Photo Booth Running Time During Reception

We chose to have it only for a few hours as it gets expensive letting it run all night. We told them we want it from 7pm to 10pm.

Now for the set up and breakdown. We chose for it to be at the side of the reception where not everyone will be passing by.

We only had ours open for a couple of hours. We chose to open it up towards the conclusion of dinner. We found it to be a good way to transition from dinner into the actual party portion of the reception. As people were finishing their dinner, they would hit the photo booth, then the bar, and then the dance floor.

We have our photobooth for 2 hours. I think we'll start it towards the end of dinner.

Yeah I was actually thinking around 3 hours as well. That's a great idea, definitely will be keeping that in mind when making the layout for the room!

We are getting a photo booth from the same company as our ceremony video, photographer, and DJ. The standard photo booth hours is 4 hours, less than the DJ (5 hrs) or photographer (10 hrs) and our venue's standard time (5 1/2 hours), so it will not run the length of the reception.

We are likely starting cocktail hour at 4:30, dinner at 5:15, and going until 10PM.

Currently, I am thinking of opening it from 5:30-9:30. This will be after our grand entrance around 5PM because we will locate the photo booth near the bridal suite and I don't want people seeing us before the entrance. Plus, we will be potentially still be taking pictures near where the photo booth will be between 4:30 and 5PM.

We will be doing toasts around 6PM, so I think some fast eaters may have extra time between dinner starting at 5:15 and toasts at 6PM and may want to go use the photo booth - similar to what the person above me was saying.

Our venue has multiple stories/levels two staircases. They'd use the back staircase rather than the grand entrance staircase, so it shouldn't affect our guests when it's put up/taken down.

That's true, I didn't even think about that. Plus I'd prefer for most people to be on the dance floor around that time anyway.

That's an awesome idea! I was actually thinking of opening it after dinner too. Photo booth, then bar, then dance floor would be a perfect flow to get the night started.

I think mine will also end up being 2 hours. They'll set it up, and then I'll have some idle time until it starts running after dinner.

It's awesome that you're getting everything through the same company! Will your photo booth be in the reception room or a different area outside of it? I just got a little confused, since you said that it will be located near the bridal suite and my bridal suite is down the hall and around the corner from the main room. I thought of having my photo booth in the area outside of the room where cocktail hour will be, but I'm not sure if I want everyone having to go in and out of the room. You seem to have everything planned out perfectly! I need to be more like you lol. That's good, yeah I don't want it to affect the guests too much.

My venue is very confusing It's a mansion rather than a hall, so it's 4 different floors.

Floor 1 (basement) - small bar area and rooms, we are using for cocktail hour along with allowing guests to make their way up to the main level/dining area.

Floor 2 - main level, largest area where we will have dinner

Floor 3 - bridal suite, groom's room, and "Parlor" (small room decorated like a cocktail room but inconvenient for our cocktail hour being that we will be in the bridal suite and it's too small for the number of guests we will have) - we don't have any use for the Parlor but there is a really nice deck off the Parlor room, so this is where we are wanting to have the photo booth and hopefully that will also get people exploring out to the deck area.

Floor 4 - another large room where we will have dancing

Although it sounds like it will be a confusing flow, all the reviews of our venue are positive and they really help ensure the reception flows well.

Anyway, if you have a spot for it, I don't know that it'll cause too much issue to have it outside the cocktail room. I've been to weddings where people would be in and out of the cocktail room, for example in a foyer area and it hasn't been a problem. They're sort of standing around and mingling anyway?

We're looking into having ours for about 3 hours. Our reception is 5 hours so I think it would be plenty. We will have it set up from the beginning but open up after dinner.

I also thought about this, and we decided to just have it run the last 4 hours of our wedding to avoid idling cost of the person managing it. I originally wanted it to run during cocktail hour, then close it for dinner, but I got feedback from others that having it open during cocktail hour may be a waste since everyone is trying to catch up with one another, get drinks and hor d'oeuvres so it would be a busy hour. And I don't think it'll be awkward when they start packing it up in the end, usually people are too busy to notice while on the dance floor. Also, the venue usually starts cleaning up more towards the end anyway.

Ohhh a mansion, that makes total sense now! I think it all sounds super cool actually, it's like an adventure on every floor lol. Yeah I'm sure the flow will go great and the guests will loveee it. Well the foyer area where our cocktail hour will be is pretty much outside the reception room. I meant during the reception when we are all in the room eating, mingling, dancing, drinking, etc would it make sense for the photo booth to just be in the reception room with us or right outside in the foyer area where it was during cocktail hour. During the reception people will still want to use it and they would have to be in and out of the reception room. I feel like at a mansion it's cool/fun to go to different rooms and areas to explore and try out everything, but in mine I'm not sure.

Yeah that seems like a perfect amount of time and probably what I will end up doing too!

Yeah the idle cost is so annoying but I get it. That's so true, I didn't even think about that! Definitely would be a waste and makes me feel better. Yeah I agree, plus I'm sure the companies/venues have lots of experience in the break down/packing process so they know what they are doing. Thanks for the feedback!

Yeah I'm pretty excited about it, though it does lead to a few different things to figure out that we wouldn't have to in a typical reception hall.

That's a good point you have, maybe ask your venue what people have done in the past? I'm sure they've had others with photo booths and would have some ideas for you!

We DIY'd ours but it stayed up the entire reception time.