One thing I do highly encourage ordering is a wedding album. Some clients do not have the funds upfront when they sign the contract, which is fine. Clients are more than welcome to order albums and prints after their wedding.
Personally when I got married years and years ago, I hired a friend who was just starting to photograph weddings on her own and she ordered me the sweetest gift along with my pictures, a small wedding album from Shutterfly. I still treasure that small album to this day, but it has shown some wear and tear over the last 5.5 years. Although it stays in a display case in my livingroom, when I went to photograph it I noticed it is starting to bend and warp.
So, I decided to create a blog post to compare the professional albums you can order from your photographer vs creating an album on your own via shutterfly, wal-mart, etc.
First, my personal shutterfly album.
As you can see here, the pages are naturally bending and warping
The spine itself looks okay, but…
From this angle you can see, it no longer fully closes.
Also, why is there a barcode? I have no idea.
Now here is a sample album from one of my 2014 weddings. This album was printed through my professional printer. It is a 8×8 leather bound album with 15 spreads and thick pages.
The front cover features a beautiful script debossed into the leather.
It lays flat, so you can use an entire spread without an unsightly interuption.
The pages are strong and so far I have not had any issues with bending or warping.
There is no doubt in my mind, these professional leather bound albums will last a lifetime. As I design them, I love thinking about who will be browsing through them 50-100 years from now.
Did you book an engagement session with me previous to your wedding? If so, maybe you would like to consider ordering a custom album to display at your wedding or even a custom guest sign in album (as shown here).
What sets the guest sign in album apart from the standard album?I personally design every album. For the guest sign in album, I leave extra space in the album for the guests to sign. I also use a flat matte paper, which works well when paired with an acid free quick drying scrapbook marker for signing.
Once the engagement pictures are delivered in the online gallery, the client is able to go through and mark their favorites. From there I can coordinate those photos into the album size of their choice.
The clients are also able to tell me which image they would like on the cover. Standard albums wrap the image the whole way from the front to the back on the album cover. Shown here is an upgraded leather wrap feature, available in multiple colors with white or black stitching.
A customized message is also typed and placed in the front of the album, if requested. There are so many ways we can customize your album and make it unique to you.
The following pictures are just a small sample of this ten spread album. In addition to customizing the physical size and cover of your album, you can also choose the amount of pages inside the album.
These albums lay flat and none of the photo is lost in the binding.
Once the pages are designed, they are uploaded into a preview gallery for the client to approve before it is sent off to the printer.
These Custom Albums are available to all my clients, not just Engagement and Wedding clients. You may want to purchase one of these for your newborn, birthday, or even family session. If the event was important enough to capture with a session, why not order a forever album?
Or even purchase multiple copies to gift to family members, make sure to ask about the multiple copy discount.
The matte paper is professionally pressed onto cardboard, so the pages are strong and will withstand time. No fear of rips or tears.
This album was extra special for me to design because I sat with my soon to be sister-in-law and designed it for her July wedding to my brother. I hope she loves it as much as I do.
If you want more information on how to order a custom album from a previous or upcoming session, use the contact section to send me an email or give me a call at 724 640 0544.
