Backing up wedding photos: the 3-2-1 rule for photographers

Protect photos on the wedding day

• Use a camera with two card slots and record to both at once.
• Use quality cards, replace them regularly and never delete from a card on a computer.
• Don’t delete or format cards until photos are backed up in at least two places.
• Keep used cards in a separate case that stays with you.

The 3-2-1 rule

3 copies

The original on your computer plus two backups.

2 types of storage

For example an external drive and cloud storage, so if one type fails the other remains.

1 offsite

One copy outside the studio, in case of theft, fire or flood.

The rule is simple but effective: to lose photos, all three copies would have to fail at once, which is very unlikely.

A routine after the wedding

That night

Copy photos from the cards to your computer and to a backup drive.

Within 24 hours

Sync to cloud storage or an offsite drive.

Verify

Open a few random photos from the backup to make sure files aren’t corrupted.

Then

Only format cards once three safe copies exist.

A client gallery is not a backup

An online gallery lets clients view, pick and receive the finished photos, but it doesn’t replace your own backup of the original files. Always keep RAW files and edits in a separate backup system.

In Wedify, version history and the 14-day trash help you recover if a photo in an album was replaced or deleted by mistake, but original files should still be backed up with the 3-2-1 rule.

How long should you keep files?

There is no single answer for every studio. What matters is agreeing with clients and writing it in the contract: how long you keep originals, how long the online gallery stays open, and by when clients should save their photos.

Remind clients to keep their own copies in several places. The photos are their memories, and they should have their own backup too.