"After All This Time?" "Always"
"When I am 80 years old and sitting in my rocking chair, I'll be reading Harry Potter. And my family will say to me, 'After all this time?' And I will say, 'Always.'"
-- Alan Rickman
If The Wedding is Unique, So Too Should Be the Album
I used this beautiful sentiment when I designed the box for the wedding album of Lucie and Sean. Theirs was a whimsical and magical wedding, bringing in elements from their favorite books and movies: Harry Potter, The Princess Bride, and Star Wars. Above their sweetheart table at the reception was a red banner with the words "Mischief Managed" and the groom's cake was a R2D2 in a tuxedo.
When I design a wedding album, what is seen on the outside is as important as the layout on the pages because it should be seen as a whole. For my top two collections, I use Graphistudio, a lab located in Italy. Their albums and the boxes for them are well made but what makes me happy is that I have a plethora of material to work with AND they can also replicate custom artwork for the cover of the box and album. In short, a couple receives what is truly a one-of-a-kind heirloom.
For Lucie and Sean, the album box was done in a deep red leather to match the prominent color in their decor and flowers. Their wedding took place on her family's property and it was important to her that pictures be done in front of the large magnolia tree there, which is why a magnolia blossom with the "Always" sentiment is on the front.
Inside, I used a gold linen lining, to match the red and gold lettering of the "Mischief Managed" sign from their reception. For the front of the book, which was done in a white leather, I used a font that was similar to the one used on the poster of The Princess Bride, to honor that element of their reception. A blue silk ribbon that lifts the album from the box completed it.
I worked with Lucie on the layout, giving her first a preliminary design and then making changes until she approved the final design. Thank goodness for technology - we were able to do this easily despite the fact that we were in two different states.
The album pages were printed on deep matte paper. I prefer this over the luster paper usually seen - it is soft and velvety, and adds a tactile experience to the album.
It's Never Too Late for Your Heirloom
I always include an album in my wedding collections. So many brides get "just digitals" and I suspect that they never get printed - instead, the images stay on a thumb drive until . . .
Until it's lost. Or it stops working. And those images are lost.
If you have the print rights to your wedding images - or any images - we can talk about creating an heirloom for you from them, just as I do with my couples: I create a preliminary design for both inside and out, and we collaborate on it until it meets your approval, retouching is done, and then it goes to print.