It’s Never Too Late for Wedding Albums

If you asked me what single possession I would rescue if my house was on fire, I’d say my wedding album. In fact, this has been the common answer for generations. So what’s the big deal about wedding albums?

Wedding albums capture once-in-a-lifetime memories of a milestone day in your most intimate relationship. Marriage is the cornerstone of a family, so it’s natural to preserve those significant moments in a printed album you can enjoy, display, and pass on.

Unfortunately, the transition to digital photography in the early 2000s changed how wedding photos are delivered to new couples. Instead of a hefty and luxurious wedding album, many photographers deliver digital photos on a CD, thumb drive, or download link.

Risks

Digital photography introduced incredible speed and creativity to the world of wedding photography, but relying solely on digital delivery of computer files has significant risks.

• CD/DVD: Many wedding photographers deliver wedding photos on an optical disc such as a CD or DVD. Unfortunately, a single scratch can render all the photos unreadable. Even if the disc is stored safely, optical discs can suffer from dye decay and fail in as little as 18 months.
• Digital Download: Another common way to deliver wedding photos is via a web gallery or download link. If you don’t download the photos before the link expires, lose the password, or forget to backup your files then you might lose access to these important memories.
• USB Thumb Drive: The best digital delivery option is a USB thumb drive because it’s fast, reliable, and virtually indestructible. That said, digital photos on a phone or screen aren’t the best way to enjoy and share your important wedding photos. 

Why are wedding albums so important?

There are three reasons a wedding album is an important part of preserving your memories.

• Visible: Even if you keep your digital photos safe, keeping them hidden on a hard drive isn’t the point. Creating a beautiful wedding album makes your photos visible and accessible. Instead of a computer, drive, or an adapter, you only need need your eyes and your heart to relive your wedding day.
• Tangible: So many of our daily experiences are digital and fleeting, but something as important as your wedding day deserves to be tangible and permanent.
• Shareable: We take photos to remember and be remembered, and a wedding album is the best way to share your special day with your spouse, kids, and future generations.

Typical Clients

Creating wedding albums is one of our favorite services at Chaos to Memories. We work with photographers, couples, and families to tell their story and preserve their memories.

• Wedding Photographers: We love working with wedding photographers who prefer to shoot weddings instead of design albums. We’re happy to work with photographers or directly with the client.
• Couples: If you’re a married couple who wants to remember your special day with a beautiful album, then we should talk. We regularly design with photos from engagement shoots, bridal sessions, wedding days, destination weddings, and more.
• Families: Celebrating a milestone wedding anniversary with a new wedding album is a thoughtful and priceless gift. We work with digital photos, original prints and negatives, and we can even restore faded and damaged photos. Whether you want to recreate a heritage album or design something new, our team can help.

Process

Sorting through photos to find the best shots, designing an album that tells the story of your wedding day, and producing a beautiful handmade book is a magical process. This is how we approach these projects.

• Gather/Scan: Every wedding album project starts with gathering your digital photos or scanning your original prints and negatives. This ensures we have the best possible image quality and most creative freedom.
• Design: We select your best photos and design a custom book that tells the story of your wedding day. Our expert staff has more than 30 years of professional design experience.
• Review: We email you a link so you can review the album design in a private online gallery. You can review the design at your convenience from home, and leave comments about any changes you want made. We will complete as many revisions as needed until you love the design, but almost every album design project is finalized in just 1-2 edits.
• Print: After you approve the final design, we will print your book with archival materials, timeless covers, and custom details like embossing. We can print multiple sizes and copies for you to enjoy and gift to others.

Next Steps

If you’re ready to turn your wedding memories into a timeless wedding album, we’d be honored to help. We can review your photos, show you samples, and get started today!

Interested in working with Chaos to Memories?

If you’re near Chicago and ready to get started, come visit our Wheaton Studio Monday – Friday, 10-5. Please bring your memories with you.

If you live outside the Chicagoland area, we’re happy to send you a Project Form and Contract, along with shipping instructions, so you can get started on your project.

Contact us for more information.