The wedding album is one of the last things a couple gets to enjoy from their big day.  Depending on the style you choose and the photographer in charge of producing it, the level of involvement each couple has can either be very limited, or extremely involved.  Which is better?  Well, neither really.  What it really comes down to is whether you have the time to devote to an album that requires you to pick out all the images and sit down for a creative meeting to discuss the direction you’d like the design to go in.  If you don’t have this time, then it might be better to choose an album that the photographer can easily design and produce for  you; one that might be set up on a template system that the photographer can select from and insert your images.  Whichever you choose, the one piece of advice I would give you before selecting your wedding photographer is to make sure you are going to be happy with the album style they offer.  Some photographers offer several styles and others only offer one or two.  Don’t settle for something simply because it’s your only option with that photographer… there are design services out there that can take your images and create something you might like better – just be sure you’ve cleared this with your wedding photographer and they will give you the rights to your images.  Your choices for design services are numerous, so be careful of the too good to be true deal.  If it’s for a wedding album and the price seems too good to be true, it probably is not going to be of the highest quality.  With the album companies I deal with, the median price range for an album is around $500 to $800 – could be a little less or a little more.  ( That is my cost… not what I charge clients. )  So, if you find a 60 page album that only costs $200, I would be wary.  The quality is probably not going to be good, and I would look elsewhere. 

So, why get an album at all?  I know some of you are trying to save money and will cut the album from a package in an effort to curb costs.  I completely understand this, but I’d like you to consider one thing:  if you don’t go ahead and committ to an album now, you may never end up getting one in the future.  Life moves on after the wedding day, and in the hustle and bustle, the importance of a wedding album doesn’t seem so pressing until ten years have passed and regret starts to move in.  I’ve seen many couples in this exact situation, they say they will get an album on their first anniversary, but I never hear from them because their lives have changed and other obligations require their time and money.  When you are in the planning stages of a wedding, go ahead and add in the cost of an album… it will be worth it on your 30th, 40th, and 50th wedding anniversaries when you can relive the day again and again.