We see wedding albums of family and friends and at wedding fairs and even though most couples will not see this as a main part of planning their day can you tell me what else you have to keep after your wedding? Most videographers are sending couples download videos to the wedding couples computer. We all know the flowers are amazing but will die eventually. The dress is the show piece but honestly where is it put after the wedding, sold or in the attic. The album is the piece we take out and show off to everyone who will look so why should it not have more attention put into it.
My wedding couples are so surprised at the detail we go into after their wedding to get the album perfect for them. Let me take you through the process which can take up to 6 months to finalise and even longer some times.
From the first meeting with couples we start planning their day to suit their needs. This also involves me finding out more about the couple and their family including styles, themes and hobbies. After the wedding it can take 6-8 weeks to edit the wedding photos and have them all put online for the couple to view. Normally this is a minimum of 500 photographs. For the album the couple have to choose 90-100 of their favourites. This is a really hard process and most will tell me the difficulty they had to just choose that amount. For the bigger albums with bespoke covers an album meeting in my studio is made to discuss designs and colours and materials. It is so important my couples call for this meeting as I have samples of all of the materials for them to touch and test and look at to make up to 5 options for their album.
I will make notes of all of the options then use a 3D designer to make each of these designs and email to the couple for them to choose their favourite.
Couples will also have the option to add techniques like engraving and cover photographs and raised text at different places on the album. This time and effort makes their album unique to the couple themselves and their day. After meetings with this couple and capturing their wedding day I am able to suggest materials and ideas for their album which will suit their personalities and wedding day. It is so important to me that each couple gets the bespoke service from start to finish.
The fine details on each album make them personal to each couple the same way their photographs are personal to them and this also applies to the internal design. I will design each internal page to suit the photographs selected by each couple. The couple will be emailed a draft of this design and we will go through altering each page until the couple are happy with the complete design. This way every aspect of the album from the front cover and every page even down to the paper inside the album is designed to the bride and grooms selection.
I pride myself in making each wedding unique and with this finely tuned design stage it means every single album will be unique. I am very proud to say that every single album is different and will always be different just like every single couple.