Creating A Wedding Album: Capturing The Perfect Moments

A wedding album is a great way to preserve the happiest moments of your life. While traditional wedding albums remain popular, many couples now opt for wedding photo books as a modern way to capture the essence and story of their wedding. Creating a wedding album can be a fun post-wedding activity, but it can be a bit overwhelming to know where to begin. Here are some tips to help you get started:

- Select and organize your photos: Go through all the photos from your wedding and choose your favourites. Create folders to organize the photos based on different moments or themes from your wedding day.

- Decide on a theme: Choose a theme that reflects the story you want to tell. This could be the chronology of the day, the emotional journey, the intricate details, or the overall atmosphere.

- Find the right format: Decide on the type of album you want, such as a wedding book, a wedding album, or a wedding magazine. Consider the number of photos you want to include and the layout options available.

- Size it up: Determine the size of your album based on the number of photos you have and where you plan to display it.

- Pay attention to the details: Use intuitive design tools and templates to create an aesthetically pleasing book. Play with text, white space, and image placement to create a timeless look.

- Choose a cover: Select a cover that captures the look and feel of your celebration. Consider a simple text cover, a photo cover, or a designer cover with raised inks.

- Keep it safe: Store your album flat on a table or surface to prevent pressure on the binding. Consider investing in a presentation box to keep your album safe from wear and tear.

Selecting photos

Choose the Shots that Matter Most

Start by selecting 20-30 photos that you absolutely love. These are the photos that capture your favourite moments and hold a special place in your heart. It doesn't matter when these moments happened during the day or who is in the photos. Trust your instincts and go with the photos that speak to you the most.

Highlight the Atmosphere and Details

Look for photos that showcase the mood, décor, and subtle details of the day. These could include images that capture the beauty of the venue, the intricate details of the dress and suit, or the carefully crafted florals and table settings. These photos will add depth to your album and help convey the atmosphere of your wedding.

Select Photos from Major Events

Make sure to include photos from all the major events of the day. This includes getting ready, signing the license, the ceremony, and key reception moments. Revisit your wedding timeline to ensure you have a good representation of the day's events. Choose photos that tell the story of your wedding, from the anticipation of getting ready to the joy of the ceremony and the celebrations at the reception.

Formal Portrait Shots

Don't forget to include formal portrait shots of family and the wedding party. Look for photos where everyone has their eyes open and natural expressions. Check for any distractions in the background or around people's heads. It's also a good idea to get a mix of both posed and candid shots to capture the raw emotions and special connections between you and your loved ones.

Create a Balance

When selecting photos, aim for a balance of different types of images. Include group shots, romantic couple photos, and details of your wedding rings, bouquet, cake, and other important elements. Consider the lighting and colours of the photos, grouping them together for each page to create a visually appealing layout.

Consider the Flow and Storytelling

Arrange your photos in a way that tells the story of your wedding day. You can organise them chronologically, starting with getting ready and ending with your grand exit. Alternatively, you can group photos by theme, such as people, food, flowers, or styling. Consider including captions or anecdotes with each photo to add context and help you remember those precious moments.

Organising photos

Organising your photos is the most important part of the album-making process. Having a clear idea of how many photos you want and the order you want them in will make the process of uploading them to the design studio much easier.

To get started, create a folder on your computer for your final selection of photos. If you have thousands of photos and the task feels overwhelming, try tackling it one 'moment' at a time. For example, create multiple folders that divide the day up into sections: getting ready, the ceremony, newlywed portraits, and the reception. Once you’ve selected your most-loved images, label them starting from 1 in the order you want them to appear in your book.

Remember, less is more. Fewer images mean each one can truly stand out and embody the highlights of your wedding. You might want to include a mix of both candid and posed pictures with friends and family, plus photos of the wedding décor. Try to balance the lighting and colours and group them together for each page for an optimal visual appearance.

If you're feeling stuck, consider the story you want to tell with your photos. Whether the focus is on the chronology of the day or the emotional journey, just the couple or their family and friends, the intricate details or the overall atmosphere, ensure your images reflect what’s most important to you.

Finally, don't feel beholden to keeping the photos in chronological order. Mix them around, group together images containing certain people, and organise by emotion (e.g. romantic, sentimental or funny) or literally any system or non-system that makes sense for you and your partner.

Choosing an album style

Album Type

The first decision you'll need to make is whether to go for a traditional wedding album or a wedding photo book. Traditional albums typically have photographs printed on separate pieces of paper and placed into plastic sleeves or frames on a page. On the other hand, photo books are carefully bound books with images printed directly on the paper. Photo books offer more customisation options, such as custom text, unique backgrounds, different layouts, and layflat pages.

Album Format

Once you've decided on the type of album, you'll need to choose a specific format. For photo books, you can opt for board pages or paper pages. Board pages are stiff, inflexible, and heavy, while paper pages are more flexible. You can also choose between lay-flat pages that open flat or pages that bow from the centre. If you're leaning towards a traditional album, you can select between premium and classic ranges, which differ in terms of binding and page orientation options.

Album Size

The size of your album will depend on the number of photos you want to include and where you plan to display it. Larger albums are great for grand celebrations, while smaller, more intimate designs can complement a modest wedding. Consider where you'll be keeping your album—on a coffee table or tucked away on a bookshelf—to help you decide on the ideal size.

Album Cover

The cover of your album sets the tone and introduces the story of your special day. You can choose from a simple text cover, a photo cover, or a designer cover. Text covers are understated and modern, while photo covers let you showcase that one outstanding image. Designer covers offer UV-printed templates with subtly raised inks. When selecting a cover fabric, consider the style of your wedding. Popular options include natural linen, classic linen, premium coloured linen, coated cloth/buckram, vegan leather, and Italian leather.

Album Pages

The pages of your album are where your photos will truly shine. You can opt for glossy pages, which are the most popular choice, or go for a refined lustre if you prefer a more subdued shine. If you want to tone down the gloss even further, silky scuff-resistant matte pages are a good option. For a luxurious feel, consider satin-finish paper. Don't forget to think about the number of pages you'll need, depending on how many photos you want to include.

Selecting a theme or layout

Theme

A theme can be a good way to focus your album, especially if you are struggling to narrow down the number of photos to include. For example, you might want to focus on the most romantic or funny moments from the day, or perhaps you want to tell the story of the emotional journey of the day. You could also choose to focus on the intricate details, such as the flowers, food, and entertainment, or the overall atmosphere of the venue and decor.

Layout

When it comes to the layout, you could keep it simple and uniform by using the same layout on every page. Or, you could vary it up and use different layouts throughout the album. Play around with different options and see what works best for your photos. You could try a blank page at the beginning, a full-bleed design, or a grid of three or four images for detail shots.

Complementing your wedding

It's also a good idea to think about how you can make your album complement your wedding. For example, if you had a bohemian, airy wedding, you might want to opt for a lighter colour and softer material for your album. Whereas, if you had a traditional, black-tie ceremony, you might prefer a hardcover photo book in a darker, more substantial shade.

Finalising your layout

Before finalising your layout, it's important to review it and ensure that every detail looks right. Check that your photos will fit neatly into your album and adjust the sizing if needed. You might also want to sleep on it and come back to it with fresh eyes before making the final decision.

Finalising and printing

Review and adjust sizing

Before finalising your album, review your layout and ensure that every detail looks right. Check that your photos will fit neatly in your selected album and adjust the sizing if needed. You don't want to end up with important parts of your photos, like people's faces, being cut off by the edges of a page.

Choose a cover

The cover of your album is the first thing people will see, so it's important to choose something that reflects the style and feel of your wedding. You could opt for a simple text cover, a photo cover, or a designer cover with UV-printed templates. If you go for a photo cover, pick an image that introduces the story of your wedding and try to choose one with some open space where the title of the album can appear.

Choose a fabric

The fabric you choose for your cover should capture the look and feel of your celebration. Popular options include premium natural linen, classic linen, premium-coloured linen, premium coated cloth/buckram, vegan leather, and Milano Italian leather.

Add finishing touches

There are many ways to enhance and customise your album. You may want to add a gift box or a dust jacket, or choose extras like a memorabilia pocket to safely store keepsakes from your wedding.

Print your album

Once you're happy with the overall selection, it's time to print your photos or finalise the digital version for sharing. If you're printing your album, make sure to use a high-quality paper stock to ensure your special wedding memories don't decompose or discolour over time. Explore the different paper options and pick one that will deliver the photo finish you're after.

Create additional albums

If you have leftover photos that you still want to use, consider creating smaller, themed albums. This could include a separate album of all the table shots to have a record of every guest at the reception, or an album of all the formal portrait shots so that everyone is represented. Smaller albums also make great gifts for family and friends.

Frequently asked questions