List every place the pre-wedding photographs will appear, such as the invitation, a digital card, a reception display and signage, and write the deadline for each. The uses decide how many images, which crops and what leaves space for text. Confirm the outputs and delivery date in writing before the session.
Pre-wedding photographs often go further than a photo album. They appear on invitations, on the wedding website, on a welcome sign or in a slideshow. Each of those uses has its own shape and its own deadline. This page, part of our guide to proposal and engagement-event photography, helps you list those uses before the session so the photographs fit them.
Why list the uses first?
A photograph taken without a purpose can be beautiful and still not fit. A tall invitation needs a vertical image. A screen at the reception needs a horizontal one. A card that places text on the picture needs open space in the frame.
Listing the uses lets us shoot with those in mind. It also tells you how many final images you need. A single image for an invitation is a different brief from twenty images for a slideshow.
What are the common uses, and what do they need?
| Use | What it typically needs |
|---|---|
| Printed invitation | One or a few strong images, specific orientation, room for text if the design needs it |
| Digital invitation or save-the-date | One or two images, web-friendly format |
| Wedding website | A handful of images, varied |
| Reception display or welcome sign | A large, clear image in a suitable shape |
| Programme or menu | A small image or none |
| Slideshow | A longer set with variety |
Ask your designer or printer for sizes and formats. Our photograph print size calculator helps you check whether an image is large enough for a given print size, and the portrait format and crop brief helps you write down the shapes you need.
Working back from deadlines
Each use has a date. Printing takes time, and so do design and approval. Start with the latest date you can accept for the final image and count backwards.
The sequence is usually: session date, a margin for weather or rescheduling, selection and editing, delivery of the chosen images, design, printing. Our post-event delivery and approval calendar is built for after events, but the same logic helps you lay out a timeline here. Your quotation states the delivery period in writing, and you should add your printer's timeline to it.
An example scenario
For example, a couple plans printed invitations to go out ten weeks before the wedding, a digital version for relatives overseas and a large photograph at the reception entrance.
They tell us the three uses and the deadline for the invitation, and they ask the printer for the card size and orientation. The photographer plans some vertical frames with clean space at the top for text, a few horizontal frames for the digital version and a wider frame for the display. The couple choose one image for the invitation, two for the digital card and one for the display. Delivery of these four images is scheduled before the printer's cut-off.
Rights and permission to use images
Passing images to a printer or a venue is a use, and the arrangement should be clear. Our guide to copyright ownership and permission to use event photographs explains the general position, and the guide to choosing suitable delivery formats and access methods covers file types. Read them before the session, and ask us to confirm the arrangement in the quotation. For crops from one image, see portrait, landscape and alternative crops from an event.
What if a design changes after the session?
Designs change. If your layout moves from vertical to horizontal after the session, you may not have a suitable frame. Share a draft layout before the session where you can, and tell us if the design is still open. We can shoot a spread of orientations to give you room, though more frames do not guarantee that every layout will work.
What to tell the photographer
Share the list of uses, the deadline for each, the sizes and formats from your printer or designer, and a rough layout if you have one. We then confirm the outputs, the number of final images and the delivery period in writing, so the photographs reach your designer in time.
Checklist
- List each use: invitation, digital card, display, signage, programme.
- Write the deadline for each use.
- Ask your printer or designer for sizes and formats.
- Decide whether any image needs room for text.
- Confirm how many final images you receive.
- Read the shared guidance on copyright and image use.
Tell us where the photographs will be used and when you need them, and we will confirm the session outputs and delivery period that match, in writing, before you book.
Match our photos to wedding materialsCommon questions
How early should the session happen if we need invitations printed?
Work backwards from the invitation deadline. Allow for the session, any rescheduling for weather, editing and selection, then the printer's own timeline. Your quotation states the delivery period, and you should ask your printer for theirs.
Do we need a different image for each use?
Often yes. An invitation, a digital card and a large display have different shapes and sizes. Tell us the uses and we plan the framing and crops accordingly, rather than trying to adjust one image to fit everything afterwards.
Who owns the photographs and can we give them to a printer?
That is covered in our shared guidance on copyright and permission to use event photographs. Read it before the session and confirm the arrangement in your quotation, so you know what you can pass to a printer or a venue.
Can we leave space in the image for text?
Yes. If your invitation design places text over the photograph, tell us the layout. We can compose some frames with clean areas for text. Share a rough design or the orientation of the card.
Match our photos to wedding materials
Tell us where the photographs will be used and when you need them, and we will confirm the session outputs and delivery period that match, in writing, before you book.
What happens next: You send your event details on WhatsApp. Our team reads the brief, asks what is missing, then confirms in writing whether the date, venue and coverage can be booked, with a quotation. Opening WhatsApp does not send anything, and a message is not a booking until both sides confirm.
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