, and that's fine.

Corporate events are a little different. At a conference, a trade show, or a brand activation, people drift in and out all day, so traffic stays pretty steady. In those cases it makes sense to match the booth hours to the full time the floor is open.

What's the Difference Between a 3, 4, and 5 Hour Rental?

Here's how our packages break down:

• •Essential: 3 hours for $800
• •Signature: 4 hours for $900
• •Extended: 5 hours for $1000

Each step up adds one hour for $100. That's the same price as our Extra Hour add-on, so you're not penalized for starting small and adding time later.

Essential is the package most people book, and it fits the majority of receptions and parties we do. Signature is a good call for weddings with a long gap between the ceremony and the reception, or when dinner and speeches tend to run late and push the dancing back. Extended is built for longer nights: galas, big weddings, fundraisers, and corporate events where the cocktail hour alone can stretch past an hour.

If you want to see everything side by side, the Packages page lays it all out.

Should the Booth Run the Whole Event or Just Part of It?

Usually just part of it, and this is where a lot of couples and planners save money.

The booth does very little while everyone is seated. During a ceremony, a sit-down dinner, or a long round of toasts, it mostly just stands there looking pretty. So instead of starting the booth when the doors open, a lot of our clients start it right after dinner wraps up, or right as the dance floor opens. You end up with a busier booth and more photos for every hour you're paying for.

If you're not sure when your quiet stretch will be, ask your venue coordinator or planner. They've seen events in that room before and can usually tell you exactly when guests start moving around.

What Happens If You Need More Time on the Day?

It happens all the time. The party is going great, there's still a line at the booth, and nobody wants it to end. When that happens, QuickPic Photo Booth, serving Vancouver and the Lower Mainland, can keep things running for $100 per extra hour, the same price as booking the Extra Hour add-on in advance.

Because of that, we usually suggest booking the hours you know you'll need and adding time only if the night calls for it. It's a lot easier than guessing high up front and paying for an hour nobody uses.

One more thing to check before you settle on your hours: the space. The booth needs roughly a 10x10 ft area with power within 25 ft. Most venues that have hosted a booth before, whether it's a ballroom in Vancouver, a community hall in Surrey, a brewery in North Vancouver, or a lodge in Whistler, already know the best spot for it.

How Does Booth Length Affect the Total Cost?

The longer the package, the less you pay per hour. Essential works out to about $267 an hour, Signature to $225 an hour, and Extended to $200 an hour. So if you're fairly confident you'll use four or five hours, booking the bigger package from the start is the better deal.

Add-ons don't change with your package length. They're a flat price per event:

• •Premium Backdrop: $120
• •Leather Guest Book: $95
• •Custom Branding: $150
• •Roaming Photographer: $320 per hour, for candid shots around the room while the booth is running

A 20% deposit holds your date and your package. Once you've figured out how many hours make sense, you can book your date here.

What If You're Still Not Sure How Many Hours to Book?

Go with 3 to 4 hours. That covers the busiest part of almost every wedding, birthday, and office party we've done across Vancouver, Burnaby, Richmond, Coquitlam, and Langley.

Lean toward the longer package if your event has an unusual shape: a long ceremony, guests who tend to arrive late, a packed program, or a crowd that you know will dance until close. And if you guess a little short, that's okay. You can always add an hour on the night.

The simple rule is to book the booth for when your guests will be up and having fun, not for every minute the venue is open. Do that, and every hour you pay for will actually get used.