Now that the wedding season is coming to an end, it seems like the perfect time to switch gears and share a few photos of some recent wedding albums! And a wedding album post would be incomplete if it didn't also feature some helpful tips for you to create the perfect album to contain all your favourite memories.
So please enjoy, and hopefully these guidelines help you in creating your luxury, heirloom wedding album!
HOW MANY PHOTOS SHOULD I CHOOSE?
Albums start at 30 photos and there are options to upgrade to 50 or 100. My suggestion would be to do an initial look through your gallery, flagging photos that you think you'd love to have in your book. If that number is 45, you can probably shrink it down to 30 by eliminating a few photos that are similar. If your initial cull is closer to 125, chances are you're looking at either 50 or 100 photos!
An album with 30 photos is generally simple and hits only the main elements of the day, whereas an album with 50 or 100 has more detail shots and a few more memories of candid moments and guests.
One quick note that I find super helpful when guiding my clients to choose their photos, it's more about telling a story than selecting your favourites.
HOW TO TELL YOUR WEDDING STORY
When narrowing down your large gallery to a small number of photos, it's easy to skip a photo of the church in favour of an extra shot of the wedding party, or a different version of that shot with you and your parents. But a photo that sets the location of the wedding day becomes the thread that ties your wedding together as a story.
When choosing photos for my own wedding album, I was thinking of my future children flipping through the book in their teenage years. I am so glad I have photos of the ceremony setup and the resort where we got married in there to piece it all together!
Simply put, I'd plan to include at least one photo to set each unique scene. One shot of your dress hanging in your prep location, one shot of the ceremony location (ex. the floral arch or the church from the outside), one shot of the reception interior.
INCLUDE A FEW DETAILS
Even if it's just three or four photos sprinkled into your collection, detail shots add a LOT to the look and feel of the book.
For example, I love when a couple chooses a photo of their wedding invitation suite. I almost always put that photo on the first spread as a way to document the date, time, and details of the day right off the bat.
A bouquet shot will also liven up a spread that features photos of the wedding party. A reception details shot will pair perfectly with photos of your speeches or your first dance.
When an album is entirely made up of faces taken at a similar distance, there's much less story-telling going on as you flip between the pages.
PRIORITIZE PHOTOS WITH FEELING
In 20 years, you'll probably feel more of a connection with candid photos of your friends and wedding party making speeches or enjoying the reception than you will of a posed photo where everyone is looking at the camera. Choose the photos that really show off how much fun you had!
Pro tip: When I create your final gallery, I take the photos that have the most emotion and feeling to create your duplicates in black and white. Look for those black and white shots in your gallery and consider them in your design! It's really stunning when you mix colour and monochrome shots in your album, trust me!
CONSOLIDATE!
It's easy to feel pressure to include a photo of each family member in your book, and what ends up happening is you'll spend 3 photos on bride-with-mom, bride-with-dad, bride-with-brother, when you could opt for 1 photo of all 4 of you together.
THE COVER SHOULD SUIT YOU AS A COUPLE
Your album will likely spend it's entire life in your living room, either on your book shelf or on a coffee table. You want it to look like it fits in your home, rather than choosing a cover that might match your wedding colours. When in doubt, neutral covers are absolute perfection.
You're able to choose the engraving you'd like to appear on the cover. Some of my clients use their names, their initials, their wedding day, or a simple phase like "Best Day Ever."
If you're planning your wedding right now and you have some questions about packages and pricing, have a look through my portfolio and you'll find that the wedding album is included with your package!
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