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We live in a digital age now.  CDs and DVDs of images have become a highly requested commodity in the photography world.I can’t argue… digital images are convenient, easy to share, and fun.  I want digital copies of all of my photos, too.  More than likely you just spent a lot of money on your images, so you should have a high quality, long lasting, and fabulous way to showcase those images. However, it is a growing trend where wedding albums and session albums are often the first thing to get cut. Many couples aren’t aware of the importance of an album. Some 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 by the wayside, and they forget).

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But let me ask you this…
If your house was on fire right now, what you would you grab and save?  What do you hold most dear?

For me, I would want to make sure my family and pets were safe, and then I would want to save all of my photos because those are irreplaceable.  Everything else in my home (computer included) can be replaced, but the memories and photographs I hold dear can’t be re-purchased at some store.  I am willing to bet, that many of you feel the same.

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Now, I want to ask you something else.
Out of all the images you have stored on your computer’s hard drive…. How often do you revisit and look at those images? How many times do you relive the emotions you experienced by creating those photos?

Since my husband and I started dating, I have documented each year of our lives in photo-book/album.  Our books are all placed in one area waiting for us to flip through the pages and re-live our adventures.  We can also share our experiences with our friends and families.  I believe that it is important for families to have memories, traditions, and special things to pass down through the generations.
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Lastly, I want you to think about something.
Times are changing and technology grows and gets cooler and more awesome everyday! But just think about 10-20 years ago before iPods and even before CDs and DVDs… What happened to our old VHS tapes and cassette tapes?

We tossed them out because we don’t use them any more, and we purchased newer, bigger, and better things.   Well, what happens when that DVD you purchased of your wedding images or your child’s newborn photos when DVDs are no longer the popular way to store images?  What happens many years down the road when your grandkids want to see photographs of their grandparent’s wedding day?  Are you going to pull up an antique computer to show them? Are you going to keep backing up the images to a new device everytime one is released?  Wouldn’t it be easier to pull out your wedding album and show them and be able to tell your story to them?
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I truly treasure being able to see my grandparents’ wedding photographs, and I know some day future generations will appreciate it to.  I urge you to not only think about today, but to think about the future and what it would mean for your children and grandchildren to have such a wonderful family heirloom to cherish and pass down.

With wedding albums, they are a way to tell YOUR story.  Each image is carefully selected, edited, and arranged in a manner that compliments the flow of the day while telling the beautiful story of the start of your family.  Session albums are generally smaller, but are edited and published with the same love and care. You can start with your wedding album as the first heirloom you can create for YOUR family, and then you can build on that by capturing memories through the years in new photobooks/albums/coffeetable books.

With all of that being said, I just got my wedding album in (like, yesterday!!).   I know, I know… I was one of those brides, who said… “I will just get the disk and build the album later” It took a little over a year for me to get it done, because I had so much going on with moving twice, building a home, and starting the business!!!!  Now, that I have finally have my album, I could kick myself for waiting so long to do it.  In fact, I wish I would have had my photographers’ do it for me, so that I would have had it all this time.
So, I can now speak from experience.  Don’t wait!  Make sure you make your album a priority because you just have no idea what you are missing! Luckily most of my couples get an album, so they are definitely ahead of me on that one!!!

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Note to other photographers:  Please, feel free to use this article (in whole or part) on your own blog, but please include a link back to my site as the author. – http://www.angelablakephotography.com

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Here are a few photos of my wedding album and some of my favorite layouts!
(obviously, I didn’t take the photos.  My spectacular wedding photographers, Daniel and Kelli Taylor, did!)

I did, however, design and order my own album.  So, my clients can expect albums of the same quality and design.
(I also have a minimalist design option, for those who favor a lot of white space! Multiple cover options are available, too.)

**This particular album is 12×12  square with 60 pages (30 spreads) and a brown leather cover.**