Simple, Affordable DIY Photo Booth Options!

Affordable DIY photo booth options: If you’re planning a wedding, party, quinceanera or event, then chances are, you’re also considering a photo booth rental! We know it may seem strange that a photo booth company would write an article about how to DIY your own photo booth; however, we’re different. We write our helpful tips and advice with you, the client, in mind! We want to help everyone have a fun, memorable event, even if you’re not our client. 🙂

If you’re on a really tight budget, there are some alternatives to hiring a photo booth company. Here are a few affordable DIY photo booth alternatives to consider. 

One way to save is to create an affordable DIY photo booth using a tablet, such as an iPad or any tablet, and take pictures with the tablet’s camera. You can install a photo booth app if you’d like to have more features, but if you’re simply looking to take pictures and post them to social media, the regular camera would work just fine. Be sure to add your wedding hashtag, to collect the photos. Check out our article on the wedding hashtag generator article, for more info, if you don’t already have a wedding or event hashtag. 

Next, you’ll need to buy a stand for your tablet, too. This tablet stand costs $17.99 on Amazon and will easily work for your DIY photo booth. You’ll also need to create your own backdrop, or just use the venue’s wall, if you don’t want to create a backdrop. Also, be sure to buy or use an extension cord, just in case your tablet needs to be charged. Also, make sure to set up your photo booth in a well-lit area. You can buy a single photo booth lighting kit, (lighting and standa) if you need more lighting, for about $49.99. 

Next, you’ll simply buy some fun photo booth props, or even make your own props, such as a custom photo booth frame! Be sure to check out Pinterest for plenty of DIY photo booth frame ideas. 

If you don’t have a tablet, you can always do the above steps, but simply have your guests use their mobile phones. This is not exactly a “photo booth,” but you’ll have guests take their favorite pics and use your hashtag. There are even several free photo booth apps that you can have your guests use. This is by far the least expensive option since you would not have to buy a tablet stand, and people can use their flashes on their phones.

As with the above affordable DIY photo booth example, this is only for posting to social media and does not offer printouts. All you’ll need to provide is the hashtag, props, and a well-lit area! That will cost you less than $30! 🙂
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If you’re looking to add printouts to your affordable DIY photo booth station, you can purchase an instant print camera, such as the camera in the above picture. This was a picture of our clients’ actual DIY photo booth station. They used the Fujifilm Instax Mini cameras. You can get these cameras on Amazon, for about $75, each. You’ll have to buy film for about $13.98, for 20 prints. This is more expensive than the other options, but your guests can take a printout home. You’ll also have to buy props, or make your own props, as well. 

The drawbacks to this are that you only get one printout and you have to be in a well-lit area, even with the flash. So if you want all your guests to get printouts, they’ll have to take multiple photos, which means more film you’ll have to buy. So to purchase the camera, 120 printouts, and props it will cost you about $150. This is still an economical option, especially if you want printouts.  
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Your last option, though it isn’t a DIY option, is to simply rent a photo booth for your wedding or event. Photo booth prices can really vary, and what you get with the rental can also vary. You can rent our professional photo booth, which comes with unlimited photo sessions, high-quality prints (using a professional dye-sub printer), a 20-megapixel camera, props, lighting, a backdrop, and a professional photo booth attendant, for 3 hours, for $795. This is a very affordable option, considering many of our competitors have the exact same setup, for double, or triple the cost! (We’ve done our research). 

Though our rate is more than the above options, our professional photo booth offers the ability to add custom text or a logo, produces high quality, 2X6 or 4X6 printouts in seconds, includes animated GIF photos, allows for 3 different poses per session, includes your choice of backdrop color, includes professional lighting, includes fun, unique props, and has a variety of other options, all which will produce great pictures, every time!

​The best part: you just show up and have fun! No need to set anything up by yourself, change out the film rolls (like the instant print cameras), worry about forgetting anything on your event date, worry about your guests damaging the equipment (we all know that person who will get too tipsy and may drop the camera, tip over the stand, etc). Leave the stress to us and enjoy your special day! 🙂

Be sure to check out our “how much wedding photo booth rentals cost” article; for more tips, visit our “great photo booth tips” article!

– Austin’s Best DJs & Photo Booths