Your guests take hundreds of photos at a wedding, birthday or party, and most of them stay on their phones. Here are the six usual ways to collect them, what each one asks of your guests, and what it costs.
The short answer: put a QR code on the tables that opens an upload page. Guests scan it with their phone camera, upload in the browser with no app or account, and the photos land in your own storage. LazyAlbum does this for free.
| Way | What guests need | Photo quality | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| QR code to your own storage (LazyAlbum) | Nothing: no app, no account | Original photos and videos | Free. Optional extras A$19 per album |
| Do-it-yourself upload link (AlbumHack guide) | Dropbox: nothing. Google Drive: a Google account | Original photos and videos | Free |
| Shared Google Photos or iCloud album | A Google account (Google Photos) or an Apple account (iCloud) | Good, but iCloud shared albums reduce photo size | Free |
| WhatsApp or group chat | The app, and to be added to the group | Compressed unless sent as files | Free |
| Disposable cameras on the tables | Nothing | Film look, often blurry or dark | A camera per table plus developing |
| Asking guests afterwards | To remember, and to find a way to send them | Varies | Free |
Guests scan a QR code on the tables and upload from their phone's browser into a folder in your Google Drive or Dropbox.
Good: Every guest, iPhone or Android, can add photos in seconds, and you keep everything in your own storage.
Watch out: You need enough free space in your Drive or Dropbox for everyone's photos and videos.
Create a file request or upload link in your own Dropbox, Google Drive or OneDrive, turn it into a QR code and print table cards.
Good: Completely free and fully under your control.
Watch out: A few setup steps to get right, and with shared folders guests may see or delete each other's files.
Make a shared album and send guests the link to add their photos.
Good: Easy if all your guests already use the same service.
Watch out: Guests without the right account get left out, and it's hard to put a link on a table card.
Make a group for the event and ask guests to post their photos.
Good: Everyone already knows how to use it.
Watch out: Photos get squashed, buried between messages and are slow to save one by one. You need everyone's number.
Leave a film camera on each table and get the film developed after the day.
Good: Fun and nostalgic, and guests love them.
Watch out: Limited shots per camera, a wait for developing, and no videos.
Message or email guests after the event and ask them to send their photos.
Good: No setup at all.
Watch out: Most photos never arrive: the moment has passed and sending dozens of files is a chore.
Prefer to do it all yourself? The free AlbumHack guide walks you through making an upload link, a QR code and table cards with the storage you already have.
A QR code on the tables that opens an upload page. Guests scan it with their phone camera and upload in the browser, with no app or account. LazyAlbum does this for free and saves everything into your own Google Drive or Dropbox.
Yes. LazyAlbum is free for collecting photos and videos into your own Google Drive or Dropbox. If you'd rather set everything up yourself, the AlbumHack guide shows you how to do it with an upload link you make in your own storage.
Not with a QR code upload page. Shared Google Photos or iCloud albums need the matching account, and group chats need the app.
Have guests upload the original files rather than sending them through a chat app, which compresses them. A QR code upload page or a Dropbox file request both keep the originals.
On a table card at every table, on the welcome sign, next to the photo booth, and in the thank-you message after the event.
Free photo and video collection, no app for guests.
