30 office party photo ideas, without the photo booth queue

Arrivals and the team

Start before the room fills. The first hour is when everyone still looks the way they did at their desks, and a photo of the whole team is still possible.

• The whole team, before it starts.
• The people who organised it, in the room before the doors open.
• The first arrivals, alone at the bar.
• Colleagues who only know each other from calls, meeting in person.
• Two departments in one photo.
• The newest starter with the longest-serving colleague.
• Every table, before the food arrives.
• The best outfit in the room.
• The worst festive jumper of the night.
• The coats piling up at the door.

Speeches, prizes, and the dance floor

• The speech, from the back of the room.
• The faces listening, not the speaker.
• The moment a name is called for a prize.
• The prize winners, holding what they won.
• The gift exchange, as the wrapping comes off.
• The quiz team in last place, with their answer sheet.
• The first person on the dance floor.
• The dance floor at the first song everyone knows.
• Someone teaching someone else a dance move.
• 10 seconds of the loudest table.

The last one is a video. Every guest can add one, 5 to 30 seconds, filmed in the app; set the length to 10 seconds and the loudest table fits in one take.

The details and the end of the night

• The table plan and the name cards.
• The decorations someone spent a week on.
• The food, before anyone starts.
• The cake, if it has the logo on it.
• The props box, half empty.
• Shoes kicked off under the table.
• Last orders at the bar.
• The taxi queue outside.
• The last ones out.
• The empty room, chairs stacked, confetti on the floor.

A holiday party photo booth alternative

A photo booth gives you a queue, a box of props, and a strip of photos of the people who queued. It is fun, and it photographs one corner. A shared roll turns every colleague's phone into the camera instead: people shoot from wherever they are, your shot list keeps the classics in frame, and nobody waits.

The roll develops when you choose, so the whole night can arrive for everyone at once, the next morning, over coffee. More on choosing a photo booth alternative.

Work party photos, private by default

An office party has rules a birthday does not. Not everyone wants their photo shared, and some moments should stay in the room.

papershot has no public gallery, no search, and no feed. Guests join with the invite card, its link, or the code, and the invite page shows the moment's name, date, and code to anyone with the link, so give the moment a name you are happy for anyone to see.

As the host you see everything as it arrives, and you can stop a guest posting and delete anything. Anyone in the moment can report a photo, video, or memo, and we look within 24 hours; anyone can block someone. Every upload's thumbnail is screened by an automated service.

Set the roll to develop the next morning. Until then, colleagues see a blurred tile for each shot, with who added it and when, and you have the night to take out anything that does not belong. More in private photo sharing for events.

Setting it up in company colours

1. 01

   Make the moment

   Name it, set the start and the end, and pick a film look. Vintage or Black & white sets one look for everyone, so the whole night matches.

2. 02

   Set the invite card in your colours

   The card is a perforated ticket with a QR, a link, and an 8-character code. Set it in company colours, and print it for the bar and every table.

3. 03

   Pick the size

   A free moment takes up to 4 guests. Paid sizes run from 8 guests to unlimited, paid once through Apple or Google, and you can add 8, 24, or 48 guests until the moment ends.

4. 04

   Set the shots, the video, and the memo

   10 or 16 shots each suits one evening. Ask the team one memo question, such as “What was the best moment of the year?” Or turn videos and memos off for a photos-only night.

5. 05

   Develop it the morning after

   Review it first, then download it at full resolution: one photo at a time, or the whole moment as one .zip.

For a bigger room, a longer keep than 30 days, or one invoice for the company, talk to the team on the pricing page, and we set a moment up to fit. The same setup works for a launch or a client night: see brand events. Everything else is on the office party page.