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I think as long as you have the prints you can do the album later, especially if it saves you a lot of money - there are so many great places out there to make albums on your own.
You can make your own album for a fraction of what a photographer would cost and in my experience they’re just as nice (as long as you go with a reputable company). We didn’t get an album with our package and honestly, I wouldn’t have paid the $500+ that our photographer would have charged. If you have the extra money then go for it but if you’re like me (on a budget), it seemed like a waste of money.
I’ve seen a side by side comparison of a photographers photobook and a DIY photobook and there isn’t much of a difference. Atleast with the DIY book you get to pick what pictures you want to include. You do have some control over a photographers book as well but they pretty much do the whole thing and you just sign off on it. With a little bit of work and creativity, you can create your own and save the $750.
As long as you have all the prints you're fine. The prices for a professional wedding album are so jacked up it's ridiculous. There are also websites that can do beautiful albums for you for great prices.
I say skip the album for now. I am not sure what site was used but my cousin made a beautiful thick printed on the page album and it wasn't near what your photog is asking.
You can always do the album later. I plan to purchase a flushmount album from our photographer for our first anniversary. Our photobook that I made through Adoramapix is a perfectly adequate placeholder for now.
I am torn on this, I say this because while agree the album is jacked up, if you don't have the prints like we didn't get. We got a proof book which has small pictures and no way can you really make a book out those pictures. I did order an album and it was spendy though didn't get a lot of pictures would love to have in the album. It turned out nice. I wish we had ordered more pictures but again they are spendy through our photographer. In all reality for what we paid for her, she wasn't worth it. Which makes me sad, her pictures on her web site and FB page are beauitful our pictures turned out kinda crappy. 
@UmakeURownLUCK: A friend of mine got a wonderful photographer who was a bit pricey, her pics were gorgeous, and she made her own album to save money! So you can get the best of both worlds....
Just make sure you get a CD with high res pics or else get a different photog!
As long as you have the rights to the pictures, I would say it's ok to skip it. We had a great photographer and amazing photos, and we still opted to make our own photobooks. There are so many options out there these days to make your own picture-page-printed books, it's nuts! Our photographer even recommends this course.
We didn't get an album and I don't regret it at all. I actually used an album that I got for my bridal shower and just printed photos off and now I have a nice set of pics I can show off :).
As long as you have the images you can do it at anytime. Just make sure you get a high resoluation disc with all the images that are not proofs on them. That way you can take the pics anywhere to get printed. If not, all your images will have your last name/proof number on it.
are you going to get the pictures on a cd? because then you just make your own album through sites like adorama, shutterfly etc. I ordered my wedding photobook from adorama and most people think it was professionally done by my photographer
I agree with PP's who say you can always make an album later.
I think your choice was smart- splurge on the great photographer who will get you amazing pics. You can always make an album with those great pics on your own!
If you need to save the money and its a little out of budget I would agree with PP that as long as you have the prints you can make your own later on
Being that you have the images I think it is OK to hold off, but I will say that I love my album and am happy to have it. My photographer allowed me to pick pictures and did retouching / enhancing and layout that I know I wouldn't have been able to do online. You are lucky that you have the advantage that you can see where you are financially after the wedding and then decide if it is worth the money or not.
What we are doing, which sounds like it might be a good option for you, is making our own through Blurb. With the super nice thick photo paper and image wrap and everything, our 200+ picture album is just under $100. I haven't gotten the courage to order it yet but once we do, it will be awesome and so worth it! I was able to put all of my favorite pictures in it with a layout that I created and thus, I love at a fraction of the price.
Since you are getting the DVD with the edited images, you can definitely have an album made later, after you've gotten over the cost of the wedding!
It sounds to me like you are referring to a Flush Mount Album from your photographer, which is a higher quality (and more expensive) than the typical photobooks you can buy from Shutterfly, Blurb, Photobook America, MyPublisher, etc. That said, if you have the inclination you can DIY a Pro-quality flush mount album for less than $750 at places like this:
http://www.myphotocreations.com/products/albums/anza.shtml
http://www.picaboo.com/photobooks/flushmount/index.html
I am planning to make my parents photobooks from Adoramapix first, since they are printed on real photo paper and a higher quality than a standard photobook (IMHO), but still much less expensive than a flush mount album. If I like the way they come out I may just get myself one, but if I'm feeling rich I may just splurge for the flush mount :) But no, I don't plan to purchase an album from my photographer - he outsources them anyway.
I think the important thing is just to have the images. You can always get an album later and if its anything like the dozens of albums I have including my wedding one, you'll look at it like once, then it'll sit on a shelf taking up space. I'd save the money now if budgets tight and worry about it later.
You can always make your own album also long as you have the rights to the photos. You can try things like shutterfly or mixbook to make an album.
Our photographer is providing one but only because we got one hell of a deal. Otherwise we would have gone elsewhere for it.
My MOH just had an album made by someone else who is a whiz at photoshop etc and she only paid $250.00 for an AMAZING 30 page album. I sat there looking at the quality and could not believe it. I definitely think if you own the photos you should look into outside options, you will save a ton.
No, I don't think you will! My husband & I made ours & we are very happy with it & the price!
The most important thing to me is all the images on a disc, high res, and the rights to them. I want to be able to print as many copies as I want, make up albums for people, etc. In the UK, this seems to come at a premium, so we will probably skip the album. You can get them done cheaper online, or print the images and get a traditional album; I do this for professional photos we get done on holiday, and pay around $100 for a lovely album with tissue between the pages, plus good quality prints.
A lot of our clients forego the album initially to keep costs down, and it's not bad advice. It's way more important to have photos that you actually would WANT to have in album, versus having an album with photos you aren't crazy about. That being said, I'd say 90% of our clients come back to us within a year or so and place an album order. Albums are such a great way to relive your wedding. Almost as important as the quality of the album itself, is the layout of the photos. Just because you can go online and order a much cheaper album yourself, doesn't mean you will intuitively be able to design the layout as well as someone who does it all the time. We actually offer the design only too, so our clients can take the design we make and then order through whatever service they like. I do strongly disagree with a lot of the ladies that are saying there is no difference between the albums photographers offer versus what you can get online. I of course can't speak for other photographers because everyone offers different products, but our albums can't even be compared to services like Shutterfly or Blurb. They are all handmade and designed to be lifelong family heirlooms. Obviously it's not important to everyone, but there is a reason why they are expensive!
I agree with @continuumphotography, there is a huge difference between a photoBOOK and a photoALBUM... and I think thats what everyone is missing. There is a huge quality difference and essentially they are two completely different products.
A "Photobook" is typically a thick cardboard covered book with thin paper pages, similar to what you would find as a children's hardcover storybook. These books can be cheaply purchased by anyone online or in a photolab. They are cheap to buy, because they are cheap to make. These pages are not archival and the colors will fade over time). You could print photos off your home printer and bind them into a book and get the same quality. Not saying this is a bad option, but it should not be compared to an album in the slightest.
A "Photoalbum" is typically either a "matted album" or a "flush mount album". A matted album is the older/traditional style that your parents might have from their weddings. It has the matte board pages with the cut outs and the actual photographs place behind the cutout. A flush mount album (what a lot of people seem to be confusing with the photobook) is a hand crafted hardbound album, with rigid matte board pages. The images are printed on traditional photographic papers (not from an inkjet printer) that are typically archival and color fast to prevent fading over time. The photographs are then "flush mounted" to the acid free matte board (acid free prevents yellowing of the photographs) and then hand sewn/binded into the hardbound cover. Covers are usually available in an array of high quality materials : solid leathers, patterned leathers, chinese silks, coated photo covers, metallic photo covers, brushed metals, acrylic/see through covers, etc.
Also, when you purchase the album from your photographer you are getting access to a line of professional albums that consumers do not have access to. You are also getting their design and layout expertise... a lot of time goes into designing an album, even more if you've never done it before. You are also guaranteed color accuracy, as professional photographers will have color calibrated monitors as well as color profiles calibrated to the printer that the album manufacturers use. This guarantees that the colors will be right and that the photos will not be too light or too dark or just plain dingy. This is not something you can acquire successfully without proper calibration between machines. Calibration= the color on your monitor may not be the color that that is seen on another monitor. so what you think is sky blue on your computer may in reality be turquoise and you wont know it until you receive your photobook and most photobook companies will not replace the photobook because the colors are not what you thought they would be. A professional photographer will have their computer calibrated to their printer and album company. So what their computer sees as sky blue, will always be sky blue.
My point is that where both types are suitable purchases, it is not fair to compare them as identical products, as they are not similar at all other than for the fact that they display photographs. If you can not afford to purchase one upfront, I recommend purchasing one down the road a bit. A lot of people purchase them on their one year anniversary. Honestly I don't understand why anyone would spend so much money on their photography only to display the images cheaply. It is beyond me.
If a photobook is all your budget allows, by all means, purchase a photobook. But do not expect it to be the same as a professional flush mount album, because it is not.
Atomic's post is right on. Do it yourself albums are typically printed on cardstock with glued bindings. Professional albums are printed on photopaper, freeze dried to a substrate to make layflat, flush mount pages. Everything is protected from spills, UV light, etc. In addition the bindings are hand sewn like real books, they are designed to last for generations.
In the long run, $750 is not a lot of money, especially when this is for the highest quality way to display the memories from your once in a lifetime event.
My photographer will allow me to order an album from her at any time at the same price that it would be in the higher package. I would suggest getting the album at a later date when you can afford it. You are never going to be able to re-do your wedding day if your pictures aren;t what you wanted, so stick with your dream photographer, even if that means you might have to spend a little more on the album at a later date. Maybe you could explain your dilema to your photographer. Tell them how much you love their work, and really want the album but just can't afford it now, but will definitely purchase it in the future (say your 1 year anniversary). Maybe they will still give it to you at the $750 price. Or make a deal with you that if you purchase it now they will take off $200 or something... ALWAYS start with flattery & complimenting their work/venue! I have found that works well when trying to negotiate prices with vendors. :-)
It sounds like she offers a flushmount, book-bound album (as I do) and those are gorgeous and will last a lifetime with proper care.
To help you save money, speak with your photographer and see if:
A) she has a gift registry where folks can contribute to your album/photography coverage. I offer this and works like any other registry.
B) you can order an album at a later date. Keep in mind, you may have to pay more due to an increase in her album costs AND it may have to be within a certain time frame depending on how long she archives the images.
Good luck!
Whatever you do please do not spend $750 on an album from your photographer. The markup on these is ridiculous. Ask your photographer how much she pays for her albums wholesale, and if she won't tell you, ask her why it's a secret.
Plus it's pretty fun to do it yourself. It will take you, a novice, longer and more effort than it would them, but if you love to be creative why not!
You can design your own flush mount for a few hundred dollars, I think the MyPhotoCreations link above is for one that starts at $275 or thereabouts. There are a couple other places like Somerset Albums, also starting around $300 for a high quality flushmount. Most of these start out with 20 sides and go up from there.
Are you able to postpone ordering your album for a little while to kind of recover and save up after the wedding? My wedding photographer said we can order our album for our first anniversary gift to each other (paper anniversary lol) and she told me that's fairly common for her.
@Magdalena: Paying 750 dollars for a flush mount album from your photographer is not a "ridiculous markup". The album itself probably cost the photographer close to 500 dollars depending on what type of album is ordered...750 dollars is actually CHEAP for an album when you consider what it is and all of the work that goes into creating them. Albums technically do not have "wholesale" prices because they are custom items.
Not only do the books cost the photographer a big chunk of that 750, but there is also a good deal of time that goes into album design, emailing back and forth with the customer regarding the design, processing the order, sales tax, etc. I don't think it's unfair for a photographer to charge $250 for album design.
Like I said before 750 is actually pretty cheap when you consider you are getting a CUSTOM MADE, heirloom quality, probably leather bound book that has been hand sewn.
That's like saying Louis Vuitton is overpriced because you can get purses at Walmart or Target for 15 bucks. They are totally different items and can't really be compared.
@kate169: Thank you. A lot of time and effort goes into designing wedding albums that tell the story of the day so that it will remain fresh, relevant and timeless for each couple.
@kate169: I don't want to make a big to-do on OP's post, but I wanted to say that Louis Vuitton is a perfect case in point. Louis Vuitton has the highest profit magins of any luxury retailer, higher than 40% sometimes.
Oh the things you find out from eavesdropping at pro workshops! I have heard some pros suggest to a newbie pro that she start offering albums because of the potential to more than triple her income. They suggested doubling or tripling the cost of an album when offering it to brides, plus charging an amount per page. Designing an album was also described by several pros as "not that hard" and "once you develop a flow you can design it in your sleep." Those were just individuals talking shop and I am sure everyone is different but eeep! It was like going to the factory and watching sausages get made. Very icky.
I also found out from this discussion that it's not unheard of for a photographer to outsource the album design entirely! Some don't even do the work themselves. This is stuff the average bride certainly has no idea is going on. I mean the idea of outsourcing album design to an outside company was totally a foreign concept to me, little ol' clueless consumer. And many photographers certainly don't volunteer this information. So you can see why since then I'm somewhat jaded.
Everybody is different though and I'm glad there are photographers to offer high-quality services for couples who just have no interest in DIY. Which is more than a few people, during the busy first year of marriage.
@Magdalena: I couldn't really think of a good analogy to explain what I mean, but I guess the purse one was not my best lol. I am trying to explain that while there is not an outrageous markup on albums like people commonly believe, there are people who would prefer a custom album that feels and looks expensive and is an heirloom they can keep forever. There are also people that don't care about things like that and are fine with a snapfish book. That's cool too. But Snapfish books and flush mount albums are not the same thing and cannot be compared. Saying oh don't get that album from your photographer because it's 900 dollars and I got a lay flat book on adoramapix for 50 is not a good analogy. Totally different products.
Also, I am a photographer and have accounts with a couple different album design companies...the albums themselves ARE expensive and I would never be able to triple my income by offering a quality album unless I priced them at like 3000 each or something. Even if the photographer does outsource their album design, they have to pay the designer, so the cost of design would have to be added either way. If the book itself costs the photographer 400-500 to purchase from the album company and a designer charges at least 100-200 to do the design, why would it be so unreasonable to have a 750 dollar album? Should photographers not be making any money on their products? Some photographers outsource editing on all of their images...does that mean they shouldn't make money off of prints?
@UmakeURownLUCK: I just wanted to clarify something that a few PPs mentioned. Everyone keeps saying- "so long as you have the CD of high res images, you can make an album youself". This is very true, just make sure you've confirmed with your photog that the cd included in your package is actually of the HIGH RES images. My photog included a cd in my package, but I didn't find out until after the wedding that the cd only included low res proofs. I couldn't print them any larger than 4x6 without them getting blurry, and I certainly couldn't make an album from them. I had to pay extra to purchase the images at full resolution, and from those I made my album. It still ended up being cheaper than doing my album through the photog, but I probably wouldn't have hired that photographer from the start if I knew what I was actually getting with the package.
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I have heard not to skimp on your photographer...I have heard way too many horror stories about bad photogs. I picked one that I LOVE!! but she is a bit over my budget. Her package includes 8 hours continuous coverage, Two photographers, Online proofing and ordering, Custom editing and processing, DVD with all re-touched images.
I was going to get a big album which was also included in the package, it's one with those thick pages that the photos are printed right on....if you can picture what I'm talking about...it's super nice!
After spending a little more than anticipated on my invites/STDs I was thinking to cut that album to stick with my amazing photog. It would save me $750! Which is a good chunk of change right there! I can order it at anytime after the wedding but the price is good because it's included in the package and would retail from $1000-$1200 (Yikes)
I can always print my own and put them in my own album for cheaper or maybe decide down the road I want to splurge and get one of those albums.
What do you think? Am I going to regret not getting that album?? I need to try and cut corners SOMEWHERE! Thoughts please and thank you :)