Rethinking the Wedding Album

How many times have you looked at your family’s old photos? If you’re anything like me, then you’ve flipped through dusty albums and boxes of faded 4×6 prints from your childhood many times. In fact, I’ve been doing some of that recently as I’ve been telling the story behind the name Birchtree Photography. But, that may soon be a thing of the past. When was the last time you made an album from the photos on your digital camera? How often do you actually make prints from your snapshots?

If you’re anything like me…then you rarely see your photos except on a computer screen.

And that’s not necessarily a bad thing. It sure makes it a whole lot easier to share your photos with friends and family around the world. But, after some insightful classes at WPPI last month and some of my own thinking, I’ve come to realize I’d been neglecting an important part of wedding photography: the wedding album.

I used to think that the most important thing was to provide the digital images (usually on DVD) to my clients. After all, being able to have a CD of my own wedding photos was important to me. My thinking about that certainly hasn’t changed. I still want to provide each of my clients with a copy of their photos so they can have them whenever they want.

But let’s fast forward to 20 years from now. I doubt we’re even using DVDs. Where are your wedding photos now? Did you keep up with technology and transfer them to the new medium? Or do you have some old dusty disc sitting in a closet, possibly cracked or warped? Do you think your children are going to be pulling that thing out to look at your photos? And let’s face it, the computer you initially copied them onto has long ago been replaced by something far better and faster. Or, maybe you put them online somewhere…and perhaps you can still access them, but for how long?

Thoughts like that made me realize how important it is to have a “good-old-fashioned” hold-it-in-your-hands wedding album. There’s something timeless about being able to touch and feel photographs…something great about having your favorite prints bound together to tell your wedding story. That’s the sort of thing technology can’t replace. And, it’s the sort of thing your children and their children can cherish for years to come, regardless of changing technology.

Going forward I’ve tried to create wedding packages that include at least one wedding album, and I would also encourage my current clients to consider getting an album themselves, if they didn’t initially order one. I’ve been ordering new sample albums and have a lot of exciting options for couples to choose from, and although I referred to these albums as “old-fashioned”–they are anything but! Check out my newest sample created from Ali and Shailen’s wedding. I just LOVE the Amour cover–it’s a beautiful metal print overlaid with a protective coating. Sweet!

With flush mount albums, you can have an entire spread be one photograph.

Love the texture…

Another look at the cover.

So, brides, please contact me if you’re interested in learning more about the options available for your own wedding album. I’d love to sit down and discuss them with you!