When you wedding day is done, the cake has been eaten, the thank you notes sent, and the dress hung, you are left as newlyweds with your wedding photographs - and that's it! After sending the digital images, I always encourage my couples to think about how they'd like to preserve those images. These images will be your first family heirloom. A reminder that it all started with your love!

"These images will be your first family heirloom."

I think that there's nothing quite like having printed images in a tangible form that you can hold onto! I also believe it will be such a special feeling to sit down at your 1st or 25th wedding anniversary with a glass of wine and turn the pages of your album and relive the moments and emotions of the day!

Sitting down around the computer screen to scroll through your images when you invite family over for Christmas just isn’t the same as having them in a beautiful album form. . . And who knows how technology will evolve in 20 years. Having only a flash drive of images may become obsolete.

". . . in 20 years, having only a flash drive of images may become obsolete."

As most of you know, I am wedding photographer and small business boss-lady by day, and I'm a Champion of Harry Potter Trivial Pursuit and vintage market hunter by night, but I wanted to share a personal story of why physical prints and albums are very near and dear to my heart, and why I believe all couples should invest in an album.

"Something you might not know about me is that I very nearly lost everything I own in a fire. "

Something you might not know about me is that I very nearly lost everything I own in a fire. I was just starting my senior year in college, I’d moved into a new off-campus apartment with one of my sorority sisters, and we were having a blast for the first month of the semester!

Then, late one morning while both of us were away from the apartment, we received news that our apartment complex had caught on fire. We rushed over to the site and were held across the street as we watched the flames grow higher and hotter. The fire department battled the flames for what seemed like hours and all we could do was think about our beloved possessions inside the burning walls.

". . . all we could do was think about our beloved possessions inside the burning walls."

For myself personally, my heart broke at the thought of my rabbit, Darcy, trapped alive and inside the blaze with no way for me to save her. . .

I also thought about the photographs of my grandparent’s wedding and the stacks and stacks of family photographs that I had in my possession at the time. I dreaded and cried that I would be the one responsible for losing this part of our family history.

“I dreaded and cried that I would be the one responsible for losing this part of our family history.”

I was blessed, however, because our apartment was located farthest from where the fire started. The fire rescue were also able to get Darcy out alive! (Praise Jesus! And no one else was hurt and no other pet's lost their lives either!)

About 24 hours later, we discovered that about half of our apartment had survived including my family photographs! Another blessing! Most were not as lucky, though. My roommate had all her prom photos on her computer and it sadly was completely ruined in the fire. There was no getting her high school photos back because she only had them in digital form.

“I didn’t worry about my clothes, electronics, or other ‘stuff’. After Darcy, I worried most about those photographs because they were irreplaceable and priceless. There was no getting those moments back, ever.”

I feel so so blessed to have the outcome I did. I didn’t worry about my clothes, electronics, or other ‘stuff’. After Darcy, I worried most about those photographs because they were irreplaceable and priceless. There was no getting those moments back, ever.

There is something so special about having physical images and having a tangible heirloom to leave behind for your future family to experience. Having digital images that are backed up online is wonderful (especially when tragic events like this could happen), but having printed keepsakes, like prints and albums, that tell the visual story of your wedding day or portrait session is priceless!

This whole experience taught me a LOT about what is important in life, especially when it comes to possessions. I learned that these physical reminders of those who came before me and these examples of love between my grandparents is something I'll always cherish and this experience is the number one reason I advocate to all my clients to invest in a fine-art album.

I offer my couples three different choices when it comes to album sizes: 6x6, 8x8, and 12x12. The 8x8 comes standard in my most popular coverage options and if a couple would like to upgrade to a bigger, coffee table style album the beautiful 12x12 is perfect for that! The 6x6 size is what I like to call the "Parent Album" size and if couples decide to gift their wedding day images to their parents (a great Christmas gift after the wedding!), I offer the cute 6x6 size as an option for them to duplicate their album design!

I am a stickler for good quality and that is why I invest in only THE BEST wedding albums out there which are hand bound and hand-printed in a professional lab in Italy! These albums are heirloom quality, will last for generations, and are bound in genuine cowhide leather which comes in an array of color choices.

I also help my couples with designing their wedding album. I love that I can make the whole album design process as simple and streamlined as possible in order to get the album to their doorstep as soon as I can!

I hope you enjoy having a look at some of my new sample albums and some of my favorite album spreads!

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The Most Important Reason to Invest in a Wedding Album