How to make a wedding photo album
Chances are you have a lot of wedding photos that you just don’t know what to do with. As a wedding photographer, I know that each wedding can result in at least 500 images, but this figure is probably nearer to 1,000. There are so many amazing photo opportunities and I’d hate to think that I missed a moment, so I try to capture everything.
I’ve previously discussed ways you can display your wedding photos in your home, but if you want to make a photo album, there are many ways of going about that too.
Below, you can find my top tips to create your very own wedding photo album.
How many photos do I need for a wedding album?
The number of photos will obviously depend on the size of the album, but also how many photos you need to show a full overview of the day and any interesting moments. You’ll likely want photos of everyone getting ready, arriving at the venue, the ceremony itself, the drinks reception, the wedding breakfast, the speeches and then the evening reception. I would advise that the minimum number of photos you should include is 50. You also don’t want to miss anyone important out of the album, so this should be enough photos to make sure that all the close family members and friends will feature someone in the album.
How to choose a wedding album
Now, albums can be created digitally using digital images instead of printing photos and slipping them into an album. You should have a think about which type of album you want. If the book can be created digitally, it’s easy to pick a company, such as Snapfish or Vistaprint, and use their online tool to create your album. This is excellent as you can choose the layout of each page, if you want more than one photo, as well as how you want them to look together.
You can even choose details such as the picture on the front cover and the text on the spine of the book. These are relatively cheap to make and you can have a really good quality album made for less than £30.
If you want to go for a classic photo album, you should arrange to have your chosen photos printed so they can be stuck into the book. There’s less flexibility with this choice, as each photo will be the same size and will have a specific slot to go into the album. But you still have some say over the order of the photos and can even personalise the book. You could go for classic formal photo album or make it fun by creating a scrapbook style album that also includes memorabilia from the day, such as an invitation, an order of service, a menu, some dried confetti, etc. The book can suit your personality.
How to choose the photos for a wedding album
As I said above, each wedding could easily result in 500 to 1,000 images, so how on earth do you pick the photos you want or like the best? I’ve previously written an article around choosing photos for your album, so head to that page to find out more. Tips include choosing the photos that you like of yourself and from different aspects of the day so you have a whole overview.
When choosing an image for the front cover of an album, you should find one that sums up the day the best for you. Can you remember how you were feeling in that moment, or does the photo make you smile? These kinds of images should be the ones that take centre stage.
How to add your photos
Adding the photos depends on the type of book you’ve chosen.
If you’re making a digital album, your photos can be uploaded to the site from your computer. Your photographer will likely have supplied you with a USB of photos, so you can take them off the USB and add them to the website you’re making the album through. Then, use the online tool to drag the photos into place on each page.
Some digital albums allow you to add text, so you could add little descriptions of what’s happening in each picture or who is in it.
If you’re making a physical album using printed photos, you can either stick or slot them into place, depending on the book. Photo albums that allow you to slide the photos into a plastic wallet are much easier than trying to peel back the sticky layer, put the photo in straight and stick it back down.
This photo album from Paperchase says that it will fit up to 300 images and that you should use 6×4 photos. See how the pages are plastic so the photos slot into place? This is very different to the self-adhesive albums that can be trickier and take longer to put together.
