How to Create Your Own Wedding Album

Photographer's wedding albums are very expensive and often leave out many photos of your wedding. Make your own personalized, inexpensive album.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Lace
• Rubber Wedding Stamps
• Wedding Invitations
• Books About Scrapbooking
• Acid-free Scrapbooks
• Glues
• Scrapbooks
• Wedding Albums
• Acid-free Ink Pens
• Acid-free Papers
• Ink Pads
• Cameras
• Disposable Cameras
• Film
• Cameras

1. Choose whether you'll hire a photographer or only use photographs from family and friends.

2. Assemble mementos such as your guest list, gift registry list, the list of gifts you received, paperwork about the flowers and dress, passages you've chosen for the ceremony and other items you can place in your album.

3. Keep two copies of your wedding invitation. Plan to use one on the cover and the other inside.

4. Keep your place cards from the reception, a copy of your wedding program, your announcement in the newspaper, the papers you wrote your personalized vows on and a copy of the lyrics of the song you danced to together. Save all of the cards you receive on your wedding day in case you'd like to include a few.

5. Obtain photographs from friends and family.

6. Purchase proofs from your photographer. Proofs are small 3-by-5-inch photos you're supposed to use to choose the photos you want blown up.

7. Select a few special photos to blow up, and use the proofs in your album. This way you can include every single photo that was taken, if you wish, and save a lot of money.

8. Purchase a large album or scrapbook that will hold many items on a page. Make sure you use high-quality materials so it will last, and be sure that everything is acid-free.

9. Arrange your photographs and mementos in any order you like. Consider decorating the margins of the pages with drawings or cutouts.

10. Create a special cover for your album. When the wedding dress is altered you can ask for the material that's removed and use that to decorate the cover. Lace also enhances a wedding album cover.

Tips & Warnings

• Wait until a few weeks after your wedding to make the album so that you're sure you have all the photos that friends and family members took at the wedding.

[Azured]

on 12/8/2008 If you are skipping a professional photographer, you run the very real (in fact, likely) possibility you will get many, many 'snapshots' of your wedding day, but no really great photographs...as this is a once in a lifetime day for brides, it's often not a good idea to skimp on a decent photographer. www.jclayphoto.com is quite good in the Toronto area, he shot my sisters' wedding for a decent price and great results.

on 8/8/2006 For my wedding I asked a friend to take pictures. I also had color disposable cameras with flash placed on each table. An announcement was made after everyone had settled in at their tables to please take photos using the cameras provided and leave at your table to be collected. This was a wonderful idea. Everyone respected our request and took some great 'real moments' pictures! My album is filled with wonderful memories that mean more because my friends and family helped.

on 8/8/2006 I used the services of a pro photographer who gave me a CD of all the images he took, that way I just had to get them printed and could make my own album with professional photos! Go with "matte" finish for a professional look. Then, I bought a beautiful Renaissance wedding album for a third of what a photographer would have charged. I easily saved $1000 on my wedding album by going this route!

on 12/15/2005 I ordered black and white disposable cameras. Cost about 3.50 each. They were placed on each table. The candids and moments that were caught on these were priceless and the photographer missed most of these moments. Well worth it. Note: black and white film adds to the candid style.

on 11/22/2005 I recently got married, but as a bride-to-be I decided to splurge on a professional photographer (as well as asking my entire clan and friends to actively take pictures) to be sure I got very beautiful photos. But, I did not order the photo album from the photographer. This saved me more than 50% off his fee. Instead, after compiling all the pictures myself, I chose the best ones and got to work using Adobe Photoshop Elements. I'm no photographer, but I learned how to use Photoshop in just under 2 days! For the timid amateurs, Picasa would be a good choice, but it has very limited editing options. I was able to save a bundle and create a professional looking album! I just bought a beautiful album and had the prints developed.