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Mrs Ant did several posts of different types of albums and album companies. Try searching for her posts. I found them very informative.
How about checking out the thread I made just today about my Blurb album, titled, "My Blurb Album". I was in love with the $800 album my photographer offered me, but when I got the Blurb album, her album was completely forgotten. I've already looked at it 400 times today. 
you can also make prints of your photos and slip them into a premade flush mount album. It wont be as customized but it will still be a beautiful presentation album.
I dont know about the pricing, but shutterfly allows you to customize a coffee table book! They have so many options and the books that I have seen are beautiful! I had a friend that gave her mom one for christmas.
alencon_lace_rose_pillow2.jpg (958.2 KB, 60 downloads) 2 years old
i've also made books with blurb. they come out really great and their program is really easy to use.
madison.jpg (1808.2 KB, 113 downloads) 2 years old 101_0496.jpg (1861.1 KB, 54 downloads) 2 years old dandy_damask_guest_&_pen.jpg (1276 KB, 57 downloads) 2 years old
There are plenty of independant book makers, several of which were mentioned in the posts above. Just be careful when choosing a photographer, as you will want one who will give you a CD of high resolution images plus the rights to print those images. Some photographers won't do this at all, and others charge a fee for this, so be clear on what you're getting.
Ours is going to be $1200. However, it's not a standard album or "coffee table book" of any sort. The pages are quite thick, with the photo printed directly on the page, and there is a sort of plastic-y finish (I'm sure there is a technical term). So it's like a very high quality children's book, in a way. You can handle it as much as you like, and the pages won't tear - and they can also be cleaned with a damp cloth if they get dirty. We think that is great - especially since we both remember loving to look through our parents' wedding albums as kids, but having it be a rare occasion, just because they were worried about damage. We want an album that we can really set out on the coffee table and look through as much as we like, without having to worry about ruining a page or photo.
it most likely isn't just a coffee table book, more like what suzanno is getting. they charge for the quality and for the time that goes into making it. The ones the photogs do are usually in that price range. If they are charging that much for one like you can get from blurb or anywhere else, I would rething your photographer choice. You should either be getting a high quality wedding album, or the rights to the pics to make your own coffee table book.
I'm going to throw in another vote for Blurb! I helped my guy (who is a teacher) make a photo/poetry book for a fundraiser for his 5th grade class, and it came out beautifully and looked completely professional. Also, the program was a breeze to use if you had an afternoon to devote to it. It's actually a lot of fun to make! In fact, I liked the process and product so much, that I'm going to be making another one with photos from my parents' travels to give to them as a christmas present.
And it's nice too, because if your parents or in-laws or other family members want an album, they can order a copy of the one you made straight from the site!
Oh, and one more thing- If you are looking at doing it for your wedding album, I would suggest getting the paper upgrade for a little bit more. Their standard is lovely, but the other paper really makes the album seem luxe (and would probably be more on par with a photographer's album)
I made a blurb album for my friend as her wedding gift (I knew she wouldn't scrapbook it) and she LOVES it. It did come out amazing, and now they have the fancier high quaility paper so I suggest looking into them!
JCrewVintageBluea.jpg (49.4 KB, 200 downloads) 2 years old 
Just a quick FYI -
I am an album designer. For photographers, mostly. The time that goes into designing them is immense, so there has to be some compensation for that. Also, those books are VERY high quality compared to Blurb, Snapfish, My Publisher, etc. The materials are of the utmost quality, and also the prints are printed by professional-grade photo labs and thus higher quality and longer lasting as well. So an album priced at $800 isn't giving the photographer much profit at all. I know it seems hard to believe, but just the cost album production companies charge is in the multiple hundreds and up.
Not discouraging using Blurb, which I love, but for a truly heirloom quality album to be passed down for generations, the ones photogs offer can't be beat. Maybe consider completing it as a first anniversary gift? Or second anniversary, as my husband and I did because we couldn't afford it at the time of our wedding, either.
Just wanted you all to have a bit of inside knowledge so you can judge the different companies accordingly, not just based on the $$ figure alone.
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Hi Bees.
I need some more help!
I just started meeting with photographers and I'm shocked at how much they charge for one of those fancy, coffee table, wedding photo books. I mean it looks AMAZING, but $800??? For a BOOK??? A BOOK?!?!?
Is this the average cost for one of these things?
Does anyone have any other alternatives? I know that Snapfish can make books, but I'm not sure about the quality. Has anyone out there used Snapfish or any other online photo site to do this?
Thanks, everyone! Your advice is really amazing and helpful! :)
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