How to Safely Store Your Wedding Photos: From Digital to Physical

You were sent your online wedding gallery. You’re insanely excited, but now what? What the heck do you do with all the images?

Your wedding day is one of the most important, if not thee most important, day of your lives. You got sent your gallery of hundreds (or maybe more) images from your dream day. While you’re so excited to look through them, now you need to figure out how to save them. We live in a day of all things digital and while it is extremely convenient, no need to worry about USBs getting lost in the mail anymore, or waiting for DAYS in anticipation of knowing they were sent. Once your photos have been edited and uploaded they’re there at the tips of your fingers in MINUTES.

While technology is amazing, it’s not foolproof. Making sure to have your images backed up, saved and printed is extremely important. Especially because photographer’s don’t give out lifetime access to your photos. Make sure to look in your contract to see how long you have access to your images and get them saved.

Now let’s dive in and chat about the ways you can save and safely store all those special wedding photos:

1. External Hard drives
   
   This is the easiest way to save all your images. I suggest not just one hard drive, but two. Just incase you happen to lose or break one or it gives out.
   
   So how do you actually save your photos to a hard drive? Easy! You make a folder of your downloaded wedding images, then, copy that folder into the hard drive. (Make sure to copy it, not entirely move it, so you can back it up elsewhere as well!)
   
   Be sure to find a safe place to store these hard drives. If you have one at your home, I suggest storing the other in a fireproof safe or somewhere else like your parent’s house or your secured office at work. This way just incase something were to happen (heaven forbid, a fire or living in the midwest – a tornado) you have them somewhere else – safe!
   
   Hard drives I recommend:
   
   Seagate 1 TB Hard Drive
   
   LaCie 1 TB Hard Drive
   
   
   
2. Embrace the Cloud
   
   Using online storage in addition to a hard drive can really make sure you’re backed up! This is a great set it and forget it system. It’s also a good way to back up any other images you may have!
   
   Great online storage options:
   
   iCloud (50 GB for .99)
   
   Amazon Drive (5 GB free with Prime or $11.99 a year for 100 GB)
   
   
   
3. Let’s Get Physical
   
   Another great way to save your photos is investing in albums or prints. This is a way you don’t need to rely on technology at all. Not only that, but you also get to enjoy your photos everyday. You can buy an album to have out on your coffee table to share with friends and family or have prints / canvases to hang on the walls of your home. If you’re one of my clients, I have professional, high quality printing options available in your online gallery. Reach out if you have any questions!