Wedding Album, Photobook or DVD? Bride's choices abound

Todays brides have many options when sharing their wedding photographs, long gone are the days when couples were limited to just wedding albums.  Now, newlywed couples have many ways to share memories of their day in a unique and stylized way that  better represents their personalities and style.  The only limits are a couple's imagination...

Arguably, the most versatile medium that encourages the bride and groom’s creative input is the photobook. Limited by only a couples vision (and perhaps budget) the photobook has more options than any traditional wedding album.  Couples can design their own book, collaborate with their photographer or, they can just provide the images and let an expert design team create unique coffee table wedding photo albums designed specifically for them. Whichever option is chosen, the final result is a family heirloom that you can share throughout the years and pass from one generation to the next. If you are on a limited budget ask your photo profesional about alternatives, often they offer cost-saving designs or financing options to help you achieve your best design within a more financially fesible framework.

The first alternative is the Coffee-Table Wedding-Photo-Book. This option has claimed the majority position: they afford great flexibility in terms of untethered design options. The photobook's unique versatility offers couples the ability to print images, text and graphics, on their choice of Kodak lab print or digital offset paper. The pages are sewn and then bound into a book with their choice of hard back covers. Why are they called Coffee Table Magazine Style Wedding Photo Books? The books are bound in such a way that when they are opened and placed on a table they “lie flat”, similar to the large glamour magazines you have seen in salons.

The industry offers a large selection from embossed leather covers to photos on silk or metal. Traditional linen covers are also available. It is like having your own personal book publisher. The couple is then able to have as few as one book printed, or have multiple copies created to be used as gifts. These books are created by designers who add graphic design elements to certain images, which help evoke more of an emotional feel throughout the book. Custom text can also be added to help tell the story. Scanned documents or other images, such as when you first met, your bridal shower, getting ready for your wedding, or your honeymoon pictures can easily be included to tell a more “complete” story.

The second alternative or compliment to wedding albums is the Video DVD production.With DVD players so affordably priced and computers equipped  with DVD players, many brides are opting to have their wedding immortalized with video and sound on DVD. For those who want their wedding book displayed on their new wide screen TV or large flat computer monitor, having their wedding produced into a video DVD is the ultimate gratification. The wedding does not have to be videotaped for this to happen. The photos can be supplied with whatever text the bride wants included, the type of music chosen, and audio files of the vows or comments or toasts can be included. Also, video clips can be added, if desired. Again, certain images receive special design elements to help evoke the emotional feel desired. If the bride and groom want, special stock images can be included with text overlay to help tell the story.

If you are on a limited budget, the Video DVD may be your answer. Once the initial design and production cost is met, you can have your friends and family purchase individually from the company who created your video DVD. These often can be obtained for less than $50 each, and make great gifts.