Wedding Blog
My manager at Paper Source has started making beautiful, handcrafted photo albums for people. She offered to make me one as a wedding gift, which is super awesome of her, especially after I saw one (it was gorgeous!). It brought up a question for me, though:
Would we use it?
Mr. Cream Puff and I are so digital. We never have pictures printed. We both have flickr accounts for our photos, and if we want to share them some other way, we email them to people. Heck, my tivo even allows us to stream our photos onto our TV if guests come over and want a slideshow.
Furthermore, we are trying to decrease the amount of “stuff” we have. I used to scrapbook a lot, but I never look at the scrapbooks anymore. They just sit there and collect dust; soon, they will likely move into a box in the basement, where they will sit and take up space. We have a lot of things like that, which is why I have been doing a constant deep cleanse of our house, trying to get rid of stuff we don’t actually need.
So really, do we want or need a photo album?
What do you guys think? Are any of you super digital or trying to create a life less filled with clutter?
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I kind of see your point, but I think that you should definitely get a wedding album. I understand the need for less clutter and stuff, but this is one album that you’re going to want to look at and one that you’ll want your kids to have. I haven’t printed photos in YEARS, but I love looking at my old albums and sometimes I wish that I still printed my pictures so I could look at them in a format that does not involve a monitor.
Also, think about it this way – did you send out evites for your wedding? Of course not – your wedding deserves to be presented and preserved in a tangible manner and while that manner might be a little old-fashioned, it’s part of what makes a wedding special.
And since you’re getting yours for free as a gift, my answer is a resounding YES to the album!!!
We had a photobook made my our photographer, and we don’t really look at it much, but it was nice to bring with us to church so that people who were asking to see them, would have an easy way to see our photos!
Anything could happen in the online, digital world. Technologies change, pictures are lost, websites go down… etc. It is great to have a hand copy, just in case.
Hm, my personal feelings are that photo albums are more concrete than their digital counterparts. I want to hold them, to look at them, to enjoy them, and maybe to pass them down to my children in the future. It’s almost like old high school yearbooks… you don’t realize how nice it is to have them until 10+ years later when you begin to forget.
Having an album just feels more permanent to me than the internet. I do, however see your point about clutter. I think I might be a bit of a pack rat!
I like having hard copies. I always get prints made of my favorite digital pictures every few months, just in case something happens. Although I have the digital pictures stored in several different places, so it’s doubtful all would ever be lost.
I always put my favorite pictures in albums, and my friends occasionally like to look through them. I also do the slideshow thing with my TiVo though. I guess I’m 50/50 on the digital/clutter scale.
think about an album you can give to your kids some day (if you have them). you dont want to pass down a flickr account or a hard drive!
something like normal, everyday photos, those are fine for flickr/iphoto/etc. i rarely print out pictures anymore either… but your wedding? that’s something different. maybe not hard copies of every photo, but definitely of the most important shots. it’s the easiest way to hand them down and ensure others will always get to see them.
Take it, it sounds like a lovely gift. you might not look at it every night, but it’s a permanent treasure - your first family heirloom. As pointed out, computers go down and become inaccessible with changing technology. Books don’t!
I also hate clutter and after my wedding, I shocked the sentimental by getting rid of my veil, shoes, etc.
Almost two years after my wedding, I still love the album. It brings the day’s emotions back in a way nothing else can.
I agree with the other posters. Even if you don’t print other photos, I think it’s important to have an archival quality album that you can pass down to your children. I love looking at the photos from my parents’ and grandparents’ weddings, and I don’t think it would be the same on the computer. It doesn’t have the same feel as a real album. It doesn’t have to be huge - a lot of wedding albums only have 20 or so photos. That way, it won’t take up a huge amount of space, either. 
I see your point, but pictures (especially special ones) are priceless memories that need to be showcased in a nice way… an album is nice, especially for a wedding. I would for sure get an album for wedding pics.
Defiantly have one. Aren’t you paying for a photographer? 2000+ for some on line photos? Personally I need more…some prints. Believe me, I am sooooo not into clutter. I am the opposite of a pack rat. When I purchase something, then something goes into the “charity” bin (which is conveniently located by the front door.) I would rather get rid of an art book, a pair of old jeans, that extra USB cord and keep my album.
A guest book is another story!
I’m stuck in the middle…since switching to a digital camera, I’ve neglected printing off any photos and my wedding album doesn’t really get a look too often. Then again, how often do I browse my digital pictures. Then there’s the fact that I have a scrap book pile going and a photo album pile going. BUT I love to look through my older photo albums, and I worry that if a technical error happens, my photos would be gone. The archivist in me doesn’t like that one bit.
So I’ve dediced to do both: a disk of all our photos in my parent’s natural disaster proof safe and archival quality albums with sleeves likes these:
Scraps and photos in one protected, organized place. Once I do this, I can get rid of all the random photo albums.
. This invoves
I suggest a magazine style alblum. My photographer suggested it because it’s not as bulky as the traditional. It is arranged more like a coffee table book, so guests that come to your house have something to look through that doesn’t way 10lbs and looks a bit more artistic. I put it in the search engine, and this was the first site that popped out, check it out! I think you’ll be pleased.
http://www.wedclix.com/magazinealbums.html
~Ash
My suggestion is that you accept the thoughtful gift so that you can post pictures and show us what it looks like (Paper Source fiend here).
Ok, kidding aside, I haven’t gotten my photo album yet, but I’m always being asked for it. I know you stream slideshows on your TiVo (which I would love to learn to do), but when you’re meeting friends outside of your home, or at a family get together and everyone wants to see the pictures, it would be really useful to whip out and pass around.
I also agree with readers above that having a hard copy is good and also your kids will get to keep it someday and it can be passed down. I’m anti-clutter too, but I don’t think photo albums are the worst culprits of clutter.
DO it do it!
I’m super digital too. I have a professional camera and I never print any photos out… which I regret immensely. I’d love to have some of them framed. For photo “albums” in general I prefer online for sure. For our wedding, however, I want a physical keepsake.
Get it, Miss CP! I too hate clutter (yet I have a lot of it) but this is one thing you dont want to pass up…I always look at my friends wedding albums every time I go their houses (um…but I am crazy) and I suspect you’ll pull yours out many times in the years to come!
I’ve had this debate too, and it’s actually why I looked for a photographer who would let us decide on whether we wanted an album after the wedding. Ultimately, I think we’ll end up getting one; while I’m also totally digital with my pictures at this point, I do miss having the physical prints to hold, at least for special occasions. And I flip through the mini-album from my FI’s brother’s wedding (which FI got for being a groomsman) all the time, just because it’s out on our bookshelf; I could see myself doing the same with ours.
I have hundreds of old pictures just taking up space in my closet. I love that my digital pics take up less space and I’m able to catalog them. With digital pics I’ll be able to forward them, make cards, and use them in my blog. I don’t see us needing an album now but maybe would make one using blurb in a year or two.
I apologize for being repetitive, but as the other girls said: do it.
My example: My parents had all of their photos taken in slides…the ‘new’ technology of the moment. They could ‘always’ just access the slides to show people their photos. But who do you know that has a slide machine? Yeah. Point made.
Technology always changes. Physical prints handled properly, last many lifetimes.
i got one from the wedding. it has my monogram and the florals from my invitation engraved onto a wood paneling. i have to use it. i’m with you on the digital.. but then i consider putting in the well wishes in there. the rsvp’s from people in it. something i couldn’t digitize. like pressed flowers from our bouquet and boutinnere. something to that effect. i hope it works. gl.
get the album. its (almost) FREE!!!
you wont regret getting it, but you may regret not getting it.
i’m with you 100%, i hate clutter and throw everything away if i haven’t used it or looked at it in a week. but yes, you need an album.
We are completely digital with regards photos now too, haven’t printed any in ages, but I still wouldn’t say no to a free wedding album. I’m sure you’ll treasure it!
Wedding album is definitely worth it to have… for guest, if anything. But if you don’t want that, photo albums work GREAT as recipe organizers.
Some things are worth the clutter factor, I’d say a well edited, magazine style, archival photo album deserves to take up space in your life. If you have faith in your photographer, you won’t regret a physical album. Especially if someone else puts it together, for dispite good intentions, most folks don’t get around to making their own wedding albums in a very timely fashion.
[...] you may recall, I was wondering for awhile there if I should even get a photo album. You guys all said I should. MAN am I glad I did!! This album is seriously the most amazing thing [...]
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Mrs. Cream Puff, San Francisco Bay Area
Age and Occupation: 25, Illustrator
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 31, Merchandise Planner
Engagement Date: May 27, 2007
Wedding Date: August, 2008
Blogging Since: February 7, 2008
Venue: Ceremony at Crissy Field and Reception at the Green Room
About Me: I never dreamed about my wedding as a little girl because I was too busy playing in the mud or pretending to be Martha Stewart–but now that it's here, I'm having a fabulous time DIYing everything in sight! We’re planning a very fun multicultural wedding (I'm Jewish and Mr. Cream Puff is Chinese), filled with as many personal details as I can muster.
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