What to write on the wedding QR signwith six texts ready to copy
A QR with no sentence under it gets scanned by nobody. Here are six texts to copy as they are, one for each place the sign ends up, plus the line that always goes under the code and the minimum size for it to be readable.
Before you start
The sign has one job: make it clear in two seconds what happens if I scan. The reader has a glass in one hand and a cousin talking: they will not read three lines. It needs an invitation (what to do), a promise (what they get) and a reassurance (who sees the photos). Everything else is noise. And under the code goes the address in plain text, always, for whoever does not scan.
What you need: the album's link (on Dumpbox it is on the event page, with the QR already generated), a printer, and card stock if the sign has to stand on its own. The A4 sheet with QR and address already exists: "Poster to print", from the event page.
The line that always goes under the QR
The link's address, in plain text, without "https://". One person in ten does not scan QR codes, by choice or because of an old phone: they need to be able to type the address in the browser. Dumpbox's A4 sheet already puts it under the code; if you make the sign yourself, use a readable typeface, not a decorative one.
The six texts, ready to copy
- 1
On the table
"Scan and upload tonight's photos. Only those of us here will see them. Thank you, Chiara and Marco." Three lines, the couple's names at the end: the sign speaks in their voice, not in a service's.
- 2
On the bathroom mirror
"Took some photos? Upload them here before you forget. No app, ten seconds." The mirror is where people have their hands free and a moment of pause: it is the sign that collects the most.
- 3
At the buffet or the bar
"While you wait: scan and upload the photos of the evening. No sign-up." Whoever is in the queue has the phone in hand and nothing to do: you give them something to do.
- 4
At the church or the town hall
"The ceremony photos: upload them here, today or tomorrow. We will see them all together." Sober tone, no "tonight", and the invitation holds for the next day too, when people look back through the camera roll.
- 5
At the kids' or teenagers' table
"Your photos count double. Scan, pick, upload." Teenagers take more photos than anyone and never ask permission: a sign that takes them seriously works.
- 6
Bilingual, for guests from abroad
"Le foto di stasera, in un posto solo: inquadra e carica. / Tonight's photos, all in one place: scan and upload." Two lines, same meaning, the second language under the first. If half the guests speak another language, the bilingual sign goes on every table, not just some.
The minimum size
A QR is readable if it is big enough for the distance it gets scanned from. The practical rule from the makers, as given by DENSO WAVE, who invented the QR code, is that the code's side grows with the distance: on a table, scanned from thirty or forty centimetres, four centimetres a side are enough; on an easel at the entrance, read from a metre, you need at least ten. And leave a white margin around the code: without it, many cameras will not lock on.
Glossy paper and low light are the QR's enemies: the reflection covers the code. Matte card, and never a QR printed on a dark background unless you have tested it first with two different phones.
The sheet that is already made
If the album is on Dumpbox, the event page has "Poster to print": an A4 with the QR, the event's name and the address written underneath in plain text. It is vector, meaning it shrinks to a place card without pixelating, and "Save as PDF" gives a real PDF to send to the print shop. The sign's text you add yourself with one of the six above, by hand or on a second sheet next to it.
The sign promises three gestures. If it promises four, people do zero.
A well-written sign gets more people to scan; it does not make every photo arrive. Half comes the day after, when you resend the link in the group.
We do not manage the consent of the people in the photos: the sign says what happens to the photos, and the approval queue and the remove button stay in the organiser's hands.
Frequently asked questions
- How many signs do I need?
- One per table, one on the bathroom mirror, one at the bar. The entrance alone is not enough: there, people have their hands full and their mind elsewhere.
- Does the QR have to change from one sign to the next?
- No: it is the same link everywhere. Only the sentence changes, because the moment the person reads it changes.
- Can I put the QR on place cards or on the menu?
- Yes, as long as it stays at least four centimetres a side with the white margin around it. The vector poster shrinks without pixelating; a QR made from a screenshot does not.
- What if someone does not want to appear in the photos?
- The sign does not solve consent, and should not pretend to. Whoever organises approves the photos before anyone sees them, and every photo has a report link. The line "only we will see them" belongs on the sign only if the album really is private.
You already have the QR
Create the event, open "Poster to print", add one of the six lines. Five minutes.