We have now reached the exciting part of designing your perfect wedding album.
I always love this stage, as for me, the album is one of the most important parts of your wedding photography. It's something you'll bring out and look through for years to come, and perhaps one day hand down to future generations.
For something so important, you'll be pleased to know that the album manufacturer I use is one of the leaders in the industry, with each album handmade in Italy. They offer a tremendous range of styling options, meaning your album can be completely unique to you.
The number of choices can seem a little daunting at first, but I encourage you to spend some time exploring them and choosing the combination that feels most like you. From the cover materials and colours to the linings, page finishes and presentation boxes, there are countless ways to create something truly personal.
You can explore the album manufacturer's website here:
It's worth having a look through their website first so you can see some of the options I'm referring to as you work through the choices below.
THE STYLE
There are two main types of wedding album that I supply: The Original Wedding Book and The Young Book.
Both are handmade in Italy and offer many of the same styling choices, including cover materials, linings and page thicknesses. There are, however, a few key differences:
- The Original Wedding Book has a more substantial binding system which comes with a lifetime guarantee.
- The Young Book comes as standard with a fully customisable presentation box with a hinged lid. A very similar box is available as an upgrade for The Original Wedding Book, although this version isn't hinged.
- The Young Book has a slightly more modern appearance, with cleaner and simpler lines to its design.
- The Young Book generally costs less than The Original Wedding Book.
Both options are absolutely gorgeous and I'm very happy to offer either. My wife and I chose The Original Wedding Book for our own wedding album, although we both really like The Young Book too.
Many of the styling choices affect the final price and the cost can also vary depending on the size of album you choose. For that reason, it's difficult to put a price against every individual option. The easiest approach is to choose your preferred album and styling options, and I'll then price everything for you before we proceed.
As a general guide, I find that an average of around two photographs per page works beautifully. A 40-page album would therefore usually contain around 80 photographs. Larger albums can comfortably accommodate slightly more photographs per page, and additional pages can always be added if you'd like to include more.
PARENT ALBUMS
Another option you may wish to consider is adding Parent Albums. For our own wedding, we ended up ordering additional albums for my parents, my wife's parents and grandparents, and even her auntie and uncle!
Parent Albums are a lovely way of giving parents or other close family members their own copy of your wedding story without the cost of ordering additional main albums.
You can add two 15x20cm Parent Albums with 40 pages for £120 in total.
The Parent Albums use exactly the same page layouts as your main album, but are designed as smaller, more affordable companion copies. They are produced using an offset printing process rather than the premium photographic printing process used for the main album, so the print quality and finish are not the same as the main album.
They have hardback covers printed to represent the appearance and styling of your main album, rather than being made from the same premium cover materials. They also have a more basic internal finish and do not include the linen linings available with the main album.
They're therefore best thought of as beautiful companion keepsake albums for parents and close family, rather than miniature versions of the main album.
If you'd prefer smaller duplicate albums produced to the same premium standard as your main album, these can also be ordered using the same photographic printing process, cover materials and finishing options. These cost more than the standard Parent Albums, but provide the same premium print quality and finish as your main album. Please let me know if this option interests you and I'll be happy to provide a price.
You can view examples of the different album options here.
Once you've decided which style of main album you'd like, simply click the appropriate image below to start choosing the options for your album.
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