Two kinds of birthday dump exist, and they need different orders. The one about your own day can run chronologically once the cover shot is in place. The one you post for somebody else should open with the best photo of them, because that frame sits on their tagged page for years.
What to put in it
1. The oldest photo you have of them. Opening a friend's birthday dump with a childhood or first-met photo is the most reliable way to get comments.
2. Cake, before and after. Candles lit, then the destroyed slice. Two slides and you have a story.
3. The badly-timed group shot. Somebody blinking, somebody half out of frame. Beats the version everyone posed for.
4. Table wreckage. Glasses, crumbs, confetti at 1am. Closes a party dump better than another portrait.
5. Gift close-ups. Hands unwrapping, the handwriting on the card, ribbon on the floor. Breaks up a run of faces.
6. Getting ready. Mirror, makeup, an outfit on the bed. The build-up is half the story.
7. One year of them. For a friend: a slide per shared trip or night out from the past twelve months.
8. The candid laugh. Whatever photo makes you smile, however blurry, goes in. Save the flattering one for slide two.
Ordering a birthday dump
Whose birthday it is decides the order. Theirs opens with the best photo of them; yours can start with the mood of the night and run in sequence.
Cut hard. A birthday night produces hundreds of near-identical photos, so keep one per stage: getting ready, table, cake, dancing, the end.
Tag everyone who appears. Re-shares to stories are how a birthday dump travels beyond your own followers.
Slide counts, crop and the rest of the mechanics are on the main photo dump guide.
Captions
- the birthday dump, finally
- documented by everyone, edited by no one
- cake first, photos later
- a year of these people
- still recovering, worth it
- happy birthday to the reason this camera roll exists
More, grouped by mood: 100+ photo dump captions.
FAQ
How many slides should a birthday dump have?
Ten to fifteen. Birthday nights generate hundreds of near-identical photos, so pick one per stage of the evening rather than five of the cake.
Which photo should go first in a birthday dump?
For somebody else's birthday, the best photo of them, because that frame shows in the feed and in their tags. For your own, the one that sets the mood rather than the most flattering one.
More photo dump guides
- Photo dump: what it is and how to make one
- 30 photo dump ideas
- Which photo dump app you need
- 100+ photo dump captions
- Aesthetic photo dump guide
By month
- August photo dump ideas
- September photo dump ideas
- October photo dump ideas
- November photo dump ideas
- December photo dump ideas
- January photo dump ideas
By occasion
Then post it
Pick the cover shot first. The rest of the night more or less orders itself.
If assembling the slides is what keeps the post in drafts, PSTR assembles the slides from your camera roll and exports them at Instagram sizes. Free on both stores, with the AI layout on iPhone for now and the manual editor on Android.