Let me ask you a question. If your home were on fire right now, what would you grab and save? In June of 2008 my mom had to make this decision. Of course the most important thing is to be sure she and our pets were safe. She somehow managed to save all 5 of our dogs and herself. The story of our house fire is a long one, and it’s coming soon to the blog but I’m going to fast forward to the moment when I found out. The first thing I asked, “Are you okay, are the dogs okay?!” After she assured me they were alright, I immediately thought of the photos. And this was BEFORE I was a photographer. When I walked up our driveway to see our used-to-be home, I felt empty. All the memories, everything from my childhood, were gone. One of the firemen asked me if there was anything he should try to save and I told him where we kept our photos and albums because those are irreplaceable. Everything else in our home can be replaced, but the memories and photographs I hold near and dear to my heart. I can recall numerous occasions where we would grab an album and just sit on the sofa together as a family and relive those memories together. Mama’s and Daddy’s wedding album was stored in a “special closet” where we (as children) couldn’t reach it. It was precious. It was important. It was always a treat when we could get out their beautiful, white album with gold trim… I will always remember that album. It was not only precious to my parents, but to me.
I am asking you this question because I feel that you all probably feel the same way. Somewhere along the way between digital files, computers and DVDs, albums seem to have gone by the wayside. Albums seem to be the first thing that gets cut when pricing is not meeting the budget. And believe me, I UNDERSTAND. However, a lot people think that they will get around to creating their own later on… (In this case, life usually gets in the way, the notion of the album falls to the end of the “to-do list”, and they forget). And I get that too. They get their DVD of images, maybe post some to Facebook and that’s it. That’s the sad reality of what seems to happen. Out of all of those images stored on your computer, how often do you see yourself sitting with you husband or family and looking through those images on your computer screen? I can’t imagine myself doing that. I know it’s hard narrowing them down and I know it takes time and money. But for me, it is a TREASURE having a collection of your favorite images from your day. When I get married and have a family, I want to sit on the sofa with them and show my children mommy and daddy’s wedding. I want them to remember it. I want that for myself and I want that for my clients. THAT is a precious memory for me… whether their album burned or not, the memory of sharing that time with my family is SO special.
And through all of these technology advancements, bigger, cooler and better things coming out, your wedding album remains up to date. A wedding album is a way to tell YOUR story. Each image is carefully selected and arranged to the uniqueness of your wedding and you as a couple. No two albums are alike, just like no two couples are alike. Your story is unique and deserves to have a home in a beautiful heirloom album.
After all, after the wedding is complete and preparation and planning is over… all that’s left from that day are your photos. A wedding album is a tangible end product of the hours and hours of work you put into your wedding. You can open that album at any time and SEE, FEEL, and RELIVE the moments and colors of your wedding.
Now that you understand the importance of a wedding album, I can show you my new samples! In addition to my mini albums, I also offer Heirloom Albums. I use Leather Craftsmen for my Heirloom Albums. Each album is wrapped in either Japanese silk or top grain leather. I created 3 samples: 2, 8×8 (1 leather and 1 silk) and a 10×10 leather. I chose to use Maggie & Stephen’s wedding, Jillian & Will’s Wedding and Sarah & Chris’ engagement session (an example of an engagement guestbook). I love imprinting and cover photos so I included those on my samples as well. They feature lay flat pages that make it easy for viewing. The pages are super durable and thick as well. For all your photographers out there, I designed my albums in Photojunction, which is awesome by the way (and FREE!). They make is SUPER easy to design your albums!! I also used Templates for Photographers to design my albums quickly and easily. They are specifically designed for the use with Photojunction and they are the bomb.com. They are really nice because you can really make them your own. The templates are easy to manipulate and arrange, they are really great. So now that I’ve rambled on for a year, I am excited to FINALLY show you my new samples! Hooray! I hope you love them as much as I do!
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