Wedding Album Design – Is It Up To You Or Your Customer?

Most wedding photographers concentrate on the photographs. They design their packages to provide a certain number of photographs. And the client can choose what images to place into the album.

A typical package may be:
·    Up to 8 (eight) hours of time
·    Unlimited 4×6 images (Average 550 – 900 images) All yours to keep!
·    Wedding Album (To hold your unlimited 4×6 images)
·    Enlarged Images:  8 – 8×10 prints + 4 – 5×7 prints + 20 – 4×6 prints

The problem with this type of package is you put the emphasis on the wrong thing. Instead of focusing on your presentation, you’re focusing on a stack full of pictures.

And this is where true professionals are separated from the amateurs.

As a wedding photographer, your art comes in the form of being able to tell the story of your clients wedding.

What if you take photographs of the wine glasses sitting next to the cake, photographs of the bride and groom’s hands holding the wine glasses, close ups of the toast, and photographs of the guests toasting the bride and groom. If you design the album, you can create 4 to 6 pages using these photographs. Your clients may select 1 or 2 images for their final album, if any at all.

Putting the album together is something your client will only do once in their lifetime. You’ll be doing 20, 30, 40 or more per year. That’s hundreds of albums in your lifetime – vs one in your clients’. Who should be the expert at storytelling?

Three ways to create albums for your clients

Photoshop – build your albums using Photoshop. As you design, create templates that you can use again and again with simple modifications.

Software – many companies provide software to make album design a breeze. Check out Art Leather and Zookbinders.

Outsourcing – many companies will provide design services for you. Companies like Art Leather and Zookbinders provide design and album creation. Or look for a freelance artist with wedding album expertise.