Everyone’s been making them, so I thought I’d join in and make one for fun (you know, to keep in my purse and force people to look through it at parties
) - just something temporary until we order the real deal from our photographer, who makes amazing albums.
Here’s a sneak peek at the cover:

I need some help deciding on the cover of my blog book. Since it’s my wedding PLANNING book, I am undecided about whether I should use engagement or wedding pictures for the cover. I love them both, but it seems like the engagement picture would be more appropriate since it’s my planning book. On the other hand, I love our wedding photo and perhaps I should use the wedding photo since that’s the ultimate goal.
Option #1: Engagement picture cover

Option #2: Wedding picture cover


A while back, I mentioned converting your wedding blog into a book. I have been working on mine since September and it has certainly been a labor of love. Using Blurb BookSmart here, you can turn your blog into a bookstore quality book. Compatible with Blogger, Livejournal, TypePad and WordPress. All you have to do is sign into your blog account through BookSmart and it will automatically upload your blog into the software. From there, you can remove certain blog entries and move the pictures around. It also works with Flickr, Picassa and SmugMug!
Here’s a sneak peak at what it looks like.

We recently got our professional proofs in the mail — 5 archival boxes of prints with almost 1,900 images. Now I have to start narrowing those down and pick an album style and I need your help.
Daria Bishop Photography offers three different albums — Queensberry, Leather Craftsmen and Cypress. Based on the information I’ve found on each company’s website, I think I’ve ruled out the Queensberry albums as I don’t love the “magazine style” albums that they offer that are so popular right now. I want our album to stand the test of time both physically and aesthetically. So now it’s down to the Leather Craftsmen or the Cypress.
Do you remember that scene in The Joy Luck Club where Waverly’s mom is walking down the streets of Chinatown holding up a magazine with her on the cover? I remember watching that movie and thinking, that’s my mom! So when Mrs. Bell Pepper showed me her mini photobooks from Qoop, I thought they would be a great thing for my mom.

They can fit snuggly in your purse and without whipping out your entire wedding album, you can show family and friends a quick preview of your wedding photos. Right now, through Flickr, Qoops is offering 20% off all their products. The shipping is rather costly, so for anyone planning to make albums for family before the holidays, I would order them very soon and ship them via “media mail” (7-15 days).
Our photographer, Alberto from Duet Wedding did a wonderful job at our wedding. His team not only took a ton of great photos, many were taken without my noticing! Mr. Violet & I both agree that Duet earns an A (despite being a laid back bride, I can be quite critical sometimes so I didn’t give Duet an A+ because I believe there’s always room for improvement). We received a box loaded with proofs, along with a CD of full resolution originals & edited photos.
Mr. Lily and I spent a good solid week rushing making wedding albums before Sony Image Station closed (I loved the quality of their prints so if anyone knows another place that is as good, let me know!). When I say albums though, I don’t mean the type where you put pics in plastic slots… I mean the type that looks like a glossy cofee table book. Ooooh. Aaaaah.
With 20 minutes until I was done with the Sony book (on the eve of the company closing), Mr. Lily showed me Blurb. I had put so much effort into the Sony books, but the Blurb ones looked much nicer and… cheaper. Why he didn’t show me that before is a whole other story. I really was so confused about whether or not to just purchase the Sony Books or go with Blurb, but in the end I decided to take the risk and make a Blurb book. I have made one test book for my grandma and just ordered it 10 minutes ago. It was much much easier to use than Sony and Sony had a 100 page limit maximum. Now I can make HUGE books. I am so excited. I hope it turns out! If any of you are making Blurb books now, I have a coupon for free shipping (up to $7) with the code holidayfs (expires tomorrow). I will keep you posted on how it turns out!