Wedding photos

What is the best platform for sharing wedding photos?

Short answer

For photos taken by guests, the best platform is a QR-code album that needs no app and no guest account. Guests scan a code on the table, pick photos from their camera roll, and upload in about 3 taps. For photos taken by your photographer, a delivery gallery from the photographer is better, because it handles 800 edited files and print ordering. Most couples end up using both. General cloud tools such as a shared Google Photos album or a Dropbox file request also work, but each one asks the guest for something: an account, an app, or a link they have to keep. Gathmo runs entirely in the browser and asks for none of the three.

The three kinds of platform, and what each is actually for

Guest-upload albums exist to collect what the crowd shot. You print a QR code, guests scan it during the reception, and every photo, video, and voice message lands in one private album you moderate. Nobody installs anything. This is the only category that solves the real problem, which is that 120 guests each hold a phone full of photos you will never see.

Photographer delivery galleries exist to hand over finished work. Pixieset, Pic-Time, and ShootProof are built for a professional uploading 600 edited files and selling prints. They are excellent at that and poor at guest upload, because they assume one trusted uploader, not a hundred untrained ones.

General cloud storage sits in between. A shared Google Photos album is free and familiar, and it works if every guest already uses Google Photos and you are willing to hand out write access to a folder. A Dropbox file request avoids the account problem but gives you a folder of files with no album, no moderation, and no way to show them on a screen at the party.

What separates them in practice

Friction at the moment of upload decides how much you actually collect. Every extra step costs you guests, and the guests you lose first are the older ones. A flow that needs an app install loses people who are 3 drinks in and standing at a table.

Moderation matters more than couples expect. A guest-upload album that publishes straight to a screen will eventually publish something you did not want on a screen. Gathmo holds every upload until you approve it, which is why the live wall is safe to project.

Retention is the part nobody checks until it is too late. Free tiers expire. On Gathmo the free plan keeps an album for 30 days and 60 items; paid plans run 90, 183, or 365 days with unlimited items. Download the originals before the window closes, whatever platform you use.

Common follow-ups

Do guests need to download an app?

Not with Gathmo. The capture flow runs in the phone browser, so a guest scans the QR code and uploads without installing anything or creating an account.

Can I use one album for photos and voice messages?

Yes. The same QR code accepts photos, short videos, and voice messages, and all three land in the same album.

What happens to the photos after the wedding?

You download the original files. Retention is 30 days on the free plan and up to 365 days on Grand, so export before the window ends.

Where to go next

All 11 wedding photo questionsThe hub, grouped by what you are trying to decide: collecting from guests, choosing a platform, and which app belongs on a phone.