Photo story prompts
Questions to ask about wedding photos
A wedding album shows who stood where. It does not say who nearly missed it, who paid for the cake or what the weather did. Go through the album with the couple, or with a guest who was there.
Who
- Who is in the wedding party, and how did each one know the couple?
- Who travelled furthest to be there?
- Who was missing, and was their absence felt?
- Who made the dress, the cake or the food?
Where and when
- Where was the ceremony, and why there?
- What was the date, and what was the weather like?
- Where did everyone go afterwards?
- Where did the couple live when they came home?
Why it mattered
- How did the two of them meet?
- What went wrong on the day that is funny now?
- What did the day cost, and who helped pay for it?
- Which moment is not in any of the photos?
One tip
Group photos are the ones to label first. A row of twenty guests is twenty names, and after one generation most of them are unknown.
Common questions
What should I write next to wedding photos?
Full names of everyone in each group photo, the date and place, and one or two things that happened that day. Details such as the weather or a late guest bring the album back to life.
Should I record maiden names?
Yes. Names before marriage are among the first things family historians look for and the hardest to recover later.
More prompt sets
Old family photos
For the box of prints where half the faces have no name.
12 questions
Photos with grandparents
Questions to ask a grandparent while they hold the photo.
12 questions
Baby's first year
A few words per photo, written while you still remember.
12 questions
A childhood home
Rooms, neighbours and routines, before the house is sold.
12 questions
One photo. Three answers. Two minutes.
Start with the print you would save from a fire. No account, nothing uploaded.