Wedding-day AV checklist for the slideshow

The slideshow itself needs no operator. It’s the screen, the internet, and the power cable that cause wedding-day surprises. Run this checklist and the only thing left to chance is what your guests photograph.

The week before

• Ask the venue three questions: Is there a TV or projector we can use? Does wifi reach it? Can we plug in a laptop by HDMI? Their answers pick your setup below.

• Choose your screen setup:

  Setup	Use it when	Watch out for
  Laptop + HDMI cable	Almost always (the most reliable)	Bring your own HDMI cable and laptop charger
  Smart TV browser	No laptop available	Older TV browsers can be slow or fail fullscreen
  Casting (Chromecast / AirPlay mirroring)	No cable run to the screen	Casting device and screen must share the wifi

• Confirm internet at the screen’s location. The slideshow streams photos as guests upload them; venue wifi is ideal, and a phone hotspot works as a fallback.

• Lock in your settings on the Live slideshow control page (layout, timing, name overlays) so the link you hand off is final. See Slideshow settings.

The day before (test run)

• Open your live link on the actual hardware, click Start the slideshow, and confirm it goes fullscreen. If nobody has uploaded yet you’ll see the waiting screen with its QR code; that means it’s working.
• Upload a test photo yourself and watch it join the rotation (allow up to a minute). Delete the test photo afterward from Photos & video.
• Disable sleep on the laptop or TV so the screen doesn’t go dark during dinner, and turn off notifications on a laptop; they pop up over the photos.
• Send the link to whoever runs the screen with Copy for the DJ, and tell them their entire job is: open link, click Start the slideshow, reload the page if asked to.

An hour before guests arrive

• Power everything from the wall. A laptop on battery dies before the bouquet toss.
• Start the show. Starting early is free: the waiting screen invites the first uploads, and the rotation replays the whole night in order anyway.
• Scan the on-screen QR yourself as a final end-to-end check: phone → upload → photo appears on the big screen.

During the reception

• Nothing. New photos join automatically about once a minute. If a photo needs to come down, that’s a one-minute fix. See How to moderate photos during the event.

FAQ

What if the venue wifi dies mid-party? Photos already in the rotation keep playing; the show doesn’t go blank. New uploads pause until the connection returns; switching the screen device to a phone hotspot and reloading the link brings everything current.

Does the venue screen need a login? No. The live link is public and works in any browser, which is exactly why unfamiliar venue hardware isn’t a problem.

Should videos play with sound? Default is silent, and silent is right whenever a DJ or band is playing. Turn on Play video with sound only for a quiet stretch, and test the screen’s volume first.

Do I need to keep my own laptop or phone on? No. Once the venue device has the link open, your devices are out of the loop. The screen pulls uploads directly.