Wedding book design is similar, and at the same time, completely different from album design. Wedding albums have a variety of options but they’re all based upon physical prints, whereas the wedding book can be as creative as you are! I design my photo books around my client but we’ve already done rather fun things with the versatility of a book that just couldn’t be done with an album. For example, we made a panoramic of the top table, featuring the wedding party.
What I also like about photo books is that you can get so many more photographs in them. Most couples can’t seem to choose just 20 or 30 photos.
I suggest getting really wild with your book if you can! I’ve met clients where the children are so excited about the wedding that they draw pictures of the big day and themselves as bridesmaids and it strikes me; why not include this in the book? You could get your photographer to scan in your invitations, wedding plans, business cards of the caterers and DJ’s etc., and use as background material for the photographs to sit upon (a bit like scrapbooking on a grader, more elegant scale!). Another cool idea is creating formal books that resemble albums, or you can go the other way and make them very messy and organic in their structure.
Photo books can often be cheaper, but even better that they’re much more malleable. The book can sit on the coffee table (hence the name coffee table wedding photo books) or on the shelf, instead of the album being preciously wrapped in cloth and preserved in its box to only be looked at once a year! And, should the unthinkable happen to your precious photo book, you can usually just print another one at a reasonable cost which can’t be done reasonably with a traditional album/photographs. I offer an added discount on multiples of the book since the main cost is the design work. These make great gifts for the parents of the wedding couple.
I think the wedding photobooks will continue to be a preference for me and with my clients as they seem to be part of the digital photography revolution. I do have a strong nostalgia for working with film and in the darkroom, but there’s much to be said about the possibilities that digitally printed books can bring.
Did you choose a wedding album or coffee table photo book? Tell me why or feel free to ask me questions about these new style books.
