Seriously. We're having a kosher wedding; our hall requires us to use one of three florists; we want to have our friends and family around us. And through all of this, of course, we still have a budget. So we have limited places to really cut costs in the big pieces.
I've seen three amazing posts on diy photo albums in the last 12 hours:
For the ladies and gents out there who have done professional albums, do you have any giant glaring reasons why we should do one. I mean, I'm still pretty new to this whole wedding planning thing, and I could just be missing the point. Is the quality that much better?
tia!
--the stealth groom (giving meat eating, sports watching, whiskey drinking men a voice on liweddings since 10/06)
happygirl07
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Re: tell me why...
I haven't gotten married yet so I cannot give you much help on that front.
However, I agree in that I have seen beautiful albums without the need of having them professionally done. The quality is better in pictures I've seen at photograpahers I've visited, but I can honestly say that what people remember is the actual picture vs. the quality of it.
bonniejd
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Re: tell me why...
Though we aren't married yet, I feel your pain, also a Kosher wedding, lots of people, limited florists... we decided to go use opportunity to cut things down a little and go the DIY album route. We are using 12th Night as our photographer and hopefully will be able to make our album as nice as others I've seen on here. We just decided not to contract for the professional album, figuring we could always add it later if the DIY doesn't work out, but we are DEFINITELY doing our parents albums online.
LaurenluvsTJ
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Re: tell me why...
Ours is included in our package, but honestly if we didn't get a studio one made, we would probably never have an album... its almost7 months after the wedding and we haven't gotten around to just bringing the proofs we selected back to the photographer. If we were responsible for actually putting together the whole album, it would never get done... after the wedding you just don't really think about wedding stuff anymore.
MandG072909
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Re: tell me why...
The only difference I see is that w/ shutterfly and those places the end result is nice paper w/ pictures printed on it...albums from the photographer will usually be larger and consist of actual photographs if you go traditional or at least photography quality/style if you go digital...
that being said, we paid above our package for a digital coffe table album because we wanted something that is on par w/ it being our own wedding but made shutterfly albums for our parents because when it comes down to it they are more interested in the pictures than having some big formal album...
so long story short both ways have their merit it just depends on what you're looking for...
ETA: by larger I mean page thickness and overall presence...I know you can make a 12x12 on shutterfly but I still don't think it stands up to a professional book...
Audreygirl
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Re: tell me why...
Posted by MandG072909
The only difference I see is that w/ shutterfly and those places the end result is nice paper w/ pictures printed on it...albums from the photographer will usually be larger and consist of actual photographs if you go traditional or at least photography quality/style if you go digital...
that being said, we paid above our package for a digital coffe table album because we wanted something that is on par w/ it being our own wedding but made shutterfly albums for our parents because when it comes down to it they are more interested in the pictures than having some big formal album...
so long story short both ways have their merit it just depends on what you're looking for...
ETA: by larger I mean page thickness and overall presence...I know you can make a 12x12 on shutterfly but I still don't think it stands up to a professional book...
i would agree completely, especially with the ETA part. my photog sent us our sample album layout that he made by picking out photos (we'll be changing some photos), and it is beautiful. there is no way in he l l that i would be able to create that and i don't think i know anyone else who would be able to do it.
there is an art and talent that a professional photog will incorporate into your album that you will likely not be able to do unless you are a graphic designer or something along those lines.
i will also be making my parent albums b/c as MandG072909 said, the parents are more intersted in the pictures than the album. the pro albums are of a certain quality physically and aesthetically that self-made albums usually are not - no offense to anyone who has made their own albums - and for the bride and groom i think that is a better choice than a snapfish or kodak, etc website album.
Kara and Todd
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Re: tell me why...
You can always have a professional book made afterwards, even if you don't include it in your package. Some photographers even recommended this to me, knowing that there is enough to worry about paying for now.
If you decide later on to have an album made, you can do it then.
divabride
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Re: tell me why...
Just speaking from experience and talking with other newlyweds, I can attest to the fact that after the wedding, you lose a lot of interest. We dragged our feet when it came to picking out the proofs for our albums. I cant imagine taking even more time to design the album. It was such a relief knowing someone would take care of it for me. As for speaking with other newlyweds, I know a few 05er's that STILL havent designed their albums just out of pure laziness (Both on the bride and groom side). If its something your looking forward to doing and your efficient in photoshop, I would encourage you to go ahead and design you own. But it you see it as another wedding project, save yourself the aggravation and have someone take care of it for you.
kittythestray
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Re: tell me why...
We did ours using Apple's iPhoto. I enjoyed working on it with DH, we did our parent ones this weekend & had 135 pictures in each, 56 pages, hardcover and they were $73 each. When we see how they turn out we'll do ours. I'll post pictures when they come in.
MrsQ-in2007
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Re: tell me why...
I think it's a matter of time and presentation. While I LOVE doing My Publisher or Kodak photo albums for vacations and special occasions, I knew that I wanted a more professional book for my wedding photos because they look different and seem to hold up better (they are thicker, better quality etc). I think the online photo books are great, I have a ton, but the pictures themselves are definitely not as clear or professional looking as in professional photo albums.
Once we knew we wanted the pro album, it was a matter of deciding to do it in a package with our photographer or to do it later on (either through our own photographer or through another company). Well I researched about doing it through another company and it would have been a lot of money (although I'm sure you could find a good deal out there). Then when we met with our photographer, I loved their magazine style books (which is how I always layout my online photobooks). The fact that they do the layouts for you and you can make an adjustment to them is a big stress reliever.
I mean, we went to Hawaii and it took me SEVEN months to finish our photobook. This is without the craziness that comes after a wedding (for us that means moving in, getting our place ready, getting readjusted, then our first Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year' as a married couple, etc etc etc). I just feel that for us it would take way too long to do our own album so we included it with our photo package.
For our parents' albums, we did not include them in our package. We will decide later if we want to do them through our photographer or do an online photobook since I too agree that they are more interested in the pictures themselves than in the thickness of the book. Also, we probably would not include as many pics in their albums as we would in ours if we were doing it ourselves.
sr081906
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Re: tell me why...
I am doing my own. That's the way I wanted to do it all along.
Worst case scenario... it will cost me $50-$75 and my photographer can do it if I mess up.
libby2595
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Re: tell me why...
i guess it all depends on you.
this is one of the places i cut corners. i don't need a photog album. it seems like you might not need one either.
photographers offer different kinds of albums. many do the traditional ones and many are now doing 'magazine style'. i guess it depends on what's important to you.
if it is important to you to have a traditional album, you can always have your photographer create a contract where you can come back to that point later; when you have the money to get one.
hth
Espo22
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Re: tell me why...
Well if you dont want one and would rather do it yourself then go ahead, nobody is stopping you. If that is what you have decided to do then theres no need convincing yourself.
stealthgroom
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Re: tell me why...
Posted by libby2595
i guess it all depends on you.
this is one of the places i cut corners. i don't need a photog album. it seems like you might not need one either.
photographers offer different kinds of albums. many do the traditional ones and many are now doing 'magazine style'. i guess it depends on what's important to you.
if it is important to you to have a traditional album, you can always have your photographer create a contract where you can come back to that point later; when you have the money to get one.
hth
Ah, you know me too well!
I just feel like the cost of these albums is pretty outrageous, and I don't feel like this is stuff I need, you know? OF COURSE I want a good album with lots of great pictures from our wedding, but 500-600 bucks on an album? seems a little extreme to me. I'd just as soon get a nice album from ten thousand villages and put in photos myself. Or make one online.
thanks all!
--the stealth groom (giving meat eating, sports watching, whiskey drinking men a voice on liweddings since 10/06)
stealthgroom
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Re: tell me why...
Posted by Espo22
Well if you dont want one and would rather do it yourself then go ahead, nobody is stopping you. If that is what you have decided to do then theres no need convincing yourself.
I guess its just... well, I want to be sure. i didn't think i really needed a videographer, but talking to folks on the boards here and my married friends made a difference. It seemed like such a no brainer (diy album) that I want to just make sure I'm not missing something really obvious. I tend to do that from time to time.
--the stealth groom (giving meat eating, sports watching, whiskey drinking men a voice on liweddings since 10/06)
tourist
Posted:
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Re: tell me why...
I did get a profesional album & one for each set of parents, but I made one for my grandmother through MyPublisher.
I don't think the pro albums were a waste of money, I did want a traditional album like my parent's have--I like the weight & sturdiness of the pages & the look of actual phtos on photo paper ( glued into the book, instead of printed on a page)
However, if you need to cut back, I think that is a easy thing to cut, b/c the digiat printing palces do such a great job for a good price.
Just make sure your photographer is giving you all the digital images & doesn't include an album in your package.
1 tip from my experience--I mixed some family shots with the pro ones in my My Publisher album & you can tell the difernece in resolution, even thgouh I didn't exceed the recommended size for those images.
Audreygirl
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Re: tell me why...
Posted by Espo22
Well if you dont want one and would rather do it yourself then go ahead, nobody is stopping you. If that is what you have decided to do then theres no need convincing yourself.
although i previously replied for MY reasons for getting an album, i would definitely agree with you on this one. if you don't want one, there is no need to seek validation for your decision.
CaMacho
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Re: tell me why...
Everyone is going to have a different opinion on this. Here's mine...
Shutterfly & Mac albums are nice (we did them for our parents and we did one for our e-pics), but they do not compare to our photographer's album!!
We just picked up our album on saturday and it is AMAZING! We did the magazine style so each page is a collage of pictures with faded pics in the background, etc. The pages are so thick like cardboard coated in plastic and platinum edges. The book is leather with our picture on the front and our names/date embroidered in. Basically it can't get ruined. The pages from shutterfly are very flimsy... a little thicker than magazine pages, but very thin. They can tear easily.
IMO... get an album from your photographer! It's so worth it. If anything, take out parent albums and make those on shutterfly.
Espo22
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Re: tell me why...
Yeah just think about it. If to you its not worth spending that much money on an album then do it. You don't want to think later what you could've done with that money. Also, if you decide to do it yourself make sure you wont regret having professional albums. Just have to figure out which is more important to you
stealthgroom
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Re: tell me why...
Posted by sr081906
I am doing my own. That's the way I wanted to do it all along.
Worst case scenario... it will cost me $50-$75 and my photographer can do it if I mess up.
I think this is my attitude on the whole thing, honestly. I can always have it in the contract that I CAN do an album later if I choose to, right?
I just have so little choice and this whole thing is so frickin expensive!!!
If I get digitals/negatives, I can always reproduce something.
thanks again, y'all!
--the stealth groom (giving meat eating, sports watching, whiskey drinking men a voice on liweddings since 10/06)
