5 reasons to have a wedding photo book

I'm a technology lover, but fro me some things are linked inevitably to the analog world. For example I just can't read comics on a screen, whether they are comics, manga, manhwa, graphic novels or whatever. And photos also fall into the category of those objects I prefer to have in physical rather than digital format.
As you may know, in our offer of wedding photo services we do not include albums or photobooks in our package, not only because we prefer to leave the freedom to choose whether to buy them or not, but above all because these products are so customizable that it would not make sense to include them in a closed package offer: setting a price for the album or photo book should limit some choices, instead we prefer that our couples have maximum freedom of expression even designing their album or photo book.

But if you're still undecided, read on the 5 reasons to have a photo book. And not only that: at the bottom of this article you will also find some answers to the most frequently asked questions by our couples on this very topic!

A box covered with wood - a matte paper and a cinematographic layout for thew book

1. A tangible memory

Just as the most technologically advanced Kindle can never replace the scent of a book, the act of leafing through it, being able to put it in the bookcase with others, even looking at a photograph on a screen doesn't have the same evocative power to have that same photograph, printed, in your hands.
Precisely the sensations change and transmit themselves in completely different ways: if on the one hand the screen, with its brightness, tends to dominate the viewer and almost certainly alters the colors because it is not balanced as that of a professional photographer, on the other hand a print is ready to be observed without attacking the viewer.

When you leaf through an album (which even no longer needs tissue paper between one photo and another) or a photobook, it is inevitable to caress the paper and receive sensations that are impossible to transfer through a screen. Also the conviviality when showing photographs to friends and relatives is different: usually you are all on the same side in front of the screen, while you are around the book. In the first case, you all look in the same direction, in the case of the book, you look at your guests and their reactions in leafing through the book. A presentation on the screen must be interrupted, in order to talk about the photograph just watched, with the book it is sufficient to pause and wait, before leafing through it and moving on to the next page.

The refinement of an Italian Wedding Book

Finally, the photo book can also be combined with a box that contains it: almost like a ritual, before leafing through it, the box must be opened and, like a casket, suggests a well-kept treasure. If you think about it, your memories are just like a dear family item, to be kept and relive when you feel the need.

2. The same story in a different way

There is no doubt that the wedding photos, seen in sequence, are able to tell a story. But a photo book, with selected photographs arranged in an accurate layout, is able to tell the same story in a different way.
While a slideshow of photos on a screen is simply a sequence of images, each double-page spread of a photo book tells a story within a story. In fact, if carefully designed, the layout of a photo book can always convey different emotions. By working on the images and their position on the double-page spread, it is possible to:

• mark time with a sequence of images;
• tell the details starting from an overall photo;
• revolutionize every single photograph, preferring different aspect ratios, including cinematographic ones;
• adapt the background of the story to what is being told;
• introduce the different environments;
• subvert the temporal order in which the events occurred;
• use a different editing process, for example for a photo book entirely in black and white editing.

In order to give you a concrete example of the difference in the story, I invite you to look first at the wedding photoshoot in Italy of Veronica and Patrizio, presented in the gallery as a sequence of photographs, and then leafing through the layout of their photo book below.

3. Customization

Long gone are the days when the wedding album was a large tome bound in leather and with tissue paper between the pages to protect the photographs from overlapping. Technology made great strides and allowed us:

• to have books in which we can print on the whole page;
• to have a completely flat double-page spread, in leafing through the pages of the book;
• to customize books and boxes in each element.

Our samples are now full of different materials used to cover both the book and the various parts of the box: cotton, linen, silk, modern fabrics that are difficult to classify with classic names, wood, cork, plexiglas, real or synthetic leathers and many other materials, each of them in many color variations and combinable according to your taste.

Depending on the material, it is possible have ennobling with different technologies, such as printing graphic elements (also in relief) rather than making laser engravings or embossing.

Finally, do not underestimate the printing papers on which the photographs are printed, which can obviously be combined with the general aesthetics of the photo book and its box, but which provide totally different sensations to the touch and print yield: the paper must therefore be carefully chosen based on the type of editing that the photographer does and taking account of all the aesthetic factors.
Designing your photo book together with your photographer will surely be fun and, once you'll received it, it will seem even more beautiful than you imagined, despite the test renderings of both the book itself and the layout: it will be immediately clear to you the idea I wrote to you of a casket that holds your memories.

The amazing variety of materials that can be used for photo books and boxes

4. A gift idea for loved ones

Since a photo book holds important memories of the life of the couple, why not think of creating one accurately for your parents? Think of their joy when they will see an object so precious for them, made with the loving care that only a son or daughter can have!

Obviously in this case the content is what matters most: personalize it with a dedication, with some graphic element that has a particular meaning, with a series of photographs specifically chosen for them, will make it the surprise of their life!
If you have a limited budget for this type of gift, ask your photographer to find a cheaper solution than the main photo book, without undermining the quality of the final product: this gift will certainly be very welcome, believe me!

A wedding book and a parents'one

5. A furnishing element

Years ago wedding albums were enclosed in boxes, which contained a wrapper, which in turn contained the actual box of the book and inside, finally, the photo book was discovered.

Today think of the book and its box as a real furnishing element for your home, to be kept in plain sight, at hand, just as if you would always want to keep in front of your eyes the memories of that unique day.
You have the chance to personalize it making it not only perfectly in line with the style of your wedding, but also with that of the your home decor: both the book and your home talk about you, I am sure you will have no difficulty finding the right place for your "treasure chest of memories".

The extraordinary elegance of an Amalfi paper book

Wedding Photo Book FAQ

Here at the end of the article you can find the answers to some questions that may come to your mind. Some are already present in the FAQ section of the website, while others I thought just as I was writing this article, so you can only find them here.

Can we print our photo book ourselves?

Of course you can, by contract you have the rights to do it! In addition, the photos that you'll receive in digital format are at the highest resolution available, which allows you to print them in very large format.
But let me make some comments:

• you will hardly have access to a series of professional quality products that are prerogative only of professional photographers: there are also good printers (although it is not easy to find them), but the quality of the professional product is a different world. I do not pretend to convince you with words, in my Studio I can show you and let you touch materials and products by hand;
• designing a photo book layout isn't easy. Sure, you may have already done it for your holiday book but, if it's not your job, it's really difficult to reconcile: photos you want to insert (which are always many), limiting the number of pages (in order to not have an expensive and inelegant brick of paper), keeping the story alive and coherent;
• during the layout design it often happens to me to change the editing of one or more photos for storytelling needs: for example a photo that initially was delivered to you in black and white and that would make no sense in the book. Or it happens that I am in need to insert a photograph in the layout that you did not chosen and therefore was not delivered to you. You could not do it;
• the graphics I make for photo books are personalized to be really unique: since my wife is a Wedding Designer, I have access to a huge library of fonts and graphics and moreover I have contacts with professionals who are able to create illustrations in different styles and on any theme. Again, unless you're a graphic designer, you would miss the opportunity to do some special jobs;
• before the order I always send my couples the graphic rendering of the final project, in which the box, book and graphics are visible as they will actually be made: it is a type of service that printers for amateurs hardly offer.

How many and which photographs will be present in the photo book?

The service I offer is totally customizable: you can insert in the photo book the photos you want. Of course, I always try to advise my couples during the book design phase. To get an idea of the suggestions that I usually provide, you can read this other blog article about the topic: Which photos You should choose for Your Wedding Photobook.

How long does it take to deliver a photo bookor a traditional album?

Usually delivery times are about 4 weeks from the printing order (in some cases even less). For the photo book it takes some time for the design before the order, which varies from 1-2 weeks depending on the complexity. For the traditional album it takes time for the assembly of the photographs on the album, which I make by hand: after the arrival of prints and book I take a couple of days in which I know I have to be really into it and focused (just one mistake to ruin the work!).

When the photo book or the traditional album should be designed?

I recommend starting to design the photo book or the album only after having received all the edited photographs and having looked at them several times: only at that point you will be ready to choose the right product and materials to you, your story and your photographs. Making choices before this moment means not knowing what you're doing and risking having a product you don't recognize yourself in.