How to collect wedding guest photos with a QR code — no app needed

Why a QR code works better than a hashtag or a group chat

The usual ways of gathering guest photos each lose people along the way. A hashtag only finds photos posted publicly on one social network, and plenty of guests never post at all. A group chat compresses images and buries them between messages. A shared-album app asks every guest to install something and sign in, and many simply won't.

A QR code skips all of that. Most phone cameras read QR codes directly, the code opens an upload page in the browser, and the guest picks photos from their camera roll and taps send. There is nothing to install and no account to create, so the only effort left is pointing a camera.

What you need before the wedding

• A place for the photos to land. A private photo wall such as MomentBeam, where every upload goes to one wall that only you manage.
• A guest upload link and its QR code. You create it in the app. The same link works as a QR code and as a short address people can type.
• Something to print it on. Table cards, a welcome sign, a card by the bar — anywhere guests will be while their phones are out.
• Optionally, a screen. If you want photos to appear live at the reception, a TV with an Apple TV, a laptop, or a Google Cast device. Collecting photos works without one.

Step by step: setting up the QR code

1. 1

   Create your wall and a guest link

   Sign up, create a wall for the wedding, and make a guest upload link. Decide whether photos wait for your approval and whether to ask guests for their name or a caption.

2. 2

   Pick an expiry that covers the day

   A guest link lasts 24 hours, 7 days, or 30 days. Create the link you will print within the month before the wedding and choose 30 days, so the printed code still works at the reception and for the photos that arrive the morning after.

3. 3

   Print the QR code with the short link under it

   Use Print QR in the app and keep the short link below the code for anyone whose camera will not scan it. Add one line of instruction, such as “Scan to add your photos — no app needed.”

4. 4

   Test it with two phones

   Send a photo from an iPhone and from an Android phone, approve them, and check that both arrive. If you are showing photos on a screen, test on that screen at the venue.

5. 5

   Collect, then export

   After the wedding, export everything from the wall, and delete the wall once you no longer need it. Deleting removes the files, not just the listing.

One thing to know: a link's address is shown once, when you create it, and every link has its own QR code. If you revoke a link or replace it with a new one, print the new code — the old one stops working.

Where to put the QR code

Put the code where phones are already out and hands are free.

• On every table. A small card or a sticker next to the table number. This is where guests sit with their phones between courses.
• At the entrance or the seating chart. Everyone stops there, and it introduces the idea early.
• By the bar and the photo booth. Places where people wait a minute with nothing to do.
• On the screen, if you have one. Show the code on the big screen early in the evening so late arrivals can scan it too.

Ask the MC or a friend to mention the code once, early in the reception. One announcement, plus cards guests can scan whenever they like, reaches people that a single sign at the door will miss.

What your guests see

Scanning the code opens an upload page in the phone's browser, with the title and welcome message you chose. Guests pick photos from their camera roll — up to 10 at a time — and tap send. If you asked for a name or a caption, they fill it in first; otherwise there is nothing to type.

Photos straight from an iPhone (HEIC) work, as do JPEG, PNG, and WebP files, up to 30 MB each. MomentBeam collects photos only, not videos.

The upload link opens the upload page and nothing else. Guests cannot browse other people's photos, download originals, or change anything on your wall.

Staying in control of what is shared

• Approval. With approval on, every photo waits in a queue until you release it from your phone or browser. Turn it off if you trust the crowd and want photos to appear straight away.
• Revoking the link. If the code ends up somewhere it should not, revoke the link and it stops working immediately.
• An upload cap. Set a limit on the link if you want a ceiling on how many photos it accepts.

Want the photos on a screen during the party?

Collecting is half of it. The same wall can show approved photos live on a TV at the reception — on Apple TV, in any browser, or on a Google Cast display — so guests watch their photos appear seconds after sending them.

Read the guide to a live wedding photo slideshow on a TV →