The difference between a smooth editing handoff and a frustrating one almost always comes down to how the catalog was packaged. Get it right and it takes ten minutes. Get it wrong and you are trading emails for three days trying to reconnect files. Here is the whole process, in order.
1. Clear the obvious throwaways
You do not need to fine cull. That is the editor's job. But do a quick pass to drop the lens caps, the test frames, the accidental shutter fires, the completely black or blown-out frames. You are not selecting keepers, you are clearing the floor so nobody is spending attention on frames that were never going to make it.
2. Build your Smart Previews
This is the step that saves you from uploading hundreds of gigabytes. Select everything, then Library, then Previews, then Build Smart Previews. Your originals stay put; the previews are what travel. If you are not sure what these are or why they matter, here is the plain-English explainer.
3. Keep your folder structure intact
Once the Smart Previews are built, do not rename files or move folders. Lightroom tracks images by their location, and reorganising after the fact breaks the link between your catalog and your originals. Build first, then leave it alone.
Done right, the handoff takes ten minutes and the edit comes back reading like you shot and finished it yourself.
4. Export the catalog with the previews
Go to File, then Export as Catalog. Name it clearly, like the couple's surname and the date. Crucially, tick "Build / Include Smart Previews" and leave "Export negative files" unticked, because you are sending the previews, not the originals. Lightroom produces a catalog file and a previews package. Keep them together in the same folder.
5. Share the package and a reference
Zip the folder and share it through Dropbox, Google Drive, or WeTransfer, with the link set so anyone with it can open it. Then add one thing that matters more than people expect: a link to a past wedding you are proud of. One finished gallery in your style tells an editor more about how you see than a page of written notes ever could.
6. Flag anything time-sensitive or must-keep
If a sneak peek is due first, say so. If there are frames that absolutely cannot be cut, the first kiss, the family group, the shot they specifically asked for, mark them. A thirty-second note here saves a revision later.
That is the whole prep. The next time you see the wedding, it is culled, graded to your style, and ready to deliver. See exactly what happens once it reaches us, or what it costs per wedding.
