3 Simple Steps to Ensuring You’ll Never Lose Your Wedding Photos

In an age when it seems like everything can be found on the Internet, it’s hard to imagine something online vanishing without a trace. But when it comes to your digital wedding gallery, it could be gone in an instant! Whether because your photographer archived your gallery or the hosting website went under, you may find yourself searching for your wedding photos only to discover that they are nowhere to be found! 

Who wants to be left with just the super-compressed, pixelated Facebook version of their wedding photos? Ew! What a horrible thing to even think about! No, thank you! 

But the great news is that this is a totally avoidable situation! By following these three simple steps, you can take control of the preservation of your precious wedding day memories. Ready to find out how? Great! Then, let’s start by talking tech…

Invest in a hard drive or jump drive

The first step in keeping your wedding photos safe is to choose a quality storage device. Your photographer, who routinely stores images for safekeeping, can be an invaluable resource as you begin shopping. Ask them to recommend brands and sizes to make sure you’re investing in quality without overspending. A few of the brands I suggest to brides are LaCie, Western Digital, and Seagate. Simply choose the one that works best for your gallery size and budget. I’d even recommend buying two! This way, you can have two sets of your images stored in case one gets corrupted, lost, or ruined. 

Download your gallery to the drive

Once you’ve chosen your perfect storage device, clearly label it. Then, the downloading begins! Simply download all of your images from your online gallery onto your device. If this is your first time using an external hard drive, it doesn’t hurt to read through the directions or watch a how-to video on YouTube. To keep things neat and tidy, I’d also recommend organizing your images into folders, such as “getting ready,” “ceremony,” “couples portraits,” “bridal party portraits,” “family portraits,” and “reception.” This way, it will be far easier to find the images you’re looking for when you return to your hard drive five, ten, or even twenty years from now!

Store your drive in a safe place

And finally, once your images are all downloaded, make sure to properly eject your drive from the computer to avoid corrupting the drive. Then, plug it back in to test it. Check to make sure all of your images made it onto the drive safe and sound. Once you’ve quadruple checked the gallery, store the drive in a secure, dry place. If you keep important documents in a waterproof, fireproof safe, add your harddrive to the collection! Or simply put it inside a waterproof container and store it in a closet. And if you’ve decided to create a duplicate storage device in case one gets ruined, consider storing the second drive in a separate place. I’ve often heard of couples storing their second set at a family member or friend’s house just in case! 

The photos of your wedding day are some of the most important images you’ll ever take! They are the record of the best day of your life. They are an essential piece of your family history. They are the heirlooms you’ll pass on to your great-grandchildren. 

For so many reasons, your wedding gallery shouldn’t be taken for granted. By taking a proactive role in preserving your memories, you’ll never have to worry about your digital gallery disappearing from the internet or your photographer accidentally deleting them. You won’t even have to worry about your computer hard drive going kaput! By following these three steps, your wedding gallery will be safe and sound for generations to treasure.

Do you have any more tips to ensure wedding galleries don’t vanish? Drop them in the comments below to share them with other brides! We can’t wait to read them!