You’re married!  Congratulations, after all of that planning and daydreaming leading up to your wedding day, you finally got to celebrate with the ones you love the most.  You might be waiting for your wedding photos or maybe you’ve already received them, which is SO exciting.  If that’s the case here are 5 things you’ll want to do now that you’ve received your wedding photos.

Celebrate!

Plan a little date night, grab some champagne, order takeout and sit with your spouse and look through your wedding photos.  In your contract, your photographer should have listed an estimated delivery date for your wedding photos. After you find the date in your contract, sit with your partner and choose a date the week following your delivery date! Plan to order your favorite takeout, stay in and look through all of your wedding photos.

Share Them With Your Loved Ones

SHARE them!  These are your photos, your legacy, and some of the only documentation of the amazing day you spent with your loved ones.  Plan a little viewing party, or share with friends and family on social media.  If you do share some of your favorite images on Instagram or another social media platform, tag me in the post, I LOVE to see which photos from my clients’ day are their favorites.  

Download ALL of Your Photos

Most photographers have a period of time where they keep your images on their websites. This period typically ranges from two months or so up to a year. You should be able to find this length of time in your contract. Regardless of this time period, within a week of receiving your photos, you need to download them all to another location. It’s important to have two digital copies of your wedding album at all times. That way if one file corrupts, or something happens to the website, you will still have your wedding photos.

When downloading your photos you should save your wedding photos in at least two separate places. Some of my personal favorite locations to save photos and backups of photos includes Google Photos or your iCloud, Dropbox, and a USB or hard drive. Remember you will want to save your wedding photos in at least two different locations. This is to insure that you’re photos are stored securely. If one of your storage options fails, you have your wedding photos backed up in another location.

Order Prints

Though photos look beautiful on your phones and digital devices, photos are NOT supposed to live on your phone screen! After you back up your photos and they are safe in two separate locations, it’s time to start ordering prints of your favorite images.  Use the prints to decorate your home, put together a scrapbook, or use them as gifts for your family members over the next holiday season!

When getting ready to order prints I recommend looking through your home to find a location you would like to decorate with prints first. After choosing the location, look at the colors and the feel of the room, order your frames, and then last but not least, choose the prints you want to hang in that space! You can order prints via the online shop attached to your pic-time album I sent over, otherwise, I highly recommend scoping out a local print shop near you with great reviews such as this one in Chicago!

Make Your Wedding Album

Your wedding photo album tells the story of your wedding day in a way that you can look back on and enjoy for the rest of your life. Having a wedding album as a coffee table book nine times out of ten makes for SO many more opportunities to look through your wedding photos.  Your wedding album will become something that you look through with family and friends, reminisce about your day with, and love your photos SO much more. There is an option to create your own wedding album using the online gallery that I sent over. The company I use produces beautiful heirloom albums that are perfect for any home.

The photos that you take home following your wedding day are oftentimes the only things left from your day years from now. They are your legacy, they tell your story, and they are SO important to take care of. If you follow these tips though for what to do after you receive your wedding photos I can assure you your memories will be safe for a lifetime. If you’re looking for wedding inspiration or more wedding day planning tips, head to my blog to check out my latest post!