You guys know how much I love our albums. I did a whole other blog post on why you SHOULD choose an album for your wedding (some packages include one and you can always add on an album - or two - to any package, at any time). You can check that blog post out HERE. It goes into much more detail about the albums themselves and what makes them so special. If you are just getting familiar with the option of including a custom wedding album, make sure to click that link first!
In this post I want to chat briefly all about a few options you have when selecting and creating your custom album.
Linen. Silk. Leather. Thick. Thin. Size. Color. Spreads.
Options, options, options.
Let's break it down a bit. There are four options for album sizes. The cutest ever 4 inch album, 8 and 10 inches, and the luxurious 12 inch album (my all time favorite). My packages that include one are either a 10 or 12 inch album because, let's face it...you have some amazing images after your wedding and wether its in prints or products, those pictures deserve to be displayed BIG. Put on a pedestal and showcased in a way that they are begging to be. Parent albums are perfect for an 8 or 10 inch, and if your mom or grandma is the bragging kind, the 4 inch is the *perfect* option for them to keep in their purse to carry around, pulling out pictures of your wedding to show everyone images from your fairytale wedding.
Let's talk cover options. From vibrant blues to muted blush pinks, no matter your wedding colors, we have an option to match. We offer a wide range of linens that are elegant to match your wedding colors, along with several silk linens. The albums in our packages come standard in linen covers. For that ultimate luxury, you can upgrade to a gorgeous selection of Italian leathers to cover your album in. Smooth as butter and that rich leather smell, the leather option will have you obsessed with the outside as much as the images inside!
I may or may not be kidding when I say I will sometimes pull out our leather sample album and just smell it. Which is totally not weird, right?
Pages and spreads. Whats the difference? If you add an album for your wedding, or have one included in your package, you will hear me talk about spreads once we get to the album process after the wedding. These albums aren't designed by "pages", but by spreads. If you take a magazine and open it up, that left and right pages are ONE spread. So two pages = one spread. Our albums come standard with 10 spreads (or 20 pages). Each album can hold up to 40 spreads (or 80 pages) before your album would just be way too thick. At that point you just start on volume 2! When we design albums, I work with only the images you want to see included. From your gallery, I will have you select your favorite images from the day and use those to design the pages.
Yes, there are usually a LOT of images. I mean, it's hard to condense your day down to just a handful of images. Which is a great thing! Your wedding was full of amazing moments and I love when my clients love so many of their images they want to have so many of them in their albums! However, keep in mind that more images means smaller pictures on your pages. That is not in itself a negative thing, but once you see your favorite image as a full spread over two pages, it truly is breathtaking and has such an impact.
You have the option to add in additional spreads and if your budget allows, I would suggest this! Out of any upgrade to your wedding (photography or otherwise), additional spreads are by far and away the least expensive option. So having me throw in, an extra 5 spreads or so (10 pages) can make a world of difference to your album.
Another option that doesn't come up very often but is absolutely worth mentioning is is thick vs. thin pages. All my albums come standard thin pages. When you hear thin pages, you might automatically think magazine page thin. Something bendable and really floppy. Thin pages in our albums are still rigid and MUCH thicker than a standard piece of paper. Think of a few layers of cardstock and how that would be fairly rigid. There's some thickness to it, and you can't bend them without forcing it to. That is how our thin pages are. The thick pages are really, REALLY THICK. I always thought the thin pages were pretty thick, but when you feel the difference, it's really noticable and adds that extra elegant touch to your album.
So there are a lot of options that you can choose to put the cherry on top of your wedding day experience with an album. All our standard albums are total luxury and an amazing heirloom piece from your wedding. Any options you upgrade to just put it over the top amazing!
I've made a few albums over the years for personal use and the ones of my son as a baby (yes, these albums CAN be for your engagement session too!!), he loves showing them off! They're personal, lovely, and upgraded or not, will be one of your favorite ways to remember your wedding by.