The magnet photo booth your guests actually keep.
If you're comparing photo booth rentals for your Metro Detroit wedding or party, meet the magnet photo booth: the same fun, the same line of laughing guests at a styled backdrop — but instead of a paper strip or a video clip, every photo becomes a real magnet your guests take home for the fridge.
The Basics
What is a magnet photo booth?
A magnet photo booth is exactly what it sounds like: a photo booth where the photos come out as magnets. Instead of a kiosk that prints paper strips, we set up a styled station with a backdrop and a friendly attendant. Guests scan a QR code, take a photo on their phone right there (or choose one they already love), and about a minute later they're holding a finished 2"×2" magnet printed with your names, date, or logo. To be clear about how ours works: the camera is your guest's phone, not a mounted kiosk — which means every photo they take is already theirs, and the magnet is made while they watch.
It has the same easy, walk-up energy as a photo booth — people gather, pose, and laugh together — but the takeaway is different. A magnet goes home, lands on the fridge, and keeps the memory in view for years. There's nothing to download and no account to create; guests just walk up and go.
For couples and planners across Metro Detroit who want their guests to leave with something real, that's the appeal of a magnet photo booth over a traditional one: all the fun of a booth, plus a keepsake that lasts long after the last song. If you've been searching for a photo booth alternative, this is the one the search was pointing at.
What Makes Us Different
The fun of a booth, plus a keepsake to keep
Photo booths are a celebration favorite. A magnet station brings that same energy — and sends every guest home with something to keep.
There's a reason photo booths and 360 booths are wedding and party staples: they're a blast, and they get everyone laughing together. A Tender Kept magnet station brings that same fun, with one addition guests love — a keepsake they take home.
Guests step up, strike a pose, and a minute later they're holding a real, custom photo magnet with your names or event on it. It goes on the fridge that night and stays there for years — so the fun of your celebration keeps showing up long after the music stops.
How a magnet station compares
Want the full breakdown for your event? See how the magnet station works.
What You Get Instead
The magnet station experience
Unlimited magnets
Every guest, as many as they want — no per-magnet charges.
Made on-site in ~60 seconds
Scan, pick a photo, and it comes out as a finished magnet.
Personalized to your event
Your names, date, or logo on every magnet.
A professional attendant
We run the station start to finish so you don't lift a finger.
Full setup & teardown
We arrive early, set up, and clean up after — included.
A keepsake, not a strip
Guests leave with something they'll see every day for years.
For Weddings
A wedding photo booth alternative guests keep
A wedding photo booth should do two things: keep the reception fun, and send your guests home with a memory. A magnet photo booth does both. While the dancing is going, guests drift over, take a photo together, and walk away with a custom magnet featuring your names and wedding date — a little keepsake that ends up on hundreds of fridges around Metro Detroit.
Because every package includes unlimited magnets, there's no counting heads or rationing prints — every guest can make one, or a few. We bring the backdrop, the equipment, and an attendant who runs the whole station, then pack it all up at the end of the night. You can see our reception setup and packages on the wedding photo magnets page.
For Parties & Corporate
A party photo booth alternative for any event
The same magnet station works as a party photo booth alternative for birthdays, graduations, baby showers, holiday parties, and quinceañeras. Guests still get the fun of stepping up for a photo, and they leave with a magnet they can actually keep.
For companies, it's a standout corporate photo booth alternative: we can brand every magnet with your logo or event hashtag, so your team and clients walk away with a giveaway that lands on the fridge instead of the recycling bin. See our event photo magnets page for corporate and party details.
vs. 360 Booths
Magnet station or 360 photo booth?
A 360 photo booth is a great time — guests stand on a platform while a camera spins around them, and the result is a slow-motion video clip to share online. If your priority is shareable social content in the moment, a 360 booth absolutely delivers.
A magnet station is the 360 photo booth alternative for couples who want a physical keepsake rather than a digital clip. The two aren't mutually exclusive — some events feature both — but if you have to pick one, a magnet is the souvenir that outlasts the night. Every guest leaves holding something printed with your names, made on-site in about a minute, ready for the fridge.
Choosing
Which booth fits your event? An honest guide
Different booths solve different problems, and pretending otherwise helps nobody. If your event's goal is social content — clips your guests post that night — a 360 booth is genuinely the right tool, and Detroit has good vendors for it. If you love the ritual of the classic strip — the curtain, the four panels, the retro feel — a traditional booth delivers that nostalgia in a way nothing else does.
The magnet photo booth wins when the goal is what happens after the event. It's built for hosts who care that guests leave with something, and that the something survives: not a strip in a clutch or a clip in a camera roll, but a finished keepsake that takes a job on a refrigerator door and keeps it for years. It also quietly solves the favor question at the same time — one vendor, two budget lines covered.
Budget-wise, the comparison is straightforward. Detroit booth rentals commonly run several hundred dollars for a few hours, with per-print or per-hour extras depending on the vendor. Our packages start at $899 flat, with unlimited magnets, the attendant, your custom design, and setup and teardown all included — no per-guest math, no idle-hour fees, and the full pricing is published on our pricing page rather than hidden behind a quote form.
Magnet photo booth — common questions
Is Tender Kept a photo booth?
Yes — a magnet photo booth. Guests step up to a styled backdrop, photograph on their phones with our attendant's help, and every photo becomes a custom 2-inch magnet instead of a paper strip. Same booth energy, but the keepsake lives on the fridge for years.
What exactly is a magnet photo booth?
A photo booth where the output is magnets. Ours works through a QR code: guests use their own phone as the camera at our backdrop, choose the photo they love, and we make the magnet on the spot in about 60 seconds. No kiosk screen, no paper strips — a finished keepsake in hand.
How is it different from a 360 photo booth?
A 360 photo booth makes a fun video clip that lives on a phone and is usually forgotten by the next morning. Our magnet photo booth gives every guest a physical keepsake — printed, finished, and in their hand in about 60 seconds.
Do you rent traditional strip-print or 360 photo booths?
No — the magnet photo booth is the only booth we run. If you want paper strips or 360 video, that's a different vendor, and the two pair fine at the same event. What we bring is the version where every guest leaves with a magnet.
Can I have a magnet station at a wedding or party?
Yes — weddings, corporate events, birthdays, showers, and parties. We bring everything, set up, run the station, and tear down.
How does the cost compare to a photo booth rental?
Packages start at $899 with unlimited magnets, a professional attendant, and full setup and teardown — comparable to a photo booth rental, but every guest leaves with something lasting.
Can we have both a magnet station and a photo booth?
Of course — they pair really well. Some couples run a photo booth for instant strips and add a magnet station so guests also take home a keepsake. If you'd rather keep it simple, a magnet station covers both the fun and the favor on its own.
What do you need from our venue?
About a 6-by-4-foot space and a power outlet. We bring our own table, backdrop, and all equipment, and setup takes around 30 minutes.
How far in advance should we book?
For weddings, 3 to 6 months ahead is ideal, especially for peak season from May through October. Popular Metro Detroit dates book up fast, so reach out early.
The Day After
What happens to booth photos, versus what happens to magnets
Here's the test any booth should be judged by: where is the output one month later? Photo strips have a known life cycle — purse, junk drawer, occasionally a mirror frame. Video clips get posted once and sink down the feed by the weekend. Both were fun, and both are effectively gone.
The magnet's month-later answer is a location: the fridge, at eye level, in the busiest room of every guest's home. That placement is the entire strategy. A keepsake that gets seen 15 to 20 times a day doesn't just preserve the memory of your event — it keeps re-delivering it, morning after morning, in a hundred households at once. No other booth output can claim an address.
A magnet photo booth across Metro Detroit
We bring our magnet station to weddings, parties, and corporate events all over Metro Detroit — Troy, Royal Oak, Birmingham, Novi, Ann Arbor, Detroit, Livonia, Sterling Heights, and the surrounding suburbs. Travel is included within 30 miles, so most of the metro is covered with no extra fee.
Whether you searched for a magnet photo booth or a photo booth alternative near you, this is that service: a local team that shows up early, runs the whole booth, and leaves your guests with a keepsake to take home.
Venues love it for a practical reason, too: the footprint is a 6-by-4-foot corner and one outlet, setup takes about 30 minutes, and we carry insurance your venue can verify — smaller and simpler than most traditional booth rigs, with nothing inflatable and no enclosure to squeeze through a banquet hall door.
Ready for the magnet photo booth guests keep?
Serving weddings and events across Metro Detroit. A $299 deposit secures your date, packages start at $899 with unlimited magnets, and if you're still weighing booth options, send us your date and venue — we'll tell you honestly whether the magnet photo booth is the right fit for your event.