5 Ways To Share Your Wedding Photos (& win a custom USB drive, ends 1/30)

This 5 Ways To Share Your Wedding Photos post is sponsored, but all thoughts and opinions belong to A Bride On A Budget.

When we got our wedding photos back, we had over 1,300 photos. Those were the touched up, edited, good versions of our photos. I can't even imagine how many there were when you add in the raw photos.

But even with 1,300, it was near impossible to print them all and mail them to our parents. Those would be such heavy envelopes to mail. You want to get the photos to your families, though, so I came up with a few ways help you share.

5 Ways To Share Your Wedding Photos

1. Google Drive.
When we went to Japan, we took a ton of photos. Pete took the photos, loaded them to his computer, and put them on Google Drive. Everyone who had the link was able to edit and add their own photos. That way, we could all share our photos. And anyone who didn't have photos were still able to access the link and download whatever they wanted.

You can do the same with your wedding photos. Create a link on Google (or something similar) and add it to your wedding website. Make it so anyone with the link can edit, so every one of your guests will be able to add their own photos. Then, everyone can download their favorites and do with them as they please.

2. Prints.
When we sent out thank you cards, we included one photo in every card. I went through all our photos and found one photo of every friend/couple. I had them printed and put one photo print in every card. That way, our friends and family who came to the wedding but didn't have access to our professional wedding photos were able to see at least one photo of themselves.

They were also able to see photos of us. I put a few of my favorite photos on our thank you cards. One was from the ceremony, two from downtown, and one from the reception. So, if our guests missed any part of our day, they were able to see it in photos.

For other people (our parents, and those who really helped us out), I actually gifted them prints in frames. I only put frames on dressers and shelves, not on walls. If you are sharing photos with someone like that, go with either smaller frames or canvas wraps.

3. Custom USB Drive.
This one is very similar to what we did. We got our photos on a custom USB drive from our photographers. Our names and wedding date were printed on the outside and our photos were loaded to the drive. It was in a box with our photographers' logo on it. I. Was. Floored. I had never seen something like this before and I thought it was incredible.

When it was time for us to share the photos with Pete's dad, we picked up a standard USB drive and loaded the photos on to it. But, oh how I wish I could have made it a little more special.

So you wouldn't believe how I felt when I learned about Artsy Couture recently and, guys, the boutique photo lab sells custom USB drives. You can add your own photos to the drive itself (horizontal photos are recommended) when you order it. When it arrives, you can load it with all your wedding photos. You can choose either an 8GB or 16GB drive, but I recommend getting the larger one. High-res photos take up a lot of room, so you want to get one that can hold all your photos. You can also choose premium acrylic, premium wood, or standard white. Plus, you can add a customize presentation box, which makes for a great gift idea.

4. Photo Books.
Our wedding photographer gave us a book of photo proofs with our USB drive. Each photo was labeled with the same file name as the photo on the USB drive so it was easy to figure out which was which.

When my mom was in town after we got married, I let her look at the book of photo proofs. She wrote her favorites down, then I downloaded them in a file from the USB drive to create a photo book for her. She wrote down a separate list for a photo book for my grandma too, so I made her a book as well. It was a great way to narrow down the photos and show my grandma photos that she would care about. She was able to see all her grandchildren and friends in her photo book and didn't have to skip through photos of our friends and anyone she didn't know to get to the photos she wanted to see.

I don't care how independent you are or how much you want to buck the system. Let your dad walk you down the aisle on your wedding day. It's something he's been thinking about since you were born. Give him that moment, regardless of how you feel about it because wedding traditions are important. And they become so much more important after the fact, when it's too late to go back and redo them. Find out why they're so important in the latest post on www.abrideonabudget.com (clickable link in profile).

A post shared by Lisa from A Bride On A Budget (@abrideonabudget) on Dec 1, 2016 at 6:12am PST

5. Social Media.
If you have time to upload a ton of photos, social media is a great option. I only uploaded a handful of ours, but I don't use Facebook that often. Some of my friends upload hundreds of their wedding photos, and I just love it -- especially if I wasn't able to make it to the wedding. Being able to see photos from when the couple is getting ready until when they're leaving the reception, it really makes you feel like you're there.

If your album is public, your friends will be able to tag themselves and share the photos that they want to their own timeline. That way, they'll have them easily accessible when they want to print them.

Be sure to check out the Artsy Couture blog for more inspiration. You'll get tips on mobile photos, learn about this season's hottest product: foil, and more. And you can easily go from the brand's blog to its website, where you can see all the products the Maryland-based company has to offer. Plus, be sure to follow the brand on social media:

Artsy Couture: Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest | Instagram

Actually, following Artsy Couture on social media is part of our giveaway entries. Yup, giveaway! We are giving one lucky person a custom 16GB USB from Artsy Couture. The winner gets to choose the style.

This giveaway starts now and ends at 11:59pm EST on January 30. The winner must be a US resident who is 18 or older at the time of entry. The winner must respond to a winning email within 24 hours in order to claim the prize or another winner may be selected. A Bride On A Budget is not responsible for prize fulfillment.

Good luck.

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BRIDAL BABBLE: What ways are you planning on sharing your wedding photos?