Albums do not expire, a host's deletes stay reversible for 30 days, and every file lives in two regions. That's the whole policy; the rest is detail.
On every plan
An event has no expiry clock. Its date, and an end date if a host adds one for a weekend or a trip, only say when it happens: nothing closes, locks or removes an event because a day passed. It stays up, with every approved photo, until the host deletes it. Guests keep the same link for as long as the event exists.
The free plan's one rule
On the free plan only, an event nobody touches for about 24 months is warned by email (Your Partyreel event will be removed soon, two weeks ahead), then moved to Deleted, where it can be restored for 30 days. Any activity resets the clock: the host signing in, a new upload, an edit to the event. It exists so abandoned free albums don't sit forever; it never touches an album someone is using, and paid plans are exempt.
The Event Pass
A pass covers its event with 25 GB for about a year from purchase. When it ends without a renewal, the account settles to the free plan and nothing is deleted. If the album is bigger than the free plan allows, there's a 45-day window to renew, upgrade, or make room before Partyreel makes it: Deleted empties first, then the largest files move into Deleted. See how long an Event Pass lasts.
Deleted, and gone
Removing a photo or deleting an event moves it to Deleted for 30 days, with a countdown and a Restore button. It still counts in the host's storage while it waits. After that, the file is permanently deleted. Delete permanently skips the wait. See hide, remove, and restore.
A guest deleting their own upload is different: it's deleted from the event right away and can't be recovered, by the guest or the host, so it never waits in Deleted.
Where the files live
Every upload is stored in one region and copied to a second region minutes after it arrives; the album's records are copied nightly. That's the whole durability story: two regions, and a host's deletes that wait 30 days in Deleted.
Keep your own copy too
The album is a shared, durable home for the photos, and the originals come out any time: a host's Download offers Originals, and a guest's Select, then Save, takes them home. Two copies in two places is a good habit for the ones that matter.