Types of photo booths: which one fits your event?
The main types of photo booths are open-air, enclosed (vintage), glam, digital, 360 video, mirror, roaming and self-serve, plus specialty formats like AI portraits and custom trading cards. The right one depends on your room, your guests and what they should take home. Here's how each works, what it typically costs, and where it shines. Browse ours on photo booth experiences.
Photo booth types compared
| Type | Best for | Typical market range |
|---|---|---|
| Open-air | Big groups, receptions, company parties, brand events | $495 – $810 |
| Enclosed / vintage | Weddings, galas and launches that want a centerpiece | About $1,500 – $7,500 (published starting prices) |
| Glam | Black-tie events, beauty brands, portraits guests keep | $725 – $1,265 |
| 360 video | Dance floors, launches, social-first events | $500 – $1,113 |
| Mirror | Interactive, full-length poses | $600 – $1,185 |
| Roaming | Capturing guests where they stand | $464 – $1,073 |
Typical market range (middle half), as of August 2026, from Check Cherry's 2026 pricing guide (national booking data). Enclosed / vintage: published starting prices from three Southern California providers, checked October 2026. Market data only; for your event's number, use Get Pricing.
What is an open-air photo booth?
An open-air photo booth is a camera, studio lighting and a touchscreen set in front of an open backdrop. Because the space is open, ten guests can fit in one frame, so the whole table, team or bridal party poses together. It's the most popular format in the market and the most flexible: it fits a living room, a ballroom corner or a trade show aisle in about a 10 by 10 foot footprint.
Guests take home a print, a digital copy on their phone, or both. The backdrop sets the look, from sequins to greenery to a printed step-and-repeat with your logo. Our open-air photo booth is the one we bring to most weddings, company events and activations, with a backdrop from our collection and a print layout designed to your event.
Choose it when: you have a big guest list, a lively crowd, or a brand that wants its logo in every frame.
What is an enclosed (vintage) photo booth?
An enclosed photo booth is the classic booth everyone remembers: a private, sit-down space with a curtain, a bench and a photo strip at the end. Guests step in, draw the curtain and loosen up, which is why enclosed booths produce the unguarded, laughing shots people keep. Couples and small groups fit comfortably.
Today's vintage booths pair the classic shell with a professional camera, studio lighting and a custom touchscreen, so the strip is designed to your event and a digital copy lands on each guest's phone. They're the largest and most involved format to deliver, which is why they sit in their own price tier. Read what a vintage photo booth is, or see our vintage enclosed booth.
Choose it when: the booth should be a set piece in the room, and a classic strip is the keepsake.
What is a glam photo booth?
A glam photo booth is an open booth set up like a portrait studio: soft beauty lighting, a flattering black-and-white finish with gentle skin smoothing, and a print that looks editorial. Many people call it the "Kardashian-style" booth, after the black-and-white celebrity portrait look. Color is available whenever the event calls for it.
Glam is our studio-portrait experience: soft studio lighting, a retouched editorial finish, and prints that look like a magazine sitting. It's a favorite at weddings, galas and beauty events. Read what a glam photo booth is, or see our glam photo booth.
Choose it when: the portrait itself is the point, and the dress code is dressed up.
What is a digital photo booth?
A digital photo booth sends every photo, GIF and boomerang straight to guests' phones by text, email or QR code, ready to post. It's the format brands and social-first events favor, because every share carries the event's branding and the client receives the full gallery afterward. Most open-air and glam booths run digitally, with prints added when the event wants a keepsake in hand. See our digital photo booth.
Choose it when: reach matters more than a printed keepsake, or the event is a launch built for the feed.
What is a 360 video booth?
A 360 booth puts guests on a small platform while a camera arm circles them, recording a short slow-motion video with music and branding added. It's built for movement: dance floors, launches and events where the video will be posted. Plan for a clear footprint around the platform, and a host to keep each group's spin safe and quick.
We plan 360 experiences by inquiry, matched to the event. See 360 photo booth rental to start a conversation about your date.
Choose it when: video is the deliverable and the crowd wants to move.
Mirror, roaming and self-serve booths
Mirror photo booth
A mirror booth is a full-length mirror with a touchscreen built in. Animations invite guests to pose, and they sign their photo on the glass. It's playful and interactive, with a median around $866 nationally. When the portrait finish is the priority, a glam booth brings the studio lighting up close.
Roaming photo booth
A roaming booth is a host with a handheld camera or tablet who walks the room, capturing guests where they stand and sending the photos to their phones. It suits cocktail receptions and venues with little floor space.
Self-serve and drop-off booths
A self-serve booth is dropped off, set up and left for guests to run, usually an iPad kiosk. It's the lightest option, with a market median near $450 against about $656 for attended booths. An attended booth adds a host who guides guests, keeps the line moving and makes sure every print comes out right.
Specialty formats: AI, trading cards and keepsakes
- AI photo booth: the photo is transformed into an illustrated or themed portrait in seconds, a strong fit for launches and themed parties.
- Trading card photo booth: guests become a custom trading card with the event's design, a favorite at sports events and team celebrations.
- Photo keychain station: a keepsake add-on that turns a booth photo into a keychain guests carry home.
- Print formats: strips, 4x6 prints and Polaroid-style prints each change how the keepsake looks and feels.
Prints, digital or video: what guests take home
Every booth type comes down to a keepsake, and the keepsake often decides the booth.
- Photo strips: the narrow, multi-frame print of the classic booth. Easy to tuck into a pocket and the signature of vintage and many open-air setups.
- 4x6 prints: a larger single print with room for a full design: names, date, logo or campaign art.
- Polaroid-style prints: a square photo in a white frame, a favorite for weddings and brand pop-ups.
- Digital copies: photos, GIFs and boomerangs sent to each guest's phone, plus a full gallery for the host.
- Video: the 360 clip, built to post.
See every format on our prints page.
Space and setup by booth type
| Booth | Floor space to plan for | Good to know |
|---|---|---|
| Open-air | About 10 by 10 feet | Fits a living room, ballroom corner or trade show aisle |
| Glam | About 10 by 10 feet | A clean wall or simple backdrop frames the portrait |
| Enclosed / vintage | A larger footprint plus a clear load-in path | Share stairs, elevators and door widths with your provider early |
| 360 video | The platform plus a clear circle around it | Needs open space for the arm to rotate safely |
| Roaming | Minimal | Works in tight cocktail spaces |
Every booth needs power near its spot and setup time before guests arrive. Confirm placement and load-in with your venue in advance.
How to choose the right photo booth
- Start with the guest list. Over a hundred guests and lots of groups: open-air. An intimate or formal room: vintage or glam.
- Decide what guests take home. A strip, a 4x6, a portrait, a video or a phone copy. That answer often picks the booth.
- Look at the room. Floor space, ceiling height and power decide where a booth fits and how it reads from across the room.
- Set the role. Entertainment, centerpiece or marketing asset. A brand event usually wants open-air or digital with full branding; a wedding often wants a keepsake.
- Weigh two booths. Large weddings and activations sometimes pair a vintage booth for the strip with an open-air booth for the groups.
Still deciding between the two most-asked formats? Read open-air vs enclosed photo booths.
Cheers To You
Open-air, glam and vintage booths, designed to your event across Orange County and Los Angeles. See the work.
Photo booth type questions
What is the most popular type of photo booth?
The open-air photo booth. It fits big groups, works in almost any room and offers prints, digital sharing or both, which is why most weddings and company events book one.
What is the difference between an open-air and an enclosed photo booth?
An open-air booth uses an open backdrop so large groups fit in one frame. An enclosed booth is a private, curtained space for couples and small groups that prints the classic photo strip. Open-air suits a crowd; enclosed suits a room that wants a centerpiece.
What is a Kardashian-style photo booth?
It's the popular name for a glam photo booth: soft beauty lighting and a black-and-white portrait with gentle skin smoothing, so every guest gets an editorial-looking photo.
Which photo booth is best for a wedding?
Open-air suits large, lively receptions, glam suits formal weddings that want portraits, and vintage suits couples who want a classic strip and a centerpiece. Compare all three on our wedding page.
Which photo booth type costs the most?
Vintage enclosed booths sit in the highest tier, with Southern California starting prices from about $1,500 to $7,500 as of October 2026. Among open formats, glam has the highest national median, about $950 as of August 2026.
Not sure which booth fits?
Send the date, the venue and a rough guest count. We'll recommend the booth that suits the room.
Get Pricing