We had lived together for years before the wedding, sharing meals, busy weeks, and all the ordinary routines of the same home. By then, she felt like family. When she needed a hand with the slideshow, saying yes was easy.
The night before the wedding, we ended up in a long, very nerdy conversation with the groom about getting guest photos from a Google Drive folder onto the big screen at the venue. It was the first time we had really spent time together, and somewhere in all the technical back-and-forth, we got to know him properly.
We said it should be possible. Since the wedding was the next day, “possible” quickly became “we should probably build this tonight.” So that is what we did. By morning, we had something that mostly worked. It wasn’t polished, there were bugs, and we kept a close eye on it throughout the reception. But the photos made it onto the screen, which was enough.
Then the first photo appeared
At the reception, someone uploaded a photo and waited for it to come up. When it appeared on the big screen, they pointed it out to the people around them. Then someone else tried. And then everyone seemed to understand the game.
Guests took photos, uploaded them, and kept glancing back at the screen. They called friends over when a picture appeared and started taking new ones because they knew the whole room might see them. What was meant to be a background slideshow became something everyone at the wedding was making together.