Setting the date, and what the date decides

Does setting it up early use up my days?

No. Your album gets a fixed number of days after the event date, and those days don't start ticking until that date arrives. Build the album in January for a June 13 wedding and June 13 is still day 0. Nothing is spent in between.

That's what makes early setup worth doing. You can't print table cards, order a sign or hand a test scan to your maid of honor until the code exists, and every one of those jobs wants a few weeks of runway. The only cost of setting up 5 months out is 10 minutes of your evening.

1. Type the real date. The date you save is the point the expiry counts from. A stand-in date moves the expiry with it.
2. Set it up as early as you want. You need the code in hand to print signs and test a scan, and early setup costs you no album days.
3. Grab the files in week 1. The 14-day, 3-day and 1-day emails are a backstop. Download while everyone still cares.

What if the party already happened?

Type the date it happened. The album won't arrive pre-expired, because a date in the past switches the count over to your setup day and gives you the whole window from there. A free album created on the Sunday after a Saturday reception runs 30 days from that Sunday.

This is a common arrival, not an edge case. Measured on 2026-08-22: 48% of albums get created on the day of the event itself or within 2 days of it, by hosts who thought about collecting the photos once the photos existed.

Can guests upload before the event date?

Yes, from the minute the album is live. The upload path never looks at the event date, so pre-party greetings, engagement photos and baby pictures for a 40th all land in the same album as the night itself.

The one thing that does gate it is payment. A paid album sits as a draft until the charge clears, and the guest page says uploads aren't open yet while it does. A free album is live the second you save it, and it takes 60 items total whenever they arrive. On the paid plans the item count is unlimited from the first upload on.

How long does each plan keep the album?

Days first, storage second. Both are per album, and both are counted from the event date.

Essential is $49 in the US. Moving up a plan re-counts the days from the same event date, so an upgrade 2 weeks before expiry buys you the whole difference.

What happens when the days run out?

The album closes on its expiry date and the files sit for another 14 days before removal. That second stretch is the grace period. Once it ends the photos are gone, the short link no longer opens an album, and no plan change brings them back.

Email warnings go out 14 days, 3 days and 1 day ahead of removal. If a nightly run gets skipped you receive 1 email covering the stages you crossed rather than 3 at once, and no album is removed with no warning on its record.

Can I keep the album but stop new uploads?

Yes. Closing uploads and the expiry date are 2 separate things, and closing uploads is instant: the guest links people already have stop working right then, and reopening hands out fresh ones. Print a QR sign after you reopen, not before.

Give it more days than feels necessary. A good share of the photos show up the next morning, from people who spent the reception dancing and went through their camera roll over coffee.

How far ahead can I set the date?

Further than any real plan needs. The setup form turns down a date more than 5 years out or more than 5 years back, which catches a mistyped year rather than a genuine booking.

You can also move the date later. Save a new one and the expiry is worked out again from that date, whether you pushed the party back a month or fixed a typo the week of.