What To Do With Your Photos

You spent months planning your wedding, celebrated with your loved ones, and have gotten your photos back from your wedding photographer…so now what are you suppose to do after your wedding?

What To Do With Your Photos

Once you receive your professional photo gallery, make sure to download the entire gallery and save the pictures in multiple spots. You never want to have your photos only saved on your computer or on your phone and potentially lose all of your professional photos if it crashes, especially your wedding photos. I recommend downloading your photos and saving them on your computer, a cloud system, on a hard drive, and/or on a USB.

Here’s a few ideas on what to do with your professional photos once you’ve received them back from your wedding photographer (and they’re saved in multiple spots).

Print out your photos*

Do NOT let your photos just live on your phone/computer/social media!!! It’s so special and so important to have physical copies! This also includes printing out iPhone photos, not just your professional photos.

Get your favorite photo(s) printed on a canvas*

Similar to above, printing a few photos on a canvas is really nice to have displayed in your house especially for larger prints.

Make a photo album of your wedding/elopement or photoshoot*

This is such a nostalgic way of telling the entire story of your big day (or photoshoot) and remembering every little detail. You could also gift a mini photo album to your parents!

Use the photos as cards*

Share your photos with your loved ones through a card – Save the Dates, holiday cards, graduation announcements, invitations, thank you notes, etc.!!

Gift framed pictures to your families and friends

There’s birthdays, Christmas, Hanukkah, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, and any other special occasion you have to give out gifts. A framed photo of you and that particular family member/friend is a meaningful while also pretty inexpensive gift.

Use your photos for personalized gifts

Get your pictures printed on a mug, magnets, an ornament, a phone case, a puzzle, blankets, a mouse pad, a calendar, digital art, and more. There are so many options to display and/or gift your photos!

*Note: For my clients, after your photo gallery is delivered, I offer printing services for prints and cards to make it easy for you within your personal gallery! I can also create a photo album at an additional price for you to make it as easy as possible for you!!

7 More Things to Do After Your Wedding

The Legal Stuff After Your Wedding

If you’re planning on changing your last name after you get married, it’s a bit of a different process within each state. I’d recommend googling how to change your name in the specific state you live in. But I promise it’s really not that hard of a process (coming from someone who’s changed their last name)!

Some things that you’ll have to change your name on:

• Social Security card – I recommend doing this one first (see how here)
• Driver’s license
• Passport
• Bank accounts, debit cards, and credit cards
• Voter registration
• Postal service with USPS
• Veteran benefits (if applicable)

Send out Thank You Notes

Write thank you notes to each of your guests that attended your wedding and for the gifts you received at your wedding. This includes cash gifts too! Getting thank you notes sent out within 90 days after your wedding is usually the best to ensure it actually gets done.

Leave a Review for Your Wedding Vendors

Leave your wedding vendors a review. Let the world know how amazing your wedding vendors were on your big day!! You can either send a personal note to your vendors or post a review online.

Finish Your Registry and Make Returns

Make sure to snag whatever is left on your wedding registry. Some retailers might also offer a discount on the remaining items if you do so within 30 days of your wedding date. But now is the time to purchase more expensive items and complete dinner sets. Close out your registry when you’re done purchasing what you wanted. Also send in any items you want to return or if you received two of an item (because you certainly do not need multiple toasters).

Dry Clean Your Wedding Dress and Suit

Whether you’re planning on saving your wedding attire for future uses or you are planning on selling your wedding attire, you should dry clean it. The longer you wait, the harder it is to get any stains out.

Sell Your Stuff

Keep whatever you want that you purchased for your wedding – dinnerware, decorations, table centerpieces, etc., and sell whatever you don’t want to keep. There’s plenty of Facebook groups to sell/buy wedding items in bulk, Poshmark, Depop, or you can donate it to a thrift store.

Start Planning Your Anniversary Photoshoot

The first year of marriage is typically so busy between traveling on your honeymoon, potentially moving in together, settling back into normal life together, and just all the everyday routines — but this sweet season of life should really be documented together. A few reasons to convince you to take pictures for your first wedding anniversary:

• You’re still young and hot (kidding!!)
• You don’t LOVE your wedding pictures and want new pictures in your wedding attire
• You’re planning a fun anniversary trip and want photos in that location
• You actually do love your wedding pictures, but still want more some pictures of you wearing your wedding attire. Maybe in that same location you’re planning that trip for??
• You are pregnant by your first anniversary and want announcement/maternity pictures while also celebrating your first anniversary
• You’re creative and have a certain vision in mind for a photoshoot you want to be apart in

Reach out to a local photographer and document the end of your first year married!!

Anniversary Photographers

Well hey there – if you didn’t know me already, I’m Emily! I’m a California and Destination wedding and elopement photographer based in Southern California. I spend a lot of time photographing adventure elopements of rad couples around the world. I’m obsessed with all things elopements, being out on the water, outdoor adventure, and am truly so grateful that I get to call this my job!!! 

If you’re looking for a photographer for your California elopement who will:

• Photograph your beautiful California elopement ceremony and activities through storytelling photos that you can look back on for the rest of your life
• Help you come up with your dream elopement day and itinerary
• Help you find activities in the California area to make your elopement intentional, unique, and memorable

…then I’m your person!!!

Visit my website to learn more about me, get to know my approach to photography, and then reach out to me if you think we’re a good fit. I cannot wait to hear from you and start planning your first anniversary photoshoot!!