Amy & Mitch got married in Fort Collins Colorado on New Years Eve, their wedding was beautiful in every way. I want to use their book as a jumping off point to discuss the process of designing beautiful wedding albums. Wedding Albums are important! They are one of the few ways that you will have a physical/tangible memory of your wedding day and when done well they should bring you right back to that beautiful day.

Amy and I collaborated a lot on the design of their book. I always encourage couples to thoughtfully select the images that will be in their book, and to consider it a piece of art that tells the story of their wedding rather than a typical family photo album. Amy did an amazing job of this, and looking through the end product really brought me back to their wedding day…exactly what an wedding album is supposed to do!

Here are a few things I’d suggest when making album design choices:
1. No family photos…ok, maybe just a few! LIMIT yourself. Instead, why not a shot of your dad walking you down the aisle, your mom helping fasten your necklace? Those types of images capture emotion in a much more meaningful way than a posed shot.
2. Don’t skimp on the details. You spent so many hours designing tablescapes, choosing lighting, color palettes, florals, jewelry, etc…and they really help to fill out a wedding album! Start from the beginning of the day and choose photos that cover the whole event from getting ready to the dance party.
3. Don’t choose photos because you have to, choose the ones you love. No one else will look at this album as much as you will, so don’t let pressure from anyone else influence your decisions.
4. Heed the advice of your photographer : ) Haha…I don’t mean to sound pretentious, but I’ve seen a lot of these books, I’m a visual person and I know what is going to look good! I won’t ever push you in to a decision (see #3) and I can give as much or as little advice as you want.
5. Last but not least…think cohesive. From the outside in, the album should reflect the feel of your wedding day. Choose your colors for the cover & gilding, your title, and your images in a creative and thoughtful way!
Just a few shots from Mitch & Amy’s album:
(if you want to see another post/more photos of my albums…click here)

Most often, the way wedding photography is done these days is all digital and couples want a disc of their edited photos, and rightfully so! I think its great to be able to have access to all of your digital files, and to easily share photos with friends and family (and a disc is part of all of my packages). BUT with the industry changing from film to digital I think something important was lost, and that is the tangible prints and albums that a lot of people miss out on. Why not have the best of both worlds? I think there’s something special about having an album of your wedding photos or some prints framed on the wall rather than looking at everything on a screen. No matter what budget you’re working with, there is an option for you…take the disc and have a few prints made. Pick one of your favorites and splurge on a canvas. Go all out and order an heirloom quality album that will tell the story of your day, I guarantee you won’t regret it!