Hey hey! If you’ve ever asked the question, “What’s the Difference in Your Albums and Albums I Can Buy Online?” you are in the right place! With so many options online these days, it may be easy to wonder what the difference is!
So, here are 4 benefits of having your album professionally designed and produced! And, some reasons you may want to avoid cheaper companies with your wedding album.
Materials
Materials can make or break an album. The quality of paper, binding, ink, etc. It all makes a difference in the final outcome. Which is why I’ve chosen to have all of my couple’s albums hand-crafted in a professional, high-quality printing lab.
The printing lab I use creates wedding albums using genuine leather or beautifully-woven linen with thick lay-flat pages (so nothing gets lost in the creases!). They also use high-end ink to make sure that your images are true-to-color, and aren’t distorted in any way.
The great part? I’m not just using those “commercially” terms for show. It’s legit. They really are bound and printed professionally, and real humans help to put them together! They are also reviewed from cover to cover for imperfections before being shipped out!
Albums that you can order online from companies like Shutterfly mass produce their products and use low quality materials (hit or miss ink colors, thin paper, cheap binding, etc.) to lower costs.
And friend, I’m not dissing Shutterfly! I use them for little vacation albums all the time! I just wanted something low-cost and quick to have our vacation pictures printed.
But, to be honest, I wouldn’t want my wedding memories preserved in that way. They ultimately look really cheap and plastic-y (if that’s a word?) So, I would just suggest using a more reputable company with quality material to make your heirloom wedding album.
Design
There’s a simple difference between my albums and online albums here. I design every album. Yep. You heard me right! I design the layouts, picture placements, etc. to make sure that your album looks beautiful and timeless. Plus, you can tell me which pictures to swap and what layouts to change during your revisions, and I will take care of it for you!
However, most commercial online album designers generally come with pre-made designs that are less than ideal for wedding albums. With stickers and text included, they can leave your wedding album feeling childish.
Durability
This is one of the biggest benefits of having a professional photographer and lab create your ablum! Since your album will be made of quality materials, you can bank on the fact that it will last for the duration of your marriage! The thick, sturdy pages mean that little hands can’t rip them up. And, the binding won’t fall apart with age!
Cheaper alternatives from online sources generally start falling apart within 5 to 10 years. The binding starts to come unglued and the pages wear and tear with age.
Process
As I have mentioned before, I design each album by hand! And with that, I have also developed a smooth, stress-free process to help my couples get gorgeous albums without the hassle! They don’t have to start from scratch and wonder what to do! I do the heavy lifting by creating an initial album proof for my couples, so all they have to do is pick the cover and swap out a few images here and there!
Looking for more blogs like “What’s the Difference in Your Albums and Albums I Can Buy Online?”
Check out The Engagement Series or my Wedding Album Blogs!
