Pricing
The Fees South Florida Photo Booth Companies Leave Off the Quote
Eighteen fees can appear on a photo booth quote. Most South Florida companies publish none of them. Here is the full list with real costs, plus which ones we charge and which ones we do not.
Short answer
The fees that inflate a photo booth quote are travel ($50 to $300 nationally), setup ($75 to $150), overtime ($100 to $200 an hour), rush ($100 to $300), damage deposit ($200 to $500), weekend premium (about $50), print caps and idle time. Motion charges none of the first six.
The short version: what gets added after you say yes
A photo booth quote has a headline number and a set of line items that do not appear until later. The headline number is what companies compete on. The line items are where the difference between two quotes usually lives.
We went looking for a South Florida company that publishes its complete fee list. There is not one. Several publish package prices, which is more than half the market does, but none of them publish travel, idle, setup, cancellation, damage and rush together in one place. The only source that quantifies most of them is national, and we have cited it below and labeled it as national every time.
So here is the whole list. Eighteen line items, what each one typically costs, and whether we charge it. Take this table to every quote you receive, including ours, and make somebody answer for each row.
The complete photo booth fee list
National figures come from Pixilated and Thumbtack and are labeled. Local figures are what South Florida companies publish on their own public pages. Rarely published means we could not find any company in this market that states it.
Every fee that can appear on a South Florida photo booth quote
| Fee | What it typically costs | Does Motion charge it? |
|---|---|---|
| Travel outside the service area | $50 to $300 (national, Pixilated). Locally, YB publishes no travel fee inside Broward and Palm Beach | No fee inside Broward, Miami-Dade or Palm Beach. $100 to $300 beyond the three counties |
| Setup and teardown | $75 to $150 (national, Pixilated) | No. Crew arrives 60 minutes before doors and setup runs 30 to 45 minutes depending on booth |
| Idle time | Rarely published by any South Florida company | No separate charge. Idle hours count toward your booked hours |
| Overtime or extra hour | $100 to $200 per hour (national, Pixilated). Locally, Epic Events publishes $75 to $150 and YB publishes $100 per hour after four hours | $150 to $250 per hour depending on booth |
| Attendant | Picture Perfect publishes $50 to add an attendant to its $350 drop off package | Included on every booking, every booth |
| Second attendant | Rarely published | $150 |
| Rush fee for a short lead time | $100 to $300 (national, Pixilated) | Not on our price list |
| Damage deposit or hold | $200 to $500 (national, Pixilated) | Not on our price list |
| Weekend or Saturday premium | About $50 (national, Thumbtack) | Not on our price list |
| Print cap and per print overage | Partyflix publishes caps of 100, 200 and 300 prints by package tier | No per print charge on our price list |
| Deposit to hold the date | The Gala publishes a 20 percent deposit requirement | Deposit due at booking, balance due at least one week before the event |
| Cancellation or date change | Rarely published anywhere in this market | Stated in the contract you sign. Ask for it in writing before you pay a deposit, here or anywhere |
| Custom printed backdrop | Extras run $50 to $200 at Epic Events | $250 |
| Full booth wrap | Rarely published | $250 |
| Custom print template or overlay design | Rarely published | Not a separate line on our quotes |
| Guest book station | Rarely published | $150 |
| Data capture and reporting | Rarely published | $75 |
| Certificate of insurance for the venue | Rarely published | No charge. $1M per occurrence, $2M aggregate, certificate issued within 48 hours |
Two rows on that table are the ones we would fight about if we were you: travel and idle. They are the largest, the least visible, and the two most likely to be settled after you have already paid a deposit.
Travel fees, and why ours is zero across three counties
The national benchmark puts photo booth travel at $50 to $300. In a tri county market that stretches from Homestead to Jupiter, that fee is not theoretical. A company based in north Broward quoting a Homestead quinceañera is looking at real drive time in real traffic, and somebody pays for it.
We do not charge it. Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach are all inside our included radius. Fort Lauderdale, Miami Beach, Boca Raton, West Palm Beach, Weston, Hollywood, Coral Springs, Pembroke Pines, Doral, Homestead: same price. Outside the three counties, travel runs $100 to $300 and we will tell you the number before you book, not after.
One other Broward company publishes the same idea. YB states no travel fee inside Broward and Palm Beach. Credit where it is due. Everyone else in this market leaves it to the quote.
The question to ask: what is the included radius, measured from where, and what is the per mile or flat rate beyond it? A vendor who cannot answer that in one sentence has not decided yet, which means they will decide once they have seen your venue address.
Idle time is the fee nobody explains
Idle time is the stretch when the booth is on site, staffed and closed. Dinner service. Toasts. The father daughter dance. It is dead time for the booth and it happens at almost every wedding.
Some companies bill it as a discounted hourly line on top of your package. Others count it against your booked hours. Others quietly refuse to idle at all and make you book straight through. All three are defensible. None of them are published anywhere in South Florida that we could find, which means most buyers discover the policy in the contract.
Our policy, stated plainly: idle time is not a separate charge and it counts toward your booked hours. If you book us from 6pm to 9pm and the booth is closed from 6:30 to 7:45 for dinner and speeches, that is still a three hour booking and the price does not change.
Two numbers worth more than the headline price
Travel inside Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach is $0, against a national benchmark of $50 to $300. Idle time is $0, because it counts toward your booked hours instead of being billed on top of them. On a typical three hour wedding booking with a dinner break and a Homestead or Jupiter address, those two lines are the difference between a quote that holds and a quote that grows.
The trade off is honest: if you want us on site for six hours and open for three of them, you are booking six hours. We are not billing you twice, but we are also not standing in a ballroom for free. That is the whole policy.
Overtime, and the honest way to avoid paying it
Overtime is the most commonly published fee in this market, probably because it is the one companies are least embarrassed about. Epic Events publishes $75 to $150 per hour. YB publishes $100 per hour after four hours. The national benchmark is $100 to $200. Ours is $150 to $250 depending on which booth you booked, and that is at the top of the published range. We would rather say so than bury it.
Here is the part that saves you money, and it argues against us. Most events do not need the extra hour. The honest way to avoid overtime is not to negotiate the rate, it is to size the booking correctly the first time and then not open the booth during dinner and speeches.
Overtime charged on the night is also usually a scheduling failure rather than a demand surge. The booth opened at cocktail hour, sat idle through dinner, and hit its peak thirty minutes before the contract ended. Open it later and the same three hours cover the same crowd.
Deposits, cancellation and damage holds
These three are where the least gets published and the most goes wrong.
Deposit
The only published local figure we found is The Gala's 20 percent. Ours is a deposit due at booking with the balance due at least one week before the event. Ask for the percentage and the due date in writing. A vendor who wants the balance on the event day is asking you to handle money at the worst possible moment.
Cancellation and date changes
Nobody in this market publishes cancellation terms, and that includes us. It lives in the contract. The question to ask before you pay anything: is the deposit refundable, is it transferable to a new date, and how close to the event can the date move? Get the answer in an email you can find again.
Damage deposits and holds
The national benchmark for a damage deposit is $200 to $500. It is not on our price list. If a company holds one, ask when it is released and what triggers a claim, because a hold on a card in December that is still there in February is a real cost even when it eventually comes back.
How to use this as a checklist on any quote, including ours
Send this list. Ask for answers in one email. A vendor who runs a clean operation will fill it in without a phone call, because they already know their own numbers.
- What is the total, including every fee, for my exact date, venue and hours?
- What is the included travel radius and the rate beyond it?
- Is idle time billed, and at what rate?
- What is the overtime rate per hour, and when does it start?
- Is an attendant included for the full booking?
- Is there a print cap, and what is the overage?
- Is there a setup fee, a teardown fee, a weekend premium or a rush fee?
- Is there a damage deposit or card hold, and when is it released?
- What is the deposit, when is the balance due, and what are the cancellation terms?
- Do you carry liability insurance, and will you issue a certificate naming my venue?
If a quote comes back lower than ours after all ten answers are on paper, take it. That is the point of publishing the list. A price comparison is only useful once both quotes describe the same job.
A number that grows after the deposit is not a price. It is an opening offer.
Motion Event Productions
What Motion charges, in one paragraph
Booths start at $399 for two hours on the Social booth and run to $2,500 for four hours on a Brand Activation build, with the Headshot at $599, the 360 at $699, the Classic at $749 and the AI booth at $850, all for three hours. Extra hours are $150 to $250. The only other things we charge for are a custom backdrop at $250, a full booth wrap at $250, a guest book station at $150, a second attendant at $150, data capture and reporting at $75, and travel outside the three counties at $100 to $300. That is the complete list.
Every one of those numbers is published rather than gated. There is no travel fee inside Broward, Miami-Dade or Palm Beach. Idle time is not billed. An attendant is included on every booking. There is a written guarantee behind it, and a certificate of insurance goes to your venue within 48 hours at no charge.
Run the ten question checklist against our pricing page and against whoever else you are considering. If we lose on the total, we lose honestly. Start with the price list and send us your date.
Common questions
Are there extra fees I should expect on a photo booth rental?
Usually yes. The common ones are travel, setup, overtime, idle time, print overage, rush and damage deposits. Nationally those run $50 to $300 for travel, $75 to $150 for setup, $100 to $200 an hour for overtime and $200 to $500 for a damage deposit. We charge none of those four.
Do photo booth companies charge a travel fee in South Florida?
Most do not publish one either way, so assume it exists until someone says otherwise. The national range is $50 to $300. We charge nothing inside Broward, Miami-Dade or Palm Beach, and $100 to $300 beyond them. YB is the one other Broward company publishing a no travel fee policy, inside Broward and Palm Beach.
What is idle time on a photo booth rental?
It is the time the booth is on site and staffed but closed, usually during dinner and speeches. Some companies bill it as a separate discounted hourly charge on top of your package. We do not. Idle hours count toward your booked hours, so a 6pm to 9pm booking is three hours regardless of when the booth is open.
How much is overtime on a photo booth?
The national range is $100 to $200 an hour. Locally, Epic Events publishes $75 to $150 and YB publishes $100 an hour after four hours. Ours is $150 to $250 depending on the booth. The cheaper fix is usually scheduling: keep the booth closed during dinner and speeches and three hours often covers the night.
Is there a damage deposit for a photo booth rental?
Sometimes. The national benchmark is $200 to $500 held on a card. It is not on our price list. If a company holds one, ask in writing when it is released and what counts as damage, because a hold that sits on your card for two months is a real cost even when it is returned.
What happens if I hit the print limit on my package?
Depends on the company. Partyflix publishes print caps of 100, 200 and 300 by tier, which is more disclosure than most. Ask what happens at print number 201: does the printer stop, or does an overage rate start? We do not carry a per print charge on our price list.
Do you charge a rush fee for a last minute photo booth booking?
No. There is no rush fee on our price list, and no weekend premium either. The national benchmarks are $100 to $300 for rush and about $50 for a weekend. A short lead time costs you availability rather than money, so ask about your date even if it is close.
Motion Event Productions
Every price on this page is on our pricing page
No form to see a number. No travel fee in Broward, Miami-Dade or Palm Beach. Idle time counts toward your booked hours instead of being billed on top. An attendant comes with every booking.
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