Christening photos: from the church door to the cake, in one family album.

Even when a photographer comes for the service, most christening photos are taken by whoever has a phone out: the parents between holding the baby and greeting people, the godparents, a grandparent with a camera they bought for the occasion. By the next weekend, the good photos are on six different phones, a few are in a family group chat, and the photo of all four grandparents together exists only on the phone of the aunt who took it.

One family album keeps the whole day together.

• Everyone adds their own photos to the same place, from the church door to the last slice of cake.
• Relatives who could not come get one link instead of a trickle of forwarded pictures.
• Afterwards, you download the lot and keep it with the baby’s first photos.

By default, anyone with the album link can view the photos, and a link can be forwarded. Share it with family and close friends, not on social media (see who can open the album).

Whether you can take photos during the service varies from church to church, and from one priest or minister to another. Don’t guess: ask the priest, minister or parish when you book the christening, and pass the answer on to your guests before the day.

• Ask whether photos are allowed during the ceremony, and whether flash is all right.
• Ask where people may stand, so nobody blocks the view for the grandparents.
• Ask whether there is time after the service for photos at the font or by the altar.
• If a photographer is coming, let the church know and ask the same questions for them.

The Church of England’s guide for parents preparing for the day reminds families not to forget photos, because “your child will be able to look back on them when they’re older”. Whatever your church says about the service, the photos outside and at the party are yours to plan.

Most families want the gown, the godparents, the grandparents, a photo outside the church and the cake. The baby will not pose and the day moves quickly, so agree the list before you leave the house.

• The christening gown. Photograph it on the baby before anyone sets off, and once on its own. If the gown has been in the family for years, take one of the baby with the person who wore it first, or with the person who kept it safe.
• The godparents. Each godparent with the baby, and all the godparents together with the parents. These are the photos people ask for years later.
• The grandparents. Each set of grandparents with the baby, then all of them together while everyone is still in one place.
• Generations. If a great-grandparent is there, line up the generations: great-grandparent, grandparent, parent and baby.
• Outside the church. The whole party on the steps or by the door, straight after the service, before people head to their cars.
• Small details. The candle, if your church gives one, the lace on the gown, the card from the godparents, tiny hands.
• The cake. Before it is cut, from above and from the side, with the baby’s name readable. Then the cutting itself.

Give one person the job of calling the groups (a godparent is ideal, see below), or you may come home with fifty photos of the baby and none of the people who came for them.

Godparents often want to help and do not know how. Photos are a good job for them.

• One godparent calls the groups. They work through the list outside the church, so the parents can stay with the baby and their guests.
• Another collects their side. If the godparents come from different parts of the family, or different friendship groups, each can make sure their people add photos to the album.
• Get the parents in the picture. Parents are often missing from their own baby’s christening photos. A godparent can take the parents’ phone and make sure they are in a few.

If the baby has an older brother or sister, a camera of their own can make the day theirs too. An old phone without a SIM or a children’s digital camera works well. Their photos will be crooked and full of knees, and some will be the ones you keep.

FotoDrop’s terms say that direct guest use is intended for people aged 16 or over, so younger children should not upload on their own. Copy their photos to your phone after the day and add the best ones to the album yourself. The album itself must be set up by an adult: the terms say hosts must be at least 18.

Many christenings end with a small gathering: lunch at home, a room at the local pub or hotel, or tea and cake in the church hall. It is often where the most relaxed photos happen, and where the QR code does its work.

• Stand a small QR sign by the cake or the teapot, where people linger.
• Say a word about the album once, perhaps when the cake comes out: “If you took photos today, scan the code by the cake and add them to Saoirse’s album.”
• Ask someone to photograph the table before it is cleared.
• Post the link in the family group chat as well, for anyone who would rather tap than scan.

The QR code belongs to the album, so print as many copies as you like: one by the cake, one on the tables, one at the door. Every copy opens the same album.

Many families have someone who cannot travel for a christening: grandparents in Spain, a great-aunt working in Dubai, cousins in Canada or Australia. Send them the album and they can see the whole day.

• Send the link by WhatsApp, text or email, with a short note: “Saoirse’s christening photos, for family only. Please don’t pass the link on.”
• They open it in their phone’s or computer’s browser, without installing an app or creating an account, and can view and download the photos while the album is active.
• They can look whenever suits them, even if the christening happened in the middle of their night.
• If you add a password, send it in a separate message. If you turned on encryption, send them the complete link.

If someone important cannot make the service at all, ask the church whether it can be shown online. The Church of England’s christening FAQs mention that possibility for someone you hoped would be a godparent but who cannot be there, “if the church has the facilities”. The album then fills in the rest of the day.

The baby can’t have a say, so the parents decide what happens to their photos. Some parents are happy for family to post, and some would rather the baby’s photos never go online. Tell guests which you prefer, kindly and early, so nobody has to guess.

• Parents first. A line in the invitation or the family chat is enough: “We’d love your photos in the album. Please ask us before posting any of the baby online.”
• Other people’s children. Cousins and friends’ children will be in the photos too. Ask their parents before you share a photo of them anywhere, including in the album.
• Respect a no. If someone asks for a photo to come out of the album, the host can delete it; there is no option to hide a single photo.
• Think about what a photo shows. A church sign, a house number or a location tag can tell strangers where a family lives or worships.

For the wider picture, see our guide to guest photos and GDPR. It is general information, not legal advice.

Create the album with an email address you check, and give it a name the family will recognise, such as “Saoirse’s christening”. You sign in by email to manage it.

Every album has one sharing link and one QR code, and you can download the QR code image to add to a sign of your own or to the back of the order of service. A printable A4 QR poster is included from Mini upwards.

• Print the sign a week or two before, and send the link to family the day before.
• Remind people to keep the upload page open until it confirms that their photos are uploaded.

Try the guest flow in a separate rehearsal album: scan the QR code, select a photo, wait for confirmation and check that it appears. A test photo starts the hosting period, so use your event album only when you are ready for that countdown to begin.

Guests open the album in their browser without installing an app or creating an account. By default, people with the shared link or QR code can view its photos while the album is active. A link can be forwarded, and recipients can save copies.

• Password: you can add a password when you create the album. Guests then need it as well as the link or QR code. Send it to family separately, so a forwarded link alone does not open the album.
• Browser encryption (optional): you can also turn on encryption when you create the album. Photos are then encrypted in the browser before upload, and the key travels in the complete link and its QR code, so guests need that complete link. FotoDrop keeps recovery information so you can get the key back by signing in, which means FotoDrop itself is not locked out of the key.

We strip GPS location and device details from the optimised photos and keep only the time each photo was taken, which matters when the party is at home. Rarely, a photo can’t be optimised and is uploaded as selected; it then keeps its original metadata, including location. Videos are uploaded as recorded and can keep their location data. If that matters, ask family to turn off location for their camera before filming.

FotoDrop does not use your photos for advertising, profiling, face recognition or AI training.

A password or encryption changes who can get in. It doesn’t stop anyone who can see the photos from saving or forwarding them, so share the album with people you trust with photos of your baby.

Your Free album holds up to 100 photos in total and stays available for 14 days from its first successful upload. No payment card needed. Videos are not included.

A Free album suits a christening where the family wants photos from one day. Because the countdown only starts with that first upload, you can print the sign and send the link early. FotoDrop doesn’t send reminders to your guests, so send one message yourself a few days after the christening, with the link and a date to add photos by.

On its own, a Free album is photo-only; you can add a video pack (€4.99) for clips such as the godparents’ toast or the cake being cut, each up to 2 minutes long. If you expect more photos or want more time, Mini costs €9 one-time for 500 photos, 10 videos and 30 days. If you upgrade after uploads have begun, the paid period runs from the day you buy it. You can upgrade the same album, so the printed code keeps working. See pricing and how it works for the details.

Album details and uploaded photos on FotoDrop.eu use Cloudflare storage restricted to the EU. Email delivery, network handling, support, logs, caches, visit measurement and backups have their own processing arrangements and may involve locations outside the EU.

This describes where the album is stored. It is not a promise that every part of the service stays in the EU. The privacy policy covers who processes what and where. Album pages on FotoDrop.eu are in English.

Download the photos you want to keep while the album is active, then open the saved files and check that the collection is complete. Many families choose a few for prints, a frame for the godparents or the first pages of a baby book.

Photos are normally optimised to at most 4,000 pixels on the longest edge. Keep the camera originals separately if you need untouched files, larger prints or room for substantial cropping.

For a photo you want to frame or print large, ask whoever took it to send you the file straight from their phone or camera.