Starting to think about your wedding albums? Before ordering, consider this…
Wedding photo album design has a lot of variables besides color, style and price. There are many other factors that will ultimately affect the finished wedding album that aren’t immediately apparent when clients and photographers discuss options. Most wedding albums have a range of print sizes and apertures (overlays) available and many won’t fit the ratio of your photographs, meaning that they will usually need to be cropped.
Normally, this is not a problem, but it can be very difficult when you have beautiful options of nice overlays of a one size only to find that the print size you have won’t fit that style! If, as a client, you would like to have a lot of involvement in the production and design of your album, then it is important to try and bear this in mind!
Another variable that affects wedding album production is the style, or quality of some albums. In my research to find the best products, I have been disappointed in some of the albums I have come across in order to try and find more affordable options for my clients. Some albums are made from rather cheap materials that can have a plastic appearance whilst others are just not very well designed and your overlays and leaves can appear rather shoddy.
When choosing a wedding album design, I recommend looking for a more expensive option where you can see the quality before you buy. Wedding albums are by no means cheap, but like a wedding ring, you want them, and the precious photography they contain, to last forever .
My final though on album design from a client’s perspective, perhaps try and think how images will flow together in an album when discussing with your photographer. Try and find out how many images you can afford to put in the album and what images are essential to telling the story of the day. An album, unlike a book, is more costly, so put a bit more effort into your selection.
Try and be as involved in the design as possible, but also trust your photographer. A real professional will know what is going to look good, be functional and which options will be right for you and your wedding photos. Still, there’s little aesthetic point to having a reportage photographer and having an album compiled of nothing but traditional group shots so, if going that route, try to always incorporate a good mix of all of the styles of photography offered by your professional.
I love to have feedback from brides, grooms and other photographers. If you have suggestions, tip or advice about choosing a wedding album, by all means, let me have it!