Many of you may be considering renting a photo booth for your wedding or another grand occasion. First of all, I highly recommend renting one just because these photo booths are SO MUCH FUN!! Talk to people who have rented one and they are sure to rave about what a great idea it was and will agree that you MUST get one too!
Here is a list of a few important factors to consider when shopping for a photo booth rental:
Booth Size and Crop: When it comes to photo booths, bigger is better! Not only will a bigger booth be able to accommodate you and your best friend perfectly, you can now jump inside with a small group of people adding to the excitement. For weddings, a bigger booth is a must! You will be able to get all the bridesmaids together with the bride or groom to capture some of the most cherished pictures of the evening. The groom can get in there with all his groomsmen or how about the bride and groom with a bunch of their close friends. A larger booth equals more possibilities for priceless pictures. The crop of the photo is also important. Professional photographers agree that a vertical crop is more formal. Many companies use a horizontal crop that really limits the number of people to only 3 that can fit in to the frame.
Print Quality: Many photo booth companies use printers that do not produce true photo quality prints in an effort to save money and time. If you can, ask the potential companies to mail you actual sample photos so you can compare the print quality. You will be surprised at the difference when you see the quality of those photos side by side.
Image Size: Ask how large the file sizes are that are created by the photo booth. You never know when you'll get that "One in a Million" shot and when you do, you'll want the option to enlarge the print up to 16 inches or even bigger.
Redundancy: This is your wedding! Make sure that the photo booth company that you choose has back up equipment. You never know when a hard drive, camera, flash, printer, etc may fail. Find out how many booths they have available too just in case their one and only booth breaks down the day before your special day.
Reputation: I can't tell you how many horror stories I hear of a bride literally getting robbed by her photo booth company. If something does go wrong, make sure that you hire a reputable company whose reputation is clearly worth more than you'll be paying for your rental. Do a Google search using the company name followed by the word "reviews" to really do your homework.
Back Up Procedures: Ask about the back up procedure of your files. How long will they keep the files for you in case you lose your DVD years down the line? Do they save your precious files on a spinning hard drive that may crash or do they archive them to expensive tape back up systems?
Contract: Make sure you have a signed contract with the company you choose. This not only protects them, but it protects you too!
Running Time: Believe it or not, I've seen companies' contracts that say they only guarantee to be up and running for at least 70% of the scheduled running time. Do you only pay them 70% of their fee then? This seems crazy but make sure you know exactly how much "running time" you are getting for your money. Any modern photo booth rental in Los Angeles should be able to continue running while changing ink and or adding paper, etc.
I hope you found this article helpful in your quest to find the perfect photo booth rental company for your next grand occasion. If you have any further questions, feel free to comment here or check out our website for more information!
