Online portal gathers wedding photos from guests

There’s no denying the value of a professional wedding photographer, but that’s not to say that guests don’t sometimes snap some gems of their own. Aiming to give newlyweds a place to gather all those amateur treasures, Olapic is a Columbia Business School startup that allows users to easily gather, share and print guests’ pictures from their special day. Couples begin by creating a profile on Olapic and uploading the email addresses of their guests; Olapic then reminds everyone to bring their cameras to the wedding. After the big event, the site will stay in touch with guests via emails and cards to remind them to upload their pictures. Once they do, the pictures remain private until the happy couple decides to make them public, whether on Olapic or on their Facebook, Flickr or Picasa accounts. Unlike most social networking sites, Olapic allows not just those strict privacy controls but also bulk downloads of high-quality pictures; it also offers printing services to generate albums and prints. Couples can try Olapic for free for up to 100 photos. After that, a flat fee of USD 99 includes unlimited photo storage for a year (annual renewals are USD 25) along with 100 high-quality reminder cards to give to guests. Olapic also gives professional photographers the opportunity to offer additional services by incorporating guests’ photos into their own offerings. At weddings—as virtually everywhere else in life these days—user-generated content is an increasingly valuable complement to what the professionals create. Help make sure it gets captured and enjoyed, and you’ll soon be smiling for the cameras yourself! 😉 (Related: Email a photo to send prints to friends & family — Easy photo sales, direct from anyone’s blog.) Spotted by: Marta Plana