A first communion gallery where every parent collects their own photos
One ceremony, a dozen families and several hundred frames. Instead of sending packages one by one, you publish a single gallery — and each parent finds their child in it and marks the shots they want printed.
A communion is not one shoot — it is a dozen at once
A communion photographer produces more material in one May weekend than in half a portrait season. The problem is not the photography — it is what happens afterwards. Every family wants their own frames, at their own pace and in their own print count, and all of it has to be handled in parallel.
In practice that becomes a run of phone calls and messages: "can I see Zosia's photos", "how much for ten prints", "can the one by the altar be fixed?". On top of that comes a question that cannot be ignored — parents should not be browsing other people's children, and sending everyone one folder of the whole ceremony does exactly that.
The result: the material is ready in a week and the billing drags on for a month. Not because anyone is stalling, but because there is no single place a parent could simply open and choose from.
How Pixchoose organises a communion gallery
One link for the whole parish
You share the gallery once — through the catechist, the parents' group or the school. No dozen separate packages, no tracking who has received theirs.
A password protects the ceremony
The gallery sits behind a password, so a link that gets forwarded shows nobody anything. With photos of children that is the starting point, not an add-on.
Parents choose for themselves
Each marks the frames they want to order and sees their own selection counter. You receive a finished list instead of notes from phone calls.
No accounts
Parents open the link and start browsing. No sign-up, no app — because across a dozen families, every extra step is several calls asking how to log in.
Works on a phone
Communion photos get looked at in the evening, on the sofa, on a phone — often with the child. The gallery works there exactly as on a desktop.
Originals stay with you
During selection a parent sees previews, not print-ready files. You release full quality after the order and the payment.
Why privacy matters more here than on an ordinary shoot
On a family shoot one family views the gallery and the question of access barely exists. A communion is different by definition: the same photographs contain a dozen children, and there are as many recipients as families. Sending everyone the complete set shares other people's children with viewers who never agreed to it.
This is not a theoretical problem — it is the most common reason a school or parish does not rebook a photographer the following year. One parent asking why they have photos of the neighbours' children on their drive is enough to turn the whole ceremony into a conversation about personal data.
A password-protected gallery built around choosing rather than downloading solves this with no extra work on your side. A parent gets access to the material, marks what they want to order, and their role ends there — nobody bulk-downloads the whole folder, because there is neither a need nor a way to.
Common questions about communion galleries
Does every parent need a separate gallery?
Not necessarily. It is usually simpler to publish one password-protected gallery of the whole ceremony and let parents pick their own frames. If you would rather separate the families, you can create a distinct event for each.
Can parents order different numbers of prints?
Yes. Each parent marks their own selection independently of the others and sees a counter of the photos they have chosen, so they know straight away whether it fits the agreed package.
Can the photos be protected against downloading?
During selection a parent sees reduced-resolution previews, usually watermarked — not files fit for printing. You release full-quality material deliberately, after the order.
How long does a communion gallery stay available?
You set the retention period yourself when creating the event, and it affects the cost. In practice a communion only needs a period covering the ordering season — you are not paying to keep the material for a whole year.
Set your gallery up before May
Open a free account and prepare the communion gallery before the season starts. New accounts receive starting credit.
Create a free account