The difference in two paragraphs
A mirror photo booth is a full-length reflective screen. Guests walk up, see themselves, follow animated prompts, pose, and a printed strip drops out seconds later. Physical output, immediate.
A 360 video booth is a raised platform with a camera arm that rotates around whoever stands on it. The output is a short slow-motion clip set to music, on the guest's phone inside a minute. Digital output, instantly shareable.
Guests behave differently at each one
Suppliers skip this, and it shapes how the booth feels more than any spec sheet.
Mirror booth: groups, constant turnover
Six or eight people pile in at once and the whole interaction takes under a minute. It ticks over all night, and your aunt uses it as happily as your cousins because what to do is obvious. Good fit for a wide age range.
360 booth: a spectacle, and a queue
Two to four people per turn, and each turn runs longer. It also pulls a crowd, because watching someone else's clip is half the entertainment. A queue forms. The queue is part of the fun, though fewer guests get through across the night.
With 150 guests and a wish for everyone to walk away with something, a mirror booth covers more of the room. Want a centrepiece people gather around instead? The 360 does that better.
Space and power
The 360 needs more room, and this is where venue conversations come unstuck.
- Mirror booth: sits against a wall. Needs a backdrop area and clearance for a group to stand back. Fits most reception rooms.
- 360 booth: needs clear floor on every side, because the camera arm swings a full circle at roughly waist-to-head height. It cannot go in a corner.
Both run off a standard power outlet within reach. Get a floor plan from your venue and lock in the booth position early. A 360 placed badly either blocks a walkway or has nowhere to spin.
Exact space and power figures sit on the mirror booth page and the 360 video booth page.
What guests walk away with
Mirror booth
- Printed strips on the night
- Custom overlay with your names and date
- Digital copies as well, by MMS or online gallery
- Optional guest book, where a copy of each print goes in with a handwritten message
The guest book gets underrated. You end up with an album of everyone who came, their handwriting sitting next to their face.
360 booth
- A short slow-motion clip per group
- Music, overlays and branding applied automatically
- Straight to the guest's phone, ready to post
- No printed output
Social reach is the return here. A wedding with a 360 booth produces dozens of Stories on the night, worth weighing if you want the day to travel.
So which one?
Mirror booth, if
- Your guest list spans a wide age range
- You want a physical keepsake and a guest book
- Your reception space is tight
- You want as many guests as possible to use it
- It is a corporate event where branded printed collateral earns its keep
360 booth, if
- Your crowd skews younger and lives on social
- You want an attraction rather than a background activity
- You have floor space to give it
- Reach matters more to you than keepsakes
- You had a mirror booth at another event and want a change
Both
Plenty of couples do. They cover different moments: the mirror booth ticks along all night, the 360 becomes the thing people crowd around once the formalities finish. Booking both from one supplier costs less than two vendors, and gets you one attendant team and one bump-in window.
The attendant matters more than the machine
An unattended booth is a bad booth. Props end up on the floor, the printer jams during the busiest half hour, someone leans on the 360 platform, and by 10pm nobody goes near it.
Party Central sends a dedicated attendant with every booth. They keep the queue moving, reset props, manage the printer, and pull in the shy guests standing at the edge. It sounds minor. It is the single biggest difference between a booth people use and one they ignore.
Comparing quotes? Check whether an attendant comes included or as an extra. That line explains a lot of the price gaps between suppliers.
Cost and timing
Booth pricing tracks hire length, travel, and whether you bundle with other services. Booking a booth alongside a DJ, MC or celebrant from one supplier comes in cheaper than sourcing separately, and removes the problem of two vendors bumping in at the same hour.
Saturdays from October to April are the pressure point on the South Coast and in the Highlands. Booths for those dates go early, often twelve months out. A 25% deposit holds the date.
Closer than that? Ask anyway. Weekday and off-season availability beats what couples assume.