6 Ideas for Displaying Your Wedding Photos
I don’t believe at all that “print is dead”, but maybe that’s because my own house is FULL of printed photos – thanks mom & dad for always having 50+ photos displayed in our house growing up!
I am not at all team “hate on digitals” but it IS much more likely for your computer to crash and you lose everything than it is for you to lose printed photos in a fire. I love that technology can act as our back up files and prints can be how we actually ENJOY our precious memories everyday (or at least much more frequently). We are much more fortunate than our parents when it comes to protecting our wedding images!
Read on for the 6 things you should do immediately after you get your wedding photos back:
1. MAKE MULTIPLE BACK UPS
I literally can’t stress enough how important it is that you do NOT keep your photo files in only one place. I dare you to (metaphorically) look me in the eyes and tell me you’ve never lost photos from a computer or external hard drive crashing out of nowhere, or your phone being lost/totally dying. I’ve had all of it happen to me.
So how can you protect your precious wedding files?
BACK. THEM. UP.
That online gallery isnt gonna stay online forever. Personally, ours is only active for 1 year so after that, its all on you. Here are my favorite digital ways to back up wedding files (and our own wedding photos are backed up every single one of these ways)
-On an external harddrive
-On a USB
-In the cloud – we use both Dropbox AND Amazon Prime Photo which is free for personal use for Prime members but other places are iCloud, Google Drive, and Shoebox.
2. GET AN HEIRLOOM ALBUM THAT TELLS THE STORY OF THE DAY
I look at my wedding album more than I do the digital files of the wedding day. I linger on the images longer when Im physically holding them in my hand.
That’s not to be sappy, that’s actually psychology.
The wedding album isn’t supposed to be crammed full of 100+ of your favorite images (see number 6) but the photos that tell the best story of your day. Its a book. Books are for storytelling.
Your wedding photographer is already well versed in story telling, so thats why I really think its important to have them design your album. Plus, we have access to AMAZING labs that create lifelong products so that your great-grandchildren will still have this. Shutterfly & Artifact Uprising are made for consumers and use cheaper products and fall apart after a few months to a few years.
3. DECORATE YOUR HOME WITH WALL ART
We have a giant canvas in our dining room of our very favorite wedding photo: us surrounded by sheep! Being a minimalist (much to my dismay), Jay only wanted one photo of us hung up in the house, so I went as big as I could possibly get! Its SO great being able to see this picture of us literally everyday – I work in the living room and can see into the dining room, plus I have to pass it to get to the kitchen.
Wall art is important because its something you see everyday and can be reminded during the hard times what you guys promised to each other that day.
Make sure you choose a photo(s) that you BOTH love (-:
4. SHARE THEM ONLINE
Your friends and family want to see these photos just as much as you do! Share your gallery link or the photos directly online on Facebook, Instagram and even your wedding website so that they have access to it!
5. SEND OUT THANK YOU CARDS WITH A PHOTO
A thank you card with your actual faces on it seems much more personalized than a generic thank you card. There are so many websites out there that have amazing Thank You card templates that you can just slap a picture into (-;
6. PRINTS IN A GLASS BOX
This one is one of my FAVORITES, even over a wedding album! Print out 100-125 of your favorite photos & keep them in a glass box, then display it in a high foot traffic area of your house and stand it upright – it acts like a photo frame! We have this option available for purchase in all of our wedding galleries.
Ours is displayed in our living room & I love swapping out the top picture every few weeks so I have something new to look at but without the hassle of removing a picture frame back.
Katie + Jay of Catherine Ann Photography are Charleston SC Based Wedding & Elopement Photographers specializing in candid & fun wedding photos that feel like you!
Ready to book your wedding with us? Get in touch here!
