Captured Photography by Jenny

Happy Thursday!

Today’s Tidbits post is on Wedding Albums and Books.

What’s the big deal about them anyways? Why are they so expensive? And is it something brides really need to invest in?

I think it is pretty easy for everyone to agree that it is important to have great images to look back on and remember your wedding day. Today, in a digital age, we have more options than ever to do that.

We offer three packages here at Captured Photography for weddings. All three include a disc with the images (because I think it is so important to have digital copies of your photos). Two of our packages also include albums. Sometimes when my brides are trying to decide between the non-album package and the ones with them, they ask my opinion.

I thought I would share it here as well. I think the disc is important… but to me.. it shouldn’t replace having a wedding album.

I know that when I first got married I received my disc and boom… I had my wedding photos everywhere. My wallpaper on my desktop, my phone, on the walls in the house, etc. But, to be honest, all of those things have now been replaced by photos of my kids and us as a family. It doesn’t mean that I don’t still treasure my wedding images… life has just changed.

Now, I still have my disc… but do I pull that out to look at the photos? Unfortunately, not very often at all. Remember a disc includes lots and lots of photos (our clients usually receive anywhere from 800-1000 on their disc). Who has time to sit and look through that many images on a regular basis?

An album can be a way to view your favorite images in just minutes. You can sit there for a moment and flip through the pages and be taken back to that special day.

Here are some other practical reasons I think they are the bomb-diggity.

An album can be personally designed for you.

There are more album cover styles to pick from today than ever before. Not only that, our albums are designed based on your favorite images, not ours. So the album includes the photos you LOVE.

An album gives you something to show friends and family.

No offense, but your friends and family probably aren’t going to want to sit and look through 800 photos either. It is much easier to show your wedding album than it is to fire up a computer and search for your pictures every time you want to show them to someone.

An album gives you something to show your grand-babies.

Though we give our clients advice on how to back up and save their digital images, the chances of people losing them 50 years down the road is probably decent. An album is something you can keep for generations to come. Your children and grandchildren will want to know what you looked like on your wedding day. How awesome to be able to show them through a book?

An album is something you can touch and feel.

It may be artsy-fartsy of me but, staring at pictures on a computer screen isn’t the same as flipping through the pages of an album or having prints.

A professional album is worth the money.

I’ve heard it before, “Why do I need an album from my photographer? I’ve got the digital files, I can make my own prints and put them in my own album.”  Yes you can make your own album with your disc, but it won’t be the same. Professional-quality, custom-made album companies only sell to professional photographers. That means your options are to buy the type of album with slip-in plastic sleeves or a hardcover book style you can order online. A lot of the time their books are printed on a paper that will not last through the years. It is easy to rip and the quality will fade. Not only that, you will have to put in the time. It can easily take Shelly 2-3 full days to pull your files, retouch any images needed, and design the album.

I know that not everyone can afford to have the photographer you want AND a package with an album. If I was faced with that decision.. I would go with the right photographer and work on getting an album after the wedding. Most photographers do sell them ala carte later. Who knows? You can even ask for it as a wedding gift?

Hope this helped you in making your decision!

And, because it is always fun to show photos of what we are talking about. Here are some of the albums and books we offer at Captured.

This is the Flushmount. The type of album we include with our wedding packages.

And the Thinbook. This is great for Guest Books (filled with Engagement Session images). They are also becoming popular for Parent Books.