The wedding has passed (best day of your life!), you’re finally back from your dreamy honeymoon and now you have approximately a million different photo options that your photographer just sent over. Instead of procrastinating and letting them sit in your inbox, it’s time to put them to use! We know narrowing down your pictures can be daunting, but don’t worry, we’ve got you covered! Here’s a page-by-page outline of how to start forming your perfect wedding albums:
Set the Scene: 2 Pages
Perfecting wedding albums is about painting a picture. Much like wedding videography, you want to set the scene and tell your story from beginning to end. No, that does not mean that it needs to be chronological. However, the beginning of every story starts with location, venue, surroundings, etc. So that’s where we’ll begin. This is a perfect opportunity to have a panoramic picture spread across two pages.
Getting Ready: 4-6 Pages
Since traditionally you don’t see your spouse in the getting ready process, this is something you should absolutely highlight in your album. Think of it as the calm before the storm. The intimate time you spent with friends and family that illustrates the excitement and preparation leading up to your “I do’s.”
First Look, Prayer, Presents, Portraits: 6-8 pages
This is the time to include anything you and your spouse did before the wedding. Did you do a first look or a prayer? Include that! Did you exchange presents? Choose your favorite pictures of your expressions as you opened your present. Lastly, choose your favorite pictures of you and your spouse to be included as the featured portraits in your DIY wedding album.
The Details: 2 Pages
On your wedding day, you will most likely not get the chance to appreciate all of the work you put into the details of your wedding day. From the veil to the shoes, the flowers to the centerpieces, intersperse the details of your wedding day throughout your wedding albums.
Family Photos: 4-6 Pages
Choose the candids along with the portraits for this section. You will appreciate looking back at these pictures for years to come.
If you are doing a parent album as a gift, we encourage you to personalize or expand this grouping to make it a wedding album specifically for them.
Wedding Party and Friends: 4-6 Pages
Similar to the family photos, you don’t want to only include the portrait pictures. With friends and wedding party, you’ll want to be very selective. Think really long term in who you are featuring in your wedding albums. This is a keepsake for you, not them, so no need to feel bad about not including someone!
Ceremony: 6-10 Pages
As the monumental moment of the entire day, your ceremony should be a highlight. Consider another panoramic shot of your “I do’s” along with pictures of the bride’s grand entrance, reactions, vows, the kiss, and the exit down the aisle. Whichever shots invoke a reaction in you are the ones that you want to include.
Candids: 1-2 Pages
A common misconception about wedding albums is that they’re filled with either portraits or detail pictures. However, your wedding albums are meant to feature the emotion of the day. Include candid shots throughout all of the pages, but also try and dedicate at least 1-2 pages to genuine reactions, laughter, and joy.
Cocktail Hour: 1-2 Pages
This is a time in your wedding that traditionally you aren’t a part of as you’re taking a lot of post-ceremony pictures. In painting the picture of the day, you won’t want to miss including the guests enjoying their time, and how stunning and fun your cocktail hour was.
The Dances: 2-4 Pages
Showcase the intimate moments of your featured dances in this section. From the dip in your first dance song with your spouse to the soft tears of the mother-son or father-daughter dance, these are the shots you’ll want to be highlighted.
Reception: 2-4 Pages
What’s a wedding without a fun party to go hand in hand? Think dancing, singing, laughing, and the ring bearer breaking it down on the dance floor.
Toasts: 1-3 pages
While wedding albums can’t help you relisten to the toasts, they can bring back the emotions that you felt during the speeches. Was the maid of honor speech heartfelt and filled with tears? Did the best man make you laugh uncontrollably? Remind yourself of these feelings with the pictures that you choose.
Extras for Your Wedding Albums: 6 Pages
Yes, we left a space for all the other pictures you loved but couldn’t fit into another section. Here’s where you can add the bouquet and garter toss, the cake cutting, or other traditions and favorites that you didn’t add earlier on.
Send Off: 1-2 pages
Bid adieu to your wedding album with your final moment of the night. A grand exit, an intimate kiss or the getaway car. Choose the picture that will bring the entire album perfectly together.
Now that you have the anatomy of creating your perfect wedding album, it’s time to finally start creating it! Altar Albums offers the best professional DIY wedding albums at affordable prices. Give our free software a test drive — and check out our current promotions: Altar Albums Promotions Page
