Are Tangible Wedding Albums Still Important? (HINT: They ARE!)

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

If you got married anytime before 2010, you probably received a small book of proofs, that you, in turn, then used to order prints and a wedding album from your photographer.

If you got married anytime after 2010, you probably received 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 2010 and there are still photographers today who do not offer digital images at all – you receive proofs and must order prints.)

For the most part, in today’s day and age, I have found that most brides and grooms want access to the digital images from their wedding day. I mean, it’s 2023 – we have the option to buy digital copies of ALL of the media we purchase (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 and I got married (just shy of 13 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.

But what about physical wedding albums? A tangible 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 honor on their mantle or bookshelf and they only come out on special occasions (and after it’s been double-checked that everyone has clean hands).

But how do you foresee showing off your own wedding images? Will everyone have to gather around a laptop or tablet screen (or worse: a small phone 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 and 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 are great, but they are reliant on the device they are stored on. What happens if your computer crashes? Or you lose your USB drive? Or your DVD gets scratched? A digital gallery is housed on the internet but what if the link is forgotten or the images expire?

A physical, tangible, hard copy book can be enjoyed and passed down from generation to generation.

Physical wedding albums are DEFINITELY still important and they will NEVER go out of style!

If I photographed your wedding and you 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 and we’ll get the process started? It’s actually a lot of fun to work through and you can have one of these incredible books as a part of your family history in a matter of weeks!