Getting great photos from your guests

The reveal date isn't a technical detail: it's the end of your story. There are two schools of thought, and neither is wrong.

The next morning (11 am)

The “see you at breakfast” effect. Everyone still has the party in their head, phones are lying around, and the photos arrive at the exact moment people start retelling the night before. It's the most festive choice, and the one that gets shared the most.

A week later

The postcard effect. The party is over, everyday life has resumed, and the gallery pops up like a reminder. It's more moving, and often looked at for longer. The one to go for at a wedding.

What to avoid

• The same evening, during the party. Everyone starts looking at their phone instead of dancing, and you no longer have time to go through the photos.
• More than a month later. The momentum is lost, and some guests won't open the link again.

Either way, leave yourself at least a few hours between the end of the event and the reveal: that's your window to look through the gallery calmly (see chapter 5).

This is the only real hurdle of the evening: a guest who hasn't scanned won't take a single photo. Here's what works.

Multiply the touchpoints

• On the tables: a small table tent on each table is the most effective. People scan as they sit down, before the drinks.
• In the toilets, no joke: everyone goes there, alone, phone in hand. The best scan rate of the evening.
• On the seating plan or the order of service: for those who arrive early.
• At the bar: the wait is perfect.

Once your event has been created, its QR code is ready to print. You can also use our poster generator to get a page to put on the tables, with your names and your date.

The announcement on the mic (for the DJ or the best man to make)

Thirty seconds is enough, and the tone matters more than the content:

“Tonight, you're the photographers. Scan the QR code on your table: you each have 8 photos, not one more. So aim well. We'll discover them all together tomorrow morning.”

The three things not to forget: the number of photos (that's what creates the game), the time of the reveal (that's what creates the anticipation), and “no app to install” (that's what removes the last hesitation).

The trick for the stragglers

There will always be someone whose camera won't scan, or whose phone is too old. The solution: have them scan it from someone else's phone, then send them the link by message. The link works exactly like the QR code. Nobody is left out.

The scanning is done, but nobody dares to start. That's normal: with a limited quota, everyone waits for “the right moment”. Your job is to set it off.

Take the first photo yourself

As soon as the gallery exists, take a photo and show it to the people around you. The effect is immediate: the counter is running, the game becomes real.

Give ideas, not orders

A list of suggestions on the tables gets a huge number of people going. For example:

• A photo of the person sitting opposite you
• A detail nobody will notice (the shoes, the cake, a hand)
• Someone really laughing
• The dance floor seen from above
• A candid shot of the newlyweds / the guest of honour

Give children and teenagers a role

They take the best photos, every time: they're at a different height, they have no inhibitions, and they go where adults don't. Make sure they've scanned.

Reassure people about bad shots

Many guests don't dare press the shutter for fear of wasting a shot. Tell them: a bad photo can be deleted, and the space is freed up. They can never go over their quota, but they aren't punished for a blurry shot. It gets a huge number of people going.

Between the end of the event and the reveal, you are the only one who can see the photos. Your guests only see their own. This is your window for sorting, and it deserves to be taken seriously: it's what separates a gallery people share from a gallery people regret.

What to look for

• The photo taken at 3 am that the photographer doesn't remember
• The one where someone is clearly uncomfortable
• The exact duplicate (the same scene by five people)
• The completely black or completely blurred frame

Hiding a photo is discreet: nobody is notified, and the person who took it won't know it has been removed.

Do it with others

You can invite co-hosts: the couple, a best man or bridesmaid, a trusted friend. They see the photos before the reveal and can sort through them with you. It's especially useful for a wedding: the couple get a sneak preview of their photos, and nobody carries the responsibility for what goes out alone.

Getting the balance right

Resist the urge to polish everything. Imperfect photos (motion blur, crooked framing, closed eyes) are exactly what gives a shared gallery its soul. Remove what bothers someone, not what isn't pretty.

Your guests receive a notification when the gallery opens. But a message from you at the same moment completely changes the scale of it.

Prepare the message in advance

Write it before the event, while you have time. On the day, all you'll have to do is send it to the group chat:

“That's it, the film has been developed 🎞️ 142 photos, taken by 47 of you. Here's what you saw of our party: [link]. We hadn't seen any of it.”

Give a number

“142 photos by 47 people” is infinitely stronger than “the photos are up”. The number tells the story of everyone taking part: it's what makes people want to click straight away.

Follow up once, and only once

Two or three days later, a second message with a standout photo as a preview brings in the latecomers. After that, let it be.

Only one thing really matters after the reveal: downloading the full album. Your photos stay online for six months after the reveal, then are deleted automatically (you'll be warned by email beforehand, several times).

The routine in three steps

• On the day of the reveal: download the full album in one go, and store it in the same place as the rest of your photos.
• Within the week: send the gallery link to those who couldn't come. It remains accessible to anyone who has the link.
• Before the six months are up: check that your download is safely stored (external drive, cloud, USB stick). After that, you can forget about it.

The advice we always give

Get a dozen photos printed. A shared gallery produces images no professional photographer could have taken: your guests' point of view. They're often the ones that end up on the wall.