Are Physical Wedding Albums Still Important?

Let me ask you a question: how did you receive the photos from your wedding day?

If you got married anytime before the turn of the century, you probably received a small book of proofs, that you then, in turn, ordered prints through your photographer from.

If you got married anytime after the turn of the century, you probably received either a CD, a USB, or a digital gallery of your images.

(Obviously, those are two very broad statements – there were photographers offering digital images before the year 2000 and there are still photographers today who do not offer digital images – you must order prints.)

For the most part, in today’s day & age, I have found that most brides & grooms want access to the digital images from their wedding day. I mean, it’s 2021 – most of the media we purchase, we have the option to buy digitally (movies, music, books, video games, etc.) It’s convenient, it’s fast, and it’s high quality (and we love that it’s also instant). Why should photographs be any different?

I have always had digital images in my wedding photography packages – mostly because, when Derrick & I got married (11 years ago – yikes are we old), the one thing that was at the top of my photography-must-have list was the digital images. And I figured, if I wanted digital images from my wedding day, then my couples do too.

Digital images are amazing. And I won’t lie, mine have gone through some evolution. When I started out in 2009, I created these awesome custom DVDs for my couples with their images burned onto them. They were beautiful, but in the long run, not practical to keep going with (does your current computer or laptop even have a CD-ROM drive anymore? If you bought it within the last few years, the answer is most likely: no).
Then I switched to USBs – again, an absolutely beautiful product (mine were all 100% custom & came in a gorgeous wooden box). But again, does your current computer or laptop have USB drives? I’d say it’s about a 50/50 chance right now, in 2021, that you have a USB port or two (you likely have USB-C ports).
So, about 6 years ago, I switched to 100% digital galleries. They’re gorgeous, high-resolution, accessible on any device (anywhere in the world), and safe for 10 years. Can you access the internet on your current computer or laptop? Then you can access your wedding images.

Digital images are amazing, but what about wedding albums? A physical book that you can hold in your hands, that tells the story of your wedding day? Have those gone obsolete?

More than likely, a wedding album is how you’ve seen the wedding images of your Grandparents and Parents. Their wedding albums sit in a place of reverence on their mantle or bookshelf and they only come down on special occasions.

But how do you foresee showing off your own wedding images? Will everyone have to gather around a laptop or tablet screen? Will you even remember to show them off when you have company come over? And in 30-40 years (who knows what technology will be like then) how will you show off your wedding day to your grandkids?

Are physical wedding albums still important?

I’m here to advocate that, yes, they most definitely are.

Digital images are amazing. The freedom & convenience they allow is just incredible (I can’t tell you how many times, I’ve pulled up the folder that has my own wedding images in it, just to grab a photo for a blog post, or Instagram, or whatever).

But in the long run, what will really stand the test of time? Digital files on a computer that gets old, breaks down, and is tossed? A digital gallery housed on the internet that eventually the link is forgotten & the images expire on? Or a hard copy book that can be passed down & enjoyed from generation to generation?

If I’ve photographed your wedding and you have had every intention of ordering a wedding album but have just kept putting it off (or forgetting) – why not send me a quick message right now & we’ll get the process started? It’s actually a lot of fun to work through & you can have one of these incredible books as a part of your family history in a matter of weeks!