Some Tips and Tricks for Great Album Designs

As wedding season is gearing up, I just wanted to offer some tips and tricks to help make your albums stand out from the crowd and make an impact.  

The absolute number one thing that will help the most:

DON'T LET BRIDES PICK THE IMAGES THAT WILL GO INTO THE ALBUM!

You may be gasping but, most brides don't understand the flow of a great album.  They usually pick images that are very similar in pose, or they pick tons of images of themselves and one of the groom, or they pick lots of family images and only two images of the couple together!  Albums are the best when the story of their special day is being told.  When random images are picked it makes the album feel pieced together.

My suggestion is to send us the best 100 images (that number may change depending on number of sides) and let us pick and choose which images will go together on each spread. If you still want your bride to have a say, let them pick their 10 favorite images for the album- and we'll pick the rest!

The second thing that will help, is thinking about the album when shooting {not like you don't have enough to think about already}.  

*Take detail shots- shots of the rings together, flowers, table centerpieces, etc.  These make great background images.  

Images by Hinz Photographic

Sometimes having a panoramic image that spreads across 2 sides is beautiful and makes a great impact.  

Images by Light Rain Images

Taking a series of images- if the bride and groom are seeing each other before the ceremony; getting shots of them walking up to each other and hugging for the first time seeing each other.  Or if the groom picks up the bride and spins her around, it's nice to have a few images showing the interaction between the couple.

Images by Lasting Images Photography

Last but not least- this is typically how we like to layout albums to tell the story of the day.  Usually 4-6 images per a spread is the best:

Bride and groom together (first page)

Bride getting ready

Groom getting ready

Bride by herself

Groom by himself

Bride and groom together

Bride and bridesmaids

Bridal party

Groom and groomsmen

Ceremony

Bride and groom together

Brides family

Grooms family

Reception entrance

First dance

Cake

Bouquet/Garter tossing

Bride and groom

Bride and groom together (last page)

Of course every wedding is a little different, but this is the way we found is best to create the storybook feeling.

So there you have it, I hope this helps!