THE ORIGINAL WEDDING BOOK
One of the first decisions couples have is whether to increase the page number to accommodate more pictures. The maximum page number of these albums is 100, which when averaging 2 images per page, means you could fit around 200 images in there. If you chose to make the album larger than the package standard of 20x30cm, you can sometimes fit more than the average of 2 images per page in without it looking crowded, but generally speaking the less images per page, the more stylish the albums look.
There are many factors of the albums that affect the price, so it’s hard to give exact figures for all eventualities, but if you kept all of the included options the same for the album (i.e. size, page thickness, paper type etc.), then the cost to add additional pages works out at roughly £10 per double page spread. To add 10 more pages (5 double page spreads) to include 20 extra images would cost roughly £50.
1. THE SIZE, SHAPE, & ORIENTATION
Now that you have selected the style of your album, I would like you to think about the size, shape, and orientation.
I've put these together because they are very interlinked. Most of the sizes are available for both 'The Original Wedding Book' and 'The Young book', although only 'The Original Wedding Book' is available in the largest sizes (35x45cm Portrait View, 40x40cm Square, & 45cmx35cm Landscape view). The image below shows the sizes available for 'The Original Wedding Book'
I personally prefer the square option, but one thing to consider here is the cost impact; a 20x20cm square album, costs the same as a 20x30cm landscape / portrait view album. This means you're getting roughly 50% less page area, and therefore less room for photos in a square album. However, I do believe that you should choose whichever size, shape, and orientation you prefer, as you're not going to remember the price difference in years to come. My wife and I chose a square album and love it.
You'll also see in the image above that there are a number of paper options available: photographic, metallic, textured, smooth or pearl. However there is now a new option - "HD Print". I highly recommend HD Print. It gives the sharpest print available and is also the most accurate for colours and contrast. All of these options are available with either matt or gloss lamination.
Additional Costs: To keep everything the same as the package but to increase the album size, the following costs would occur. These costs are a combination of the increase in cost of the page size, and the consequently larger cover size, & box size:
- increase to 25x35cm or 25x25cm album size = £79
- increase to 30x40cm or 30x30cm album size = £144
- increase to 35x45cm or 35x35cm album size = £219
- increase to 40x50cm or 40x40cm album size = £240
Please make a note of the size, shape, and orientation (portrait, square, or landscape), options you have chosen, along with the paper type and paper finish, and move on to the next stage.
2. PAGE THICKNESS
The last option you need to decide on for the album is the page thickness. There are 3 options - thin, thick, and rigid. The rigid pages are only available for books with 20 pages or less, but the other two are available for albums of any size. I like the thick pages, but some people prefer the sleek thin style of thin pages. The choice is yours 🙂
3. THE COVER
'The Original Wedding Book' has more options available both in material types and customisation. To see close up photos of all of the cover options, please click this link Album Cover Materials & Colours
Let's start with the options for the main part of the cover:
METAL
Available in silver or gold, brushed or polished finish, and with just text, a small photo, or full cover printing.
METAL PAINT
Varnished
Metallized
Pastel
Touch
LEATHER
DISTRESSED LEATHER
NAPPA LEATHER
SEQUOIA LEATHER
If you have selected a leather cover, your next choice is whether you would like a picture on the cover. There are 3 options available for this, and all are die-cut into the leather and look truly stunning: small square, large square, or triangle. The image below shows the plain, triangle and small square options for the album cover.
WOVEN
SUEDE & SUEDE PAINT
MAPLE
LEATHERETTE
CLOUD LEATHERETTE
CLASS LEATHERETTE
ECO LEATHER
(NEW) WOOD & CORK
These are a new addition to the Graphistudio cover options and I LOVE them. My favourite is the White Oak, but all look amazing, and even more so with your names laser engraved into the surface. Unfortunately the only images of these cover options online at the moment are low quality and do nothing to show how beautiful they are. The images below will give an indication of the colours available though and I'll add better photos when they are available. The photo below shows the 4 wood cover options and then the next image shows close ups of the wood covers and the cork.
Additional Costs: The following cover options are all available at no additional cost from that which is included in the package: Metal, Transparent, Silk, Maple, Leatherette, Cloud Leatherette, Class Leatherette, Faux Leather, Suede, Suede Paint, Leather, Metal Paint, Woven, plus Die-Cut in the following materials: Leatherette, Maple, Leatherette, Cloud Leatherette, Class Leatherette, Faux Leather, Suede, Suede Paint
The following options are shown with their costs: Crystal Glance and Cowhide are £10 extra, Die Cut Leather & Die Cut Woven are £20 extra, & Distressed Leather, Nappa Leather, & Sequoia Leather are £54 extra (all prices based on a 20x30cm album)
4. SPINE & BACK OPTIONS
Did I mention there were quite a few options with this company? 😉 Here are some of the spine choices:
You obviously don't have to have the spine in a different colour or material, but the option is there if you like. My wife and I went for a distressed yellow leather cover with suede paint spine. Now that there are new options available (my new favourite is a white leather cover with maple (wood effect) spine (see on the images in the examples section). It looks amazing. The options on view above are Suede, Suede Paint, Woven, Maple, Leather.
5. TEXT ON THE COVER
You have the option to deboss your names on the cover, or names & wedding date. This can be standard (no colouration to the debossing), silver or gold foil. The debossed writing looks beautiful but is only available in 2 fonts - Helvetica and Times New Roman. For that reason, I prefer colour printing, because you can then have any font you like, and in any colour you like. This way you can have a font matching the text inside the album, and in a colour that perfectly compliments or contrasts the cover colour. Text impression starts from £10 for standard debossing, and goes up to £14 for the gold and silver foil debossing & custom colour over printing.
Additional Costs: For the album cover included in the package (white varnished), you can have your names and wedding date laser engraved at no additional cost. To add printed writing to the cover of any album, the cost is £14, and to add debossed text to the leather album options is £10 for standard & £14 for Gold or Silver Foil.
To see these options and what they look like, please click this text - Text Options
6. THE INSIDE OF THE ALBUM
You can also customise the inside page of your album with a choice of luxury linen linings. At only £10 extra, I think they are a great value extra addition to any album and really make it look that extra bit special. The following image shows the choices available. Why not pick a colour that matches your theme?
7. THE PRESENTATION
As you'd expect, there are plenty of options for the packaging of your album. In order to help you decide, I would let the answer of where you will store your album help decide which option to go with. My wife and I knew we would have our album on a book shelve, and therefore felt 'The Stylish Sleeve' was the best option. However, after 'The Young Book' came out with the box included, there was also a new option for a box for 'The Original Wedding Book' called 'The Design Box.' I absolutely love these boxes and with all of the options available, you can create something truly amazing.
The cool thing with these, is you can choose any cover material & lining for the inside from the options below, and what ribbon colour you'd like. These are the options available.
Then you have the choice of the following ribbons:
Please let me know at the time of ordering your choices for the box outer material, inside lining, and ribbon colour. Plus, whether you would like your names printed on the cover.
The other packaging options are shown below:
The Sleeves are available in all of the same materials as available for the album, allowing you to match them, or pick a contrasting colour or material
The briefcases are great for storage and transportation. They are included as standard in my album package but you can upgrade from this to any of the other options shown above.
The box is the last option for you, and I personally believe should be chosen according to where you will store you album. The suitcase included in the package is a perfect was to safely store your album and transport it when required. However, you may wish to have your album on the book shelf in which case a 'Stylish Sleeve', or ‘Sleeve’ may be preferred options, or if you will store it flat, the ‘Design Box’ is a top choice and is incredibly customisable.
Here are the options and their upgrade costs:
- Studio Box £0
- Design Box £15
- Art Box £35
- Stylish Sleeve £55
- Sleeve - Maple, Faux Leather, Leatherette Range, Suede or Suede Paint £10
- Sleeve - Woven or Leather £70, Cowhide £55
- Distressed Leather, Nappa Leather or Sequoia Leather is £100.
To add printed text to the Design Box or Sleeve, the cost is £14, and to add debossed text to the leather album options is £10 for standard & £14 for Gold or Silver Foil. The stylish sleeve has printed text on the cover as standard included in the price.
Please click this text to see examples of what other couples have chosen for their albums.
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