The Album Design Process

So you’re married and you love your photos – now how do you put together the beautiful wedding album you’ve ordered?  It’s an easy process, but not always an obvious one.  Here’s a step-by-step guide to the Tracy Carolyn Photography album process:

Step One:  Photo Selection This can go two ways.  Couples are always welcome to select their favorite images for the album.  I suggest selecting images that tell the story of the day, rather than all portraits.  If you are selecting 50 images for your album (the standard number included in my base album prices), I recommend the following ratio: 10 getting ready; 10 ceremony; 15 portraits (including the wedding party, couple, and family portraits); 15 reception.  If you find narrowing down 800+ images to just 50 favorites, I am happy to help with this step by making a preliminary selection for you.  The option to add or switch out images is available at any time.

I highly suggest that couples select their album photos within 6 weeks of the wedding, while the images are still new and the memories are still fresh.  It is very easy to get distracted and forget about your album, so try not to procrastinate :)

Step Two:  Design Once the images have been selected, I hand them off to my fabulous in-house album designer.  She puts together a design with the selected images that tells the story of your wedding in a clean and clear manner.  I take a look at her design, make my own tweaks, and then email you a PDF version to review.  If you see adjustments you’d like made (such as subsituting images, adjusting image sizes, or altering placement of particular images), you simply email them back to me.  I’ll send you an updated draft of the PDF until we’ve settled on a design that you completely love.

Step Three:  Cover Options Once you’ve approved the design, I’ll send you all of the options for album cover colors and materials.  You’ll need to select your favorite, and decide if you would like your names and wedding date imprinted on the cover.  Once you decide, I will order your album from my album company.

Step Four:  Production Depending on the style of book you’ve selected, it can take 4 to 6 weeks for your book to arrive.  I always check over the album to be sure it looks exactly how you wanted it.  I will then either deliver or mail the album to you.

That’s it!  If you would like to see a sample album design, or have any additional questions about the album design process, please ask!