Google Photos shared album for a wedding: does it work?

It costs nothing, the photos keep good quality, and you can turn the album link into a QR code for your tables. Guests who already use Google Photos will find it familiar, and you end up with everything in a library you already know how to browse, search and back up.

For a small wedding where most guests are comfortable with their phones, and where you are happy for everyone to see everything, it can be all you need.

Google's own help pages describe the current steps, which change from time to time. The outline is:

• Create a new album in Google Photos and give it a clear name, such as your names and the date
• Open the album's sharing options and create a link to share
• Make sure the option that lets other people add photos is switched on
• Turn the link into a QR code and print it for tables, the bar and the welcome sign
• Before printing, test the link on a friend's iPhone and on a phone that does not use Google Photos

This is the step that decides whether people actually add their photos. Depending on their phone, browser and whether they use Google Photos, guests may be shown the album in the browser, asked to open the app, or asked to sign in before they can add anything. Viewing an album and adding to it are also two different actions, and not everyone notices the add button.

None of this is a problem for tech-comfortable friends. It is a problem for grandparents, guests on weak venue Wi-Fi, and anyone who gives up after the second screen. That is why the test on someone else's phone matters more than any other step.

Google's help page is explicit: when you share a link to your album, anyone with the link can view the photos and add to the album. That is convenient, but it means a link forwarded beyond your guest list opens the whole album, and there is no review step before an upload is visible to everyone else.

• Every guest can see every photo, including ones you would rather keep private
• Anything added appears straight away, with no host approval
• Removing the link later stops new visitors, but people who already saved photos keep them

A shared album is a library, not an event tool. It is not built to show host-chosen photos on a screen during the reception, to keep separate QR codes for different tables or areas, or to tell you how many guests have contributed. If those things don't matter to you, that is fine. If they do, you will want something built for events.

If you ticked all of them, a shared album is a sensible free choice. If you hesitated on two or more, a dedicated upload page will probably collect more photos with fewer questions on the night.

• A small guest list, most of whom use Google Photos already
• You are comfortable with every guest seeing every photo
• You don't need to approve photos before others see them
• You don't plan to show photos on a screen during the event
• Someone will test the link on several kinds of phone before the day

If your guest list is mixed, if you want to review uploads before they are visible, or if you want a Live Wall during the evening, a dedicated upload page is simpler for guests. With CandidCrowd, guests scan a QR code, choose photos and videos and upload in the browser, with no app or account. You keep the originals in a private gallery and decide what is shown, and on a paid plan the same link keeps accepting uploads for weeks after the wedding.

There is a free plan, so you can set up both before the wedding, test them on a relative's phone and keep whichever feels easier.

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