Wedding QR codes that don't expire
Static codes never stop working, dynamic ones stop when the subscription does. How to tell which you have before it reaches a printer.
There are two kinds of wedding QR code, and only one of them still works a year after you print it. The difference costs nothing to get right, and everything to get wrong, because you find out at the welcome table.
Search for a wedding QR code generator and most of the first page wants a subscription. Couples notice, and say so: the recurring complaint in wedding forums is a code that worked in the mock-up, went to print, and died before the day. Here is why that happens, and how to avoid it in about a minute.
Static codes hold the address. Dynamic codes borrow it.
A static QR code encodes your web address directly into the black and white pattern. Nothing sits between the phone and your website. The pattern is the address, so there is no account to keep, no service to stay subscribed to, and nothing that can be switched off.
A dynamic QR code encodes a different address, one owned by the company that made it. When a guest scans, they land on that company's server first and get forwarded to you. That indirection is genuinely useful in commercial settings, because you can change the destination after printing and count the scans. It also means the code only works while that company is paid and running.
For a wedding, the trade is a bad one. You are printing a fixed address on a fixed date for an event that happens once. The ability to redirect later is worth very little. The risk of a dead code on two hundred invitations is worth a great deal.
How to tell which one you have
Scan your own code with your phone before it goes anywhere near a printer, and read the address that comes up. If it shows your wedding website, the code is static and you are done. If it shows an unfamiliar domain, a string of random characters, or anything with the QR company's name in it, the code is dynamic.
Two more signals worth reading. If the tool asked you to create an account before it would give you the image, it is almost certainly dynamic, because it needs to tie the redirect to a customer. If the pricing page mentions scan analytics, the same applies. Analytics require a redirect, and a redirect requires a middleman.
Decide the address before you generate anything
The one real constraint of a static code is that the address is fixed once it is printed. That is a planning problem rather than a technical one, and it is solved by settling your web address early.
Claim the link first, confirm it loads, then make the code. If you are still deciding what goes on the page, that is fine. The address can stay the same while the contents change all the way up to the wedding. Our step-by-step guide to making a wedding website puts the link first for exactly this reason.
One habit worth keeping: send the address to yourself and open it on a phone that has never seen it before. Autocomplete on your own laptop will happily hide a typo that a guest's phone will not.
Make the code
Our free wedding QR code generator makes static codes. Paste your link, choose a size, and download a high-resolution PNG. There is no account, no watermark, and no expiry, because there is nothing to expire: the image is built in your browser and the link is never sent anywhere.
Print it larger than feels necessary. A code that reads perfectly on a screen can fail on a card stock with a matte finish under low light, which is the exact condition at most welcome tables. Test the printed proof, not the file.
Common questions
Do wedding QR codes expire?
A static QR code never expires. It holds your web address inside the pattern itself, so it keeps working as long as the page it points to exists. A dynamic QR code expires the moment the service behind it stops redirecting, which is usually when a subscription lapses.
How can I tell if a QR code is static or dynamic?
Scan it and read the address that appears. If it shows your own wedding website address, it is static. If it shows a shortener or the QR company's domain before redirecting, it is dynamic and depends on that company staying paid and online.
Why do some wedding QR code generators charge monthly?
Because they issue dynamic codes. The monthly fee pays for the redirect that sits between the scan and your website. Stop paying and the redirect stops, which is why couples find their printed codes dead months after ordering stationery.
Can I change where a QR code points after printing it?
Not with a static code, which is the trade for it never expiring. Decide your web address first, then generate the code. Keeping the address stable is easier than keeping a subscription alive until the wedding.
Is a free wedding QR code generator safe to use?
Check two things: whether the code is static, and whether the tool sends your link to a server. A generator that builds the image in your browser never transmits the address at all.
Couples who build their wedding on Simplyweds get their QR code generated at the point they publish, pointing at their own guest hub. If you are weighing that up against a standalone code, the online RSVP page explains what sits behind the scan.