What is a wedding photo wall?
A photo wall is a place where the party’s photos are shown to everyone, during the party. The phrase covers three rather different things.
- The physical wall. Printed photos pinned on a board, a clothesline or a frame. It is very pretty and very tangible. But the photos are the ones you chose in advance, or those of a photographer printing on site: guests do not really take part.
- The hashtag “social wall”. Guests post on a social network with a wedding hashtag, and a screen shows them. That assumes everyone has an account, posts publicly and knows the hashtag. For a private party, it is rarely what you want.
- The QR-code upload wall. Guests scan a code, send photos from their phone, and they appear on a screen or projector once approved. No account, no social network. That is what EventSlide does, and it is the form the rest of this guide is about.
The upload wall has two big advantages. It lives during the party: you see photos arrive, you laugh, you recognise someone. And it gives guests a real reason to take out their phone, which increases the number of photos you collect afterwards. If that is your first question, our guide How to collect all your wedding photos compares this approach with the others.
What do you need?
The list is short. Four things, two of which you probably already have.
- A screen or a projector. A television, a venue screen or a video projector. The venue sometimes provides one: ask. The screen must be able to open a web page, so it needs a laptop, or a television or box with a browser.
- An internet connection. The screen and the guests’ phones must reach the service. With the hosted version of EventSlide, the wall depends on the venue’s connection. Test it on site.
- A printed QR code. Several copies: one per table, one at the entrance. The app gives you the QR code and the invitation link to print from the event page. The guide QR code to share party photos goes into sizes.
- Someone to moderate. A witness, a brother, a friend. With a phone, they accept or refuse each photo by swiping. It is not a full-time job: a few minutes at each lull in the party.
Where and when to show it
The best screen in the world is useless behind a pillar. Think of its position like a cinema seat: everyone must see, without craning their neck.
Where to put the screen
- Visible from the tables. During dinner, guests are seated. The screen should be readable from most seats, without them turning right around.
- Away from the sun. A projector fades in a bright room. Avoid placing it opposite a bay window. A television copes better with daylight.
- Off to the side of the dance floor. If the screen is behind the dance floor, nobody will see it once it is full. Beside it, it stays visible to everyone.
- Not behind the DJ or the speakers. They hide the screen. Videos play without sound: the room already has its music.
When to show it
- At the drinks reception. It is the ideal moment to launch the idea: guests are waiting, phones in hand, and the first photos of the ceremony are arriving.
- During dinner. Between courses, when conversation settles: the screen pleasantly fills the room. Announce it on the mic, once.
- During the dancing. Dance floor photos and funny faces pour in. The wall becomes a living backdrop.
Once started, the wall can run on its own all evening without anyone touching it, as long as the network holds and someone moderates.
Choosing the layout and the look
The wall has more than one way of showing photos. EventSlide offers seven layouts, which you can pick according to the moment and the room.
- One photo at a time: the whole photo, with the caption and the guest’s name. The most readable from afar, ideal for dinner.
- Mosaic: several photos in a grid. Handy when many arrive.
- Polaroid: tilted photos, as if on a table. Warm, very “keepsake”.
- Film strip: a band of photos scrolling by.
- Collage: an assembly that fills up little by little.
- Split screen: two photos side by side.
- Clothesline: photos pegged on a line. Very countryside wedding.
A simple tip: start with the most readable layout, then switch when the mood lifts. You do not have to choose once and for all.
Each party also picks its own visual look: from several options, or custom. Take the one that matches your decoration. A sober, elegant party does not call for the same backdrop as a colourful open-air wedding. What matters: the text stays readable from afar, and the screen feels like your party rather than a piece of software.
Moderation: why and how
Up to two hundred people may be watching this screen, including your grandmother and your colleagues. A blurry, embarrassing or simply badly timed photo can spoil a moment. That is why, in EventSlide, nothing appears on the screen without your approval.
How to moderate
- On a phone. One photo at a time, you swipe right to publish and left to refuse. It is done standing up, drink in hand.
- On a computer. A queue with all the pending photos and grouped actions, handy to approve a burst quickly.
A few simple rules
- Name the moderator in advance. You, the couple, have no time. Choose someone calm who knows your guests.
- Check in at regular intervals. Every fifteen to twenty minutes is enough. If nobody moderates, the queue piles up and the wall stays empty: guests think it does not work.
- Keep a light hand. Refuse what is truly inappropriate, blurry or duplicated, not what is merely funny or unflattering. A guest laughing in the photo will not mind.
- Tell your guests. One sentence is enough: “Everything goes through a moderator before it appears on the screen.” It reassures them.
Livening things up with photo missions
A guest told “send your photos” does not always know what to send. Photo missions answer that. You write a short list of challenges, which guests see as a checklist on their phone. In their head, the question changes from “is it worth sending?” to “which one is left?”.
Mission ideas
- To get started: “A selfie with the couple.”
- For laughs: “The worst dance move.”
- For emotion: “A moment you do not want to forget.”
- To mix the tables: “A photo with someone you just met.”
- For children and the shy: “A detail of the decoration.”
How to write them
- Four to six missions are enough. Beyond that, nobody finishes the list.
- Mix the easy, the funny and the tender. A mission that is too embarrassing scares people off.
- Write them the way you would talk to friends, in one sentence.
- Plan one for each moment: ceremony, drinks, dinner, dancing.
Common mistakes
Nearly every flop comes from the same places. Knowing them is already avoiding them.
- A QR code that is too small or badly placed. On a cluttered table, a stamp-sized QR code is invisible. Plan for a postcard-sized format, and several copies.
- A badly placed screen. Behind a pillar, facing the sun, at the back of the room. Walk around the room before the guests arrive.
- Nobody to moderate. The queue fills, the screen stays empty, everyone concludes it does not work.
- No test beforehand. Run a full test the day before or that morning: scan with two different phones, send a photo, approve it, watch it appear.
- A network you did not check. In some venues the Wi-Fi is capricious. Uploads from a phone are queued and retried, but the wall’s own screen must be able to connect.
- Announcing too late. If guests do not know there is a wall before midnight, it stays empty through dinner. Announce it early, and more than once.
- The wall as the only attraction. It is a bonus, not the centre of the party. Let it live in the background.
How much does it cost?
We will not quote competitors’ prices: they change, and we do not want to give you wrong ones. Here instead are the broad types of solution, to find your bearings.
- A full service. A company installs the equipment, a host runs everything on site. Convenient, but it is a service, so a quote.
- A paid online service. You pay per event or by subscription, and you run the screen yourself. Plans and limits (number of photos, how long photos are kept) vary: read them before choosing.
- A free online service, with limits. An entry-level offer, sometimes with a brand displayed or a short duration.
- Software you host yourself. No subscription, but it takes some IT skill.
EventSlide, for its part, is free by invitation on our hosted service, and free software: if you are comfortable with computers, you can host it yourself. The equipment (screen, cables, connection) is on you in every case.
The photo wall checklist
Tick as you go. You can also print this page and slip it into your wedding-day folder.
A few weeks before
The day before or that morning
During the party
The next day
To learn more, see our page on the wedding photo wall, or how it works, step by step.