As you’re figuring out all the details, logistics, and cost of your wedding day, you might be questioning if a wedding album is really necessary for this day and age.
Maybe you’re thinking: “We’re going to have all the digitals! Why should we spend extra money on a book? Can’t I just make a cheap one online?”
Before you decide, let’s explore 3 really good reasons to get a professionally made wedding album.
The technology of a book doesn’t expire
As much as we love our digital formats, they’re ever-changing. Remember the 3 ½ inch floppy disks we grew up saving our English essays to? Even if you can find a reader for it, the files may have corrupted by now. While as a professional I make every effort to protect files, store and deliver them properly, the fact is that any digital files can become corrupted over time.
Don’t get me wrong, I DEFINITELY believe you should keep digital backups of your important images and memories. But there is still, and always will be, a place for those ultra-important items to also be preserved in a physical format. The technology of a book will never expire.
The Experience: Perfectly curated, easy to enjoy
The thing about digitals is that it is actually pretty inconvenient to enjoy them compared to a wedding album. After I photograph your wedding, you’ll get a personalized USB that has ALL the photos on it, organized into parts of the wedding day so that it’s easier to find what you’re looking for when you want to make a print. Depending on your wedding, this could be anywhere from 500 to 1000 or more files! That’s overwhelming to look through if you’re trying to make your own wedding album. And let’s be honest, no matter how much your friends & family adore you, that is a LOT to sit through when they ask to see your wedding photos. Imagine them sitting there while you click through them one by one on your Laptop or iPad – not the most enjoyable experience!
On the other hand, when I create an album for you, I’m hand-selecting images that will tell the complete story of your wedding day, in a beautiful, curated way that flows from page to page. You will, of course, have the option to go through and request specific changes to make sure the album perfectly reflects the vision and vibe you want before it’s printed.
Each wedding album I create becomes part of the home. It lives in a within reach place (like a coffee table) that makes it easy to grab on a whim and enjoy instantly. That experience is a huge contrast to digging through a drawer to find a USB stick or clicking through jpg after jpg on a computer! And then, when friends come for a visit and ask to see wedding photos, you’ll pull out a stunning, solid album that’s an experience in itself to flip through.
A family heirloom that will last
My fondest memories with my grandma were the hours spent flipping through the family photo albums, listening to her tell stories about the people, places, and events surrounding each picture. When she passed away last September, those photographs matured from simply family treasures to being downright priceless.
It’s true that a professionally made wedding album is expensive. There is no denying that. But something I’ve noticed from our own collection of photos solidified my belief in why it’s worth spending more: Some of the photographs our family possesses are over 100 years old, and shockingly, they’re still in good shape! Yet, some of our pictures from 10 or 20 years ago are already fading and not aging so well.
What’s the difference? Quality. Cheaply made photo prints and books are not produced with the long term in mind. The chemical makeup of some inks and papers is inferior to others, which results in your precious prints deteriorating at a much faster rate. On the other hand, the professional quality prints and albums I create through my professional lab are archival quality, meaning they are meant to last at least 100 years. That means that your great-great-grandchildren can also enjoy your album and learn about their family legacy, the same way you and I learned about ours.
Something to think about: Most of us will easily drop $1000 on an iPhone that will be replaced in a few short years, but are we willing to invest in our family legacy? In something that will increase in value with every passing decade, even long after we’re gone?
