There are several reasons why you might not want to hire a professional photographer. It can be expensive, especially as wedding costs soar - not everyone has room in their budget for a photographer. Some couples may prefer to have a more candid or spontaneous approach to their wedding photography and may not want to be posed for traditional wedding photos.Also, a professional photographer may not be able to capture every moment of the wedding – you may want a more comprehensive collection of photos from the day.

With smartphones, every guest has a good quality camera and unique perspective on your event. You can capture some wonderful moments by expanding who is allowed to take photos, especially if you set up some way for people to share their pictures. Learn about the different options below

	Instagram	ImageShout	gDrive/Dropbox	Photo Booth
Requires App Download	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Requires Account	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
How do Guests View Albums	Search by hashtag	Online Photo Gallery via Auto-Shared Link	Viewing on their computer	Online Photo Gallery via manually shared link
Cost	Free	Paid ($100)	Free/Paid ($)	Paid ($500+)

ImageShout

ImageShout is a way for guests to share pictures with hosts by texting. No app download, minimal additional setup needed ahead of time. It’s main advantages:

Convenience: Everyone can send text messages. ImageShout makes it easy for couples to collect a wide range of photos from their wedding day without requiring guests to download an app or go through additional steps.

Cost-effectiveness: Professional photographers are expensive, but you still want pictures of your big day. Even if you hire a pro, they can’t be everywhere your guests are. Let your guests crowdsource your wedding pictures for you, for less than $100.

Wide range of photos: Get a more comprehensive collection of memories by enabling guests to share photos from their own devices. Capture those random connections, get more photos from events without a photographer, and see your event through your guests eyes.

Easy sharing: ImageShout makes it easy for couples to share their collected photos with friends and family who were unable to attend the wedding in person. This can be especially useful for couples with a large number of out-of-town guests or those hosting a destination wedding.

Instagram

Pros: The biggest sharing platform. Easily share your photos publicly and make them searchably linked with a common hashtag.

Cons: Older generations tend to not be on Intagram. Requires app download and setup/coordination.

A ton of people share photos on Instagram, often using one or more of the following techniques:

Create a wedding hashtag: One option is to create a unique hashtag for the wedding and encourage guests to use it when posting photos on Instagram. This will allow all of the photos to be easily found in one place by searching for the hashtag.

Use Instagram Stories: Instagram Stories allows users to share photos and videos that disappear after 24 hours. This can be a good way to share a more comprehensive collection of photos from the wedding, as it allows users to post multiple photos and videos in a single day without cluttering up their main feed.

Create a highlight: Instagram users can create "highlights" on their profile that allow them to group related photos and videos together. This can be a good way to create a permanent collection of wedding photos that guests can view at any time.

Share photos on a shared Instagram account: Another option is to create a shared Instagram account that guests can contribute to. This can be a good way to create a collaborative photo album from the wedding.

Google Drive, Dropbox, iCloud

The manual route is to ask guests to upload images to a cloud drive service, such as Google Drive or Dropbox. These services work well - usually, as the hosting couple, you want to send out a shared drive link before the wedding so guests can add it to their account. Some guests will remember to share during the event, but most likely you will need to followup to remind people to share pictures. Once you track everyone’s pictures down, you can compress all the images into a zip file, which can then be sent out via text message.

Physical or Digital Photo Booth

There are several different ways that a photo booth at your wedding can work, depending on the specific service you choose:

Self-service photo booth: Some photo booth companies provide a self-service photo booth that guests can use on their own. These photo booths typically include a camera, a printer, and a touchscreen interface that allows guests to take and print their own photos.

Attended photo booth: Other photo booth companies provide an attended photo booth, where a staff member is present to assist guests with taking and printing their photos. This can be a good option if you have guests who may need additional assistance using the photo booth.

Digital photo booth: Some photo booth companies offer a digital photo booth, which allows guests to take photos using their own devices (such as smartphones) and share them digitally through social media or email.

Overall, the process for using a photo booth at your wedding will depend on the specific service you choose. However, the basic steps are generally similar: guests will be able to take photos using the photo booth equipment (either on their own or with the assistance of a staff member), and they will have the option to print physical copies of the photos or share them digitally.

WhatsApp

Pros: widespread adoption, private and secure. Free.

Cons: requires setup and connecting guests. Requires an app download.

There are several ways to share wedding on WhatsApp so guests can find them:

Create a WhatsApp group: One option is to create a WhatsApp group for the wedding and invite all of the guests to join. This will allow everyone in the group to share photos and videos with one another in real-time.

Share photos individually: Another option is to share photos individually with specific guests or with a larger group of people using WhatsApp's "Broadcast Lists" feature.

Use WhatsApp Status: WhatsApp Status allows users to share photos and videos that disappear after 24 hours. This can be a good way to share a more comprehensive collection of photos from the wedding, as it allows users to post multiple photos and videos in a single day without cluttering up their chats.

Use WhatsApp Web: If you don't want to use your phone to share photos, you can also use WhatsApp Web, which allows you to use WhatsApp from a computer. This can be a good option if you have a large number of photos to share and don't want to use up your phone's data or storage.

(Shut Down) The Guest by The Knot

Update October 2022 - This App is Being Shut Down and you can no longer create new events. Your photos will be available until July 2024. Please make sure to download a backup copy before then!

The Guest by the Know is was a service that allows couples to collect and view photos from their wedding day through a mobile app. To use the service, couples would first enter their wedding information and add guests to the app. Guests would then receive an invitation to download the app and start sharing photos from the wedding in real-time. When the wedding is over, photo sharing would automatically stop, and couples could view their free digital photo album immediately. Guests would also have the option to turn auto-share off at any time if they need to leave the wedding early or do not want to participate in the photo sharing.

According to the FAQ about why The Guest is shutting down, there were technical challenges (cannot auto-share photos like that in newer iOS and Android versions). Additionally, there was not a lot of use. People don’t like downloading new apps because of a number of reasons: privacy, data usage, and storage space on their device. If your objective is to get more photos, it’s best to make it easy for guests to participate. If Step 1 is “download an app”, you’re starting on the wrong foot.

(Shut Down) - Wedpics.com

Wedpics was acquired by Mixbook, a photo printing service in 2017. It was shut down in 2019 and isn’t mentioned on Mixbook’s wedding site.

Before being shut down, WedPics was a great app available for iOS, Android, and the web. Guests could share photos via the app (or website), and hosts would have a central photo album from their guests’ smartphones. How the company described the experience:

> With WedPics, the couple simply sends an invite to the app to everyone attending the wedding. Folks upload all the photos they take to the app so the couple and guests alike can easily see everything in one place.

Wedpics was free to use, with premium features like the ability to print high-res version of pictures. They also sold some customizations. It’s not clear why they shut down.