Your wedding is all said and done, your images have been delivered, what’s next? How do you ensure that your images are properly stored to stand the test of time? These photos are obviously going to be very special and important to you for many many years, so properly storing them is key! As a rule of thumb, having at least three forms of backups, with one being off-site, is recommended!

After the wedding day, photographers often deliver wedding galleries in one or two different ways: In an online gallery and/or on a USB drive. While the gallery won’t remain indefinitely, the backups of your photos will!

Not sure where to start? Read on!

Printed Photo Storage

First up, we have printed product photo storage. I don’t know how to emphasize this enough, but… PRINT YOUR PHOTOS!! While this may not be a digital backup, it’s my very favorite way of ‘storing’ favorite photos. Printed images not only stand against technology changes but also keeps them on display in your home. Seeing them daily will bring those memories to life on a regular basis!

There are many ways you can store hard copies of images in albums. Metal prints, canvas prints, print boxes, framed prints, are a few examples!

If you have old photos and prints you want to preserve, read this article on How To Properly Store Old Photographs for more information on that.

Metal Prints are a very modern and sleek way of displaying images in your home in a striking way.

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Albums have come a long way from plastic sleeves. They now offer gorgeous layouts on printed pages with smooth photo finishes and wrapped in luxurious covers!

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Digital Storage

Don’t just trust your 9-year-old desktop as your only means to keep your photos safe. Technology is faulty and I recommend having your photos stored in a few places. Having external hard drives as physical backups is a great idea! You can backup the folders from your computer onto a hard drive and keep them somewhere for safe storage on-site. Hide it and/or keep it in a fire and water safe container to prevent theft and damage. You could also store it in a lockbox off-site.

Another simple yet effective additional photo storage method is a USB drive. It’s easily portable and easily stored in containers for safe keeping as well.

For quite a few wedding and elopement packages, I include a USB Box as the final delivery of wedding galleries. This USB box often includes some variation of a few photo prints, a custom wooden USB from USB memory Direct in a glass box with stickers, and a handwritten card. It always makes me so happy to include this personal touch as a gift. Not only is it just a cute little package, but it also equips couples with one extra backup of their online images.

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These wooden USBs are not only totally on-brand but super reliable. They come in a variety of storage sizes to accommodate however large or small of a gallery I might be delivering from an elopement to a wedding day. The company is also super responsive and I’ve liked working with them on customizing the perfect USBs.

Cloud Storage

As technology progresses and fails, I highly recommend having an online backup of your photographs. Your online gallery won’t last forever and that means it’s SO important for you to back them up on your own. It could be as basic as loading them into Google Drive or iCloud. You could also pay to have a recurring backup of your desktop through Backblaze. Not only will Backblaze backup photos, but it will backup other files and folders you’d like to keep extra secure!

I hope this inspires you to take your photo storage to the next level and protect those memories! Don’t rely on faulty old computers or old technology, and always have several backups of your images. Your wedding photos deserve it!

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Written in partnership with USB memory Direct

Looking to get married in Alaska and want to know what that’s all about? Read this Blog: Everything You Need To Know About How To Elope In Alaska.