Why a wedding album is worth it

Earlier today, I ordered Andrea and Cory their coffeetable book. Andrea and Cory were my Valentine's Day wedding couple, getting married on 2/14/09 in Freeport and I had such fun celebrating with them and their fantastic families as I documented the start of a new and wondrous chapter in their long love story. Exactly two weeks after they said their "I Do's", I sent a proof of their coffeetable book layout to them for their review, and after careful consideration, Andrea wrote me back this past weekend saying "We loved the book pages you put together... And we miss you, is that bad?" They had not a single change to the design; this is not uncommon as most clients have only a few if any changes. Well before their two month anniversary (yes, that's months not years), they'll have their book in hand, to enjoy with each other, and their family and friends.

I've been thinking a lot about wedding albums and books lately. Last week Emily, one of my brides who got married last summer at the Greystone Manor in York and is a WeddingBee blogger, shared some images of the signature album I created for her and her husband, as well as her experience creating some parent books using an online photo products site for consumers (the companies I work with cater specifically to professional photographers). In her post, she talked about why brides should definitely buy a professional wedding album, and how powerful they are at evoking emotion and bringing generations together to reminisce about the wedding day featured in the album, and their own. In the comments section below, some discussion ensued as to whether it is necessary to order an album or book from a photographer, when so many of of today's brides are web savvy enough to make their own using a service like Shutterfly, Snapfish or Blurb. It's a rather common question, especially in today's economic climate when many couples are considering where they can cut costs and thinking a professionally designed album or book is an obvious splurge to start with. Some couples tell themselves that they'll make their own book online after they get those thank-you notes sent out, or that they'll hold off and wait to order an album or book from their photographer for their first anniversary. But life soon takes over and it's an easy thing to put on the backburner. My WeddingBee bridal blogger Emily was telling me that if it wasn't for my regular reminder emails, they might still not have their album in hand. "Do you find that clients who don't purchase a package including an album never get around to getting one? I think we might have been in that boat. I'm SO glad we got it included up front," she wrote to me.

While albums and books certainly aren't for everyone, I do recommend strongly that if you do want one, you order it through your photographer. When I was starting out in the business, I couldn't understand what all the fuss about albums was but last January (2008), I went to a big industry trade show to look over albums, books, etc. After holding the albums in my hands, I finally understood. It took many months of research, connecting with a ton of other photographers and talking to clients about their needs and wants before finally arriving at the companies I decided to use for my albums and books.

Now, designing client albums is a highlight of my wedding work. It's quite a complex process as taking 1200 or so images and then selecting from those the ones that best tell the story in a timeless way is an exhausting and emotional task. I pre-design my albums and books, which means I lay them out and then clients can make changes from there. I am blessed to form close enough connections with each couple and that helps me understand what they are looking for in their album/book and as a result, they usually have very few changes.

Stephanie and Brian were one of my couples from this past summer who decided to purchase an album showcasing their Samoset Resort wedding. It arrived in the mail about two months after their wedding on the exact same day they picked Brian's mother up at the airport for a visit. The next day, Stephanie wrote me a note that I think really speaks to the value of purchasing an album from your photographer. "It's absolutely perfect and really tells the story of our big day. We couldn't be any happier," she said. "One of my friends who got married in January couldn't believe I had already created my album. She seemed surprised when I told her I left it in your hands but there really is no other way to go. Trying to create your own album must be a nightmare - you over analyze each picture until you lose the emotion that it captures. Thankfully we had a photographer we trusted to pull it all together for us! The upgrade was a good decision - we can't wait to show our grandchildren one day. We're coming home in August and our families will be very excited to get a look!"

I design all my albums free hand (instead of using a template program or turning them over to an album design company) and this process really is a true extension of my story telling beyond the story I write with my camera on the wedding day. As a longtime reporter, I can make the analogy that photographing a wedding and then not giving the client an album or book is like going out and doing all these interviews for a story, but never actually having my story printed. Plus as a reporter, I wouldn't do the legwork and then just give my notes to someone who doesn't even know how to write and ask them to write the story. The album or book is the presentation of the story, and for many people, forms the way they remember this most important day.

And to bring you some color on their dreary Monday, here are some of the sample spreads from Andrea and Cory's book. It's a 10 by 10 coffeetable book with a hinged binding, meaning the pages lay flat and none of the photograph is lost in the gutter where the pages come together. (I design each page on its own, but I've put them together here so you can see what the complete spreads would look like. The thin black line indicates where the binding would be.)

































Did you opt to order a wedding album or book from your photographer? Why or why not and if you did, what did you think of the finished product?

(And yes Andrea and Cory. I miss you too!)