The Ultimate Guide To Your Wedding Album

Wedding albums can be a confusing subject.

There’s so many options – do you want a leather cover or metallic?
Engraved or not? Glossy or matte?

With so many choices it can quickly become overwhelming. Our ultimate guide
to wedding albums is here to explain what all of these different options
mean and help lead you towards your dream album.

Why Should a Bride Invest in a Wedding Album?

In today’s world, we’re able to take thousands of photos and share them
online instantly. Having the ability to upload all of your wedding photos to
an online album and share them with loved ones all around the world is
undeniably convenient, but there’s nothing like a tangible keepsake that
beautifully captures your special day. A wedding album tells your story,
using the best photos that you’ve hand-selected in a classy and elegant
photo album.

For years to come, you, your partner, your parents and someday even
your kids will be able to sit down and flip through the album and
reminisce about your perfect day.

A wedding album is a focused amount of images that tell the story of the
wedding, from venue preparations and getting ready, to walking down the
aisle, to cutting the cake.

Online albums hold hundreds of photos that viewers spend only a few
seconds glancing through. As a tangible product, a wedding album is
much more accessible to share and pass around in a social environment.
Further, digital copies of images can be lost if the disc or hard drive are
damaged, and as technology advances, it’s difficult to keep the images in
a format that can be easily viewed.

A physical album is not only a static medium, but it is sturdy and durable
and can be passed down through generations.

The dress, the cake, and the flowers will only be used once, but a
wedding album will last a lifetime.

Why Hiring a Professional Photographer is a Must

When you’re planning the perfect wedding, there are so many different
aspects to keep in mind. Bridesmaid dresses, menu selections and seating
arrangements are only the beginning.

But perhaps the most important thing to keep in mind when planning
your wedding is that all of these details will only matter on that single
day, but the pictures provide a lasting reminder of the joy and love that
surrounded you.

When it comes down to it, you want to have high quality photos that accurately
depict the beauty and romanticism of your nuptials. These photos will be
passed down through generations and you want these cherished memories to be
presented in a tasteful and skillful manner.

A professional photographer will have not only the best cameras and
equipment to capture these treasured moments, but a trained eye that
will be able to determine what poses, lighting and angles will look best.
A professional will have the knowledge and experience to understand
what types of photos you will be happy to receive. It is important to
remain budget-conscious when planning your dream wedding, but when
it comes to cutting corners, the photography is not the place to do so.
Professional-quality photos will be used and appreciated for a long time
after the actual wedding, and they are worth every penny.

Photo Books vs. Photo Albums

Photo books and photo albums are both beautiful wedding keepsakes
that contain photos and text that tell a story of your big day. However,
the primary differences between the two are the technology, paper and other
materials used for printing them. The contrast between the finished products
is exceptional when it comes to quality and durability.

learn about the difference between wedding albums and photo books

Photo books are printed by digital presses on regular, double-sided paper.
They are fully customizable with special photo effects, custom text and
different types of covers and pages.

Typically, photo book covers come in a variety of options, including soft
covers, photo covers, leatherette covers and genuine leather covers.
In addition, photo book pages can be either lay flat or regular.

photo book lay flat pages

Lay flat paper refers to the type of binding that is used for the book and
describes how the pages lay flat when the book is opened, making
viewing the photo book a much more streamlined and beautiful
experience.

Photo albums are printed by a photographic process onto professional
photo paper. They are also fully customizable with special photo effects,
custom text and different types of covers. Typically, photo album covers
are bound genuine leather or premium leather and almost always feature
lay flat pages.

Photo albums are generally flush mount, meaning that each page is printed
as one photo and then mounted on a thick, durable cardstock that
does not fold. The overall quality of the materials used in a photo
album is much higher than in photo books, and the difference between
the two can be seen and felt instantly.

We delve in to the specifics behind the different types of covers, pages
and printing technologies in the following sections of this ebook.

Watch a video about flush mount albums

Photo Book & Album Sizes

Wedding albums and photo books come in a variety of sizes.

The most common photo book sizes are the following (in inches):
❉ 5×7
❉ 7×5
❉ 8.5×11
❉ 10×10
❉ 12×12
❉ 11×14

Whereas wedding album sizes are (in inches):
❉ 8×8
❉ 10×10
❉ 12×12
❉ 11×14

A standard photo book or photo album comes with an average of 20
pages, meaning that if you were to include a minimum of one photo per
side, you would be able to include 40 photos in your book or album.
Of course, you can add as many photos as you’d like and even add extra
pages as needed.

Today’s trends indicate that a lot of brides are choosing a larger wedding
photo album, such as 11×14. A larger album means a larger canvas for
photos and memories. However, many brides still prefer the traditional
10×10 and 12×12 album sizes.

When choosing a size for your album, thinking about where you will store
the album will help you decide what size is appropriate for you.

How is Your Wedding Album Printed?

The way most photo books and albums are printed are quite different.
The majority of photo books are digitally printed while many albums are
printed using the Silver Halide process.

The digital printing process is similar to how you would print out a
document or photo from your own printer at home. Photo books that use
this process are printed from professional, industrial printers that result
in a higher quality than your own personal home printer.

The Silver Halide process involves using a negative of your photograph on
a light sensitive paper and a piece of equipment called an enlarger.

BB guide fun fact silver halide

After the exposure, there is no image on the paper, but just a hidden outline
of the photo. Your photo is then taken to a dark room and
exposed to different chemicals to reveal the latent image of the photo.
Afterwards, the image appears flawless on the cardstock.

Wedding Album Cover Options: Which is Right for You?

Albums come in a variety of cover options ranging from photo covers,
leather covers, printed leather covers to metallic covers. Depending on
your preference, one cover may stand out more than another.

Let’s review the options:

Photo Cover – Photo covers are one of the most common cover options
for both books and albums. Your favorite photo is printed on
professional canvas cardstock and comes in a glossy or matte finish.
The process to create a photo cover requires a lot of skill and practice.

Watch a BrideBox lab technician create a photo cover for an album

Leather Cover – Leather covers come in genuine leather, premium
leather and embossed leather. The difference between genuine and
premium leather is that genuine leather is created with three individual
pieces of leather that cover the front, back and spine of the album.
A premium leather album is a single piece of higher quality leather that is
custom fitted to the album itself.

Embossed covers are single pieces of premium leather with specific
designs and patterns. Most embossed covers resemble reptilian skin
patterns such as crocodiles and pythons, but BrideBox does also offer
an ostrich pattern for the bird lovers.

Please note that these embossed leather covers are not made out of real
crocodile or snake skin.

Photo Printed Leather Cover – Combining the best of both worlds,
a printed photo leather cover has your favorite wedding photo printed
onto a premium piece of leather that is custom fitted to the album.
These printed leather covers come in a variety of colors:

BB guide leather cover samples

photo printed leather album cover

Metallic Photo Cover – A metallic photo cover is a relatively new kind of
photo album cover that is a combination of a brilliant (or luminescent)
metal with genuine leather.

metallic photo album cover

Wedding Album Pages: Glossy, Lustre or Matte?

Album pages come with many options including glossy, matte and lustre
finishes.

Glossy Album Pages

A glossy finish is a shiny coat that is perfect for bright and vibrant photos.
However, the main issue with a glossy finish is that fingerprints may show
easily.

Lustre Album Pages

Lustre is in between glossy and matte. It is not as sharp or vibrant as
glossy, but not as muted as matte. It is considered a professional finish
and it reduces glare and fingerprints.

Matte Album Pages

Matte is a duller, but overall more even finish. Regardless of where light
hits a matte finish, your photos will look great because light does not
reflect too much off of matte photos. It also has a reduced showing of
fingerprints. Matte is considered very professional and many
photographers prefer it when creating albums. But, it’s not as vibrant
as glossy.

Telling Your Story With Your Photos

Your wedding album is meant to tell the story of your big day.
Each carefully selected photograph represents a different moment in the
story and sets the scene for that moment. You’ll want to remember all
the funny details and accurately portray the love that was felt on that day.
The most effective wedding albums start with the beginning of the day:
the bride and groom each getting ready with the support of the
bridesmaids and groomsmen, the venue set up exactly how you dreamed,
the important people in your life arriving, etc.

Typically each “section” of the day is split up by a transition image to help
streamline the story. As the album progresses, you’ll want to be sure that
each picture will help you recall the details that made that particular moment
special.

Expert photographers will be mindful of the album as they shoot the day,
and they will be sure to take photos of smaller details such as the cake
cutter, cufflinks or shoes.

When laying out the images in the physical album, there are several different
techniques used that can help accentuate certain images and emphasize
the important moments.

For example, white space can be used to really draw focus to a photo of the bride
walking down the aisle, or the first kiss. Switching from black and white to color
photos gives a before-and-after effect.

Simple details that go into the design process of the album layout will give your
story direction and convey the message that you want.

flush mount wedding album

Engraving Your Album

Wedding albums usually have the option for engraving, unlike
photo books.

The engraving is done by a professional imprinting machine and gives
brides many options in regards to location, font and color.

The location of the engraving can vary, but the most common area is in
the lower right hand corner of the album.

BB guide engraving fonts

Colors – Many brides like keeping their albums relatively simple with
engraving colors. The most popular colors are Gold and Silver.

engraved photo album cover

 

How To Take Care Of Your Wedding Album

After all of the time and effort you’ve spent on designing and creating your
gorgeous new wedding album, you’ll want to be sure to take care of it so that
your friends, family members and loved ones will be able to enjoy your
album for years to come. Taking care of your wedding album is an important
measure to take so that your memories will be preserved for generations.

Do not expose your album to extreme changes in temperature or humidity. The
ideal storage conditions are temperatures between 55° and 95° F and humidity
between 5% to 60%. It is also important to remember not to store your book in
direct sunlight. Over time, your album may accumulate dirt and dust. Dust as
needed with a dry, soft cloth and if necessary, remove dirt with a damp cloth.
Be sure to avoid rubbing near imprinting. When enjoying the book, use your
fingertips (not fingernails!) to turn the pages. Using fingernails may damage
the edges of the pages. When not in use, store the book flat, preferably in
a protective case or cover.

 

How Much Does the Average Wedding Album Cost?

The average cost of a wedding album varies based on the quality of the
features that you select. For example, a 12×12 flush mount album with
a metallic cover that is engraved will certainly be more expensive than a
8×8 flush mount album with a genuine leather cover without engraving.
In addition to the quality of materials used, price for wedding albums also
varies greatly depending on the photographer.

Photographers often include albums as an “all-inclusive” package deal
along with their services, or as an à-la-carte item that can be purchased in
addition to their services. Photo albums require a lot of time and energy
from the photographer’s end, and so they are able to markup the price of
an album to whatever they deem worthy of their time and effort.
When photographers offer photo albums as an add-on to their
photography services, the average cost of an album ranges from
$1,000 to $1,500 for a basic flush mount album.

Photographers that include photo albums as part of an “all-inclusive”
package generally include 8-10 hours of their photography services,
a second photographer, all necessary equipment, digital files, web hosting
and the design and creation of the photo album.

These packages are meant to give you the idea that you are getting a
great deal for the price since you are getting so many different items in
the package. However, these packages typically range from $1,500 and
can be as expensive as $5,000 or more.

Naturally, with so many options, there is a wide range of prices for a stunning,
high-end wedding album.

BrideBox Wedding Albums offers the same sizes and professional-grade
photo albums with a variety of different features to fit your needs, with
the added bonus of our easy-to-use online tool that allows you to design
every aspect of your own personal keepsake and also enable you to save
money in the process.

BrideBox’s albums are guaranteed to be as beautiful and durable as any
other professional-quality album.

BB guide wedding album cost

When the reception is over, the flowers have dried out, the final piece of
cake has been eaten and the last gift has been unwrapped, there will only
be the love, the memories and the photos remaining from the big day.

A beautiful, sophisticated wedding album is the perfect way to display the
beauty and magic that surrounded you on that day. You and your loved ones will
be able to look fondly back upon the cherished moments included in this album
for generations to come.

When all is said and done, your wedding album is a treasured keepsake
that will stand the test of time.

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