Picking out Album

Divide them in categories such as home, ceremony, reception ... For multiple pictures lay them out and choose the best one, this narrows them down a bit. Then lay them out, and then try to decide the must have and the ones you could do without. Then try to lay them out the way you would want to see them in the album, this should allow you cut some more.

I think it also helps to have someone go through them with you.

i went nuts w/ only 300
what I did was took all the ones of lets say me and my dad
looked at them together
whatever one if one of us had a werid smile, eyes closed etc..... ELIMINATE
did the same w/ bridal party pics, me and my sister, etc..... if one person looked stupid and there were like four of the same pic
it was out....

then I made sure some of ME alone, HIM alone
alot together at different part of the grounds, w/ flowers, w/out flowers, w/ the car
toasting pic, garter pic, some ceremony shots, mom and son dance, dad and me dance, pic of me and him and each of our families, w/ each parent, study the ones w/ alot of people carefully if anyone is looking off or closed eyes, get rid of it and try to get, first kiss pic, vows pic, walking off, intro pic, first dance

I am going to plan my album this saturday!

First, think about how you want the album to document the day. Take your proofs out, and remove ALL of your favorite shots from the pile. Now put them into groups like bride@home, groom@home, pre-ceremony, ceremony, post-ceremony church pics, cocktail hour pics, first dance pics, toast, guests partying pics, detail pics, parent dances/cake cutting, etc.

Choose the pic you want to end your album and try to work backwards. I think this is a good idea, especially if you have a small number of pics in your contract for your bridal album.

My advice - don't duplicate unnecessarily....for example, if you choose to use picks of you and each bridesmaid individually, than you don't need to also include the bridal party walking into the church or walking into the reception...it's too much of the same thing, and takes up space in your album that should be used for pics of you & hubby.

Focus on yourselves...choose photos of you alone, the groom alone, and the best shots of the two of you together.

Lastly, take your time to make this decision. I put off choosing my album shots for six months, and it was the best thing I could have done. Having the time in between, allowed me to have a new perspective on the day, and how I wanted to document it. Good luck!

The best way I did it was, first off our proofs came in an ablum. I took out all the ones I really liked making a story from beginning to end. I left in the ones I knew I didnt like. Then I did a process of elimination. It really wasnt as bad as I thought.

Good Luck!!!

I am in the beginning of this process. I had about 1800 proofs (literally) to go through. I went through and took out all of the eyes-closed, hate myself in the photo,etc... photos. Then from there I put them into groups. It takes a long time but it is worth it. Also, I rubberband each group together so that friends/family do not mess the piles up when they look through the proofs. I also got a bunch of little colored stick pads. I 'tag' the photos I LOVE. Each parent also has a color so as they look through the photos they can 'tag' the ones that they like without removing the photos from the groups. When the final decision time comes for them I will have them relook at all their favorites and make the final selections.
Like Claudine said how do you want to document your day. Some people love a very traditional album full of family shots, and very traditional poses. Some really like to have a fun album full of dancing photos and non-traditional shots, while others want a full b&w album. Consider what will make you happy and also, your photographer will help you design the album.

Funny, we went last night to meet with our photographer and give him our picks. I dunno I didn't have much trouble. I picked out the artsy B&W ones I liked and all the posed ones I knew we needed (the fam, wedding party,etc) and it didn't take me too long. After I was done I let the hubbie look them over and he added 2 he wanted and I took out 2 I put in. We had over 1,000 proofs, but a lot of them are just different versions of the same photo.

The photographer told us we were very easy and told us he once spent 6 hours picking out photos with a couple (3 hours, over 2 days) which made us all laugh. Our appointment was over in 45 mins, even with picking out the album style, color, font, etc. My mom gave me good advice, just to pick out or mentally note the ones you really like the first time you get the proofs and work from there. And the photog was very helpful, he said one pick might not look good in our 8X10 albulm so suggested another pic.

We are going back in about 1 month to look over the 8X10s before they are put the the album. He said you can add or delete pictures at this time if you are not happy with any. I am sure your person will do the same which makes it a bit less overwhelming, no?