How To Print Your Wedding Photos

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Fast-forward to weeks after your celebration.

You have hundreds of moments stored on digital files and you are wondering what to do with and how to print your wedding photos.

You spent a year, maybe two, planning your big day. You hired the best photographer ever who captured your details, your first kiss, your family and best friends, authentically and with great love and detail. Every beautiful, magic moment, and the decor that you spent hours planning are documented in hundreds and hundreds of files sitting on your computer. The day came and went in a flash. What do you do next? Maybe you purchased your wedding album as part of your wedding investment, and what’s left to do is approve your album spreads for me to do the rest. Perfect!

But maybe you didn’t consider how you’d like to preserve your photo memories until you received your images, when you’d have more time to think about it carefully.

If you didn’t consider what to do with all those digital files when you purchased your services, don’t fret! Now that life is a bit more simple and the planning frenzy is over, I can help you figure out what to do next.

Didn’t purchase an album with your package–there’s still time

You may purchase print products and albums within your gallery store for up to six months. However, if your gallery has archived and you still want an album, definitely reach out! I keep the images for at least five years after your date.

Reasonable prices and top quality. Your life is busy and your images are just a click away for me. Let me design an heirloom of your wedding day that you can share and pass on!

Heirloom Albums

Album Pricing & Options

For the length of time that your wedding gallery is published you can access the print product store, and request a custom order design. If printing on your own, be sure to download your high-resolution files.

If printing on your own, you’ll need to decide which lab to choose, which images to print, and perhaps who will receive an album if other than yourself. Your budget may determine if you purchase an album from me or print on your own. The benefit of ordering an album through me is that I can ensure a high quality album that requires minimal work from you. I provide image spreads that you approve or suggest image swaps. The additional cost of the albums that I provide is for the convenience of me designing the album and working with the lab to ensure color accuracy, and my design time.

You may certainly design and print albums on your own. Keep in mind that there may be variances in the quality and color tones of the images reproduced across labs. Don’t wait too long to order prints and albums. Anecdotal evidence shows that couples who don’t print their images within a year from their wedding date don’t often make the time to do so after then. I have faith that you will break the mold. Please print your images (even if not from me!) Enjoy them and share them with others, and keep them safe from hardware failure.

For the love of lace, just print something!

Image Credit Above: PhotographerBoxes

Regardless of where you print your album, I really want you to have one. Or if an album is not your heart’s desire, print some 4x6s and store them in one of these beautiful, personalized boxes from Etsy. Print anything! We are lucky to live in the age of the digital image, but you will 100% never regret having an heirloom of images from your day that you can hold in your hands and peek through on your anniversary, and share with your family today, and for generations to come. Printed images are a great back-up to digital storage, as we know hard drives can fail. Just like the technology advances from cassette to CD, formats change and you will want to keep your images in a form that is long lasting. So if you have $25 – $2000 to spend, PRINT SOMETHING.

Which images should you print and include in an album?

This is a very personal decision. Consider how you want to tell the full story of your day from wedding prep to the last dance. Consider which moments and images speak to your heart and help you relive your magic wedding day feels. I would consider the following moments to put in a standard 15-spread album:

Getting Ready

• putting on wedding attire
• with attendants (candids, toasts, robe shot)
• special moments with family
• hair/makeup details
• jewelry/cufflinks

Details

• bouquet and florals
• rings
• invitation suite flat lays and styled images
• keepsakes & accessories
• venue images

First Look/Portraits

• that very first moment of the first look
• portraits of the couple before and after ceremony
• family portraits

Ceremony

• walking down the aisle
• exchanging vows & rings
• first kiss
• funny moments
• emotional moments
• readings/performances
• wide shot of the entire ceremony and guests

Reception

• introduction
• first dance and parent dances
• religious/traditional/special dances and dance sets
• cake cutting
• speeches
• candids

Ceremony / Reception Details

• flowers
• wedding arch or arbor
• table decor and place settings
• favors
• personal touches
• furniture installations
• escort card setup

Other Album Options

Create an anthology

If you want to print many images, you could consider doing a series of smaller albums, like one for just family images, one for the bride and one for the groom, one both for the ceremony and reception. Then you can stack these albums together as an anthology of your wedding!

Print options for a limited budget

If you are having a hard time culling your selection for your album and want to save a bit of money, you could always find a beautiful album in a department store with plastic sleeves and slip in printed 4x6s.

One of my non-album favorite options is to purchase a glass print case for a gorgeous display on your dresser (see above). You can print hundreds of single prints economically and store them in this box. Keep in mind though, the more you handle the prints, the oils on your hands will slowly deteriorate the finish.

It’s never too late to print, but do print

There are options for every budget, but don’t let your images sit in the dark dusty space of your hard drive. Whether you print a few now and a few down the road, or opt for multiple albums and wall art, you won’t regret having those memories at your fingertips for you and all to see and enjoy.

After the wedding, do send out thank you notes printed with a favorite image from the wedding. Remind your family and guests what an amazing time you shared together with a large collection of Minted wedding thank you cards. You likely already have a spreadsheet of addresses from your wedding invitations, so make the post-wedding thank-yous a breeze by letting Minted do the work for you.

I offer prints through my gallery when you received your collection, and if you decide to opt for another lab, I suggest mpix (the daughter brand of professional lab, Millers), ZNO for albums (their silver halide printing is a dream for skin tones), and Artifact Uprising (because of their cool bordered prints). If you opt for Artifact Uprising, please enjoy 15% off with my code: COURTNEYCANIA15.