Must Have Photos for Your Wedding Album
A common question I get from clients is “What photos should we put in our wedding album?”
Many of my wedding photography clients seem to get paralyzed when they need to make a decision on choosing their wedding album pictures. There are so many choices and they love all their wedding photos! Gone are the days when a wedding album mainly featured family formal photos. I look at wedding albums now as more of a vehicle for telling a story of your wedding day. So what are we looking for when designing an album? Here are some categories you want to include:
Wedding Details: During the course of planning your wedding, you have spent a lot of time making decisions about what details to include for the day. When we are photographing a wedding, we make sure to document those details. So please include at least a few images of the wedding detail photos.
![Wedding Photo Sagamore Resort Lake George](https://www.susanblackburn.biz/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Sagamore-Resort-Wedding-Photos-023-683x1024.jpg)
![Summer Wedding Photo Sagamore Resort](https://www.susanblackburn.biz/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Sagamore-Resort-Wedding-Photos-019-683x1024.jpg)
![Saratoga Springs Annes Washington Inn Wedding Photo](https://www.susanblackburn.biz/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Annes-Washington-Inn-Saratoga-Wedding-002-683x1024.jpg)
![Upstate NY Mansion Wedding Photo](https://www.susanblackburn.biz/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Fall-Upstate-NY-Wedding-Photos-034-683x1024.jpg)
![Wedding Photos Batchellar Mansion Saratoga](https://www.susanblackburn.biz/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Batcheller-Mansion-Wedding-Photos-01-1024x766.jpg)
![Saratoga Wedding Mansion Photo](https://www.susanblackburn.biz/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Mansion-Saratoga-NY-Wedding-Photos-006-686x1024.jpg)
![Mansion Wedding Reception Photo](https://www.susanblackburn.biz/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Saratoga-Mansion-Wedding-Photos-032-683x1024.jpg)
![Wedding Cake Photo Mansion Saratoga NY](https://www.susanblackburn.biz/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Fall-Upstate-NY-Wedding-Photos-047-683x1024.jpg)
Getting Ready Shots: You don’t need to include a whole bunch, but a page or two dedicated to the getting ready portion of the day helps build the story.
![Ft William Henry Resort Wedding Photos](https://www.susanblackburn.biz/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Ft-William-Henry-Wedding-Photos-04-476x1024.jpg)
![Lake George NY Wedding Photos](https://www.susanblackburn.biz/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Sagamore-Resort-Wedding-Photos-015-683x1024.jpg)
![Adirondack Groom Wedding Photo](https://www.susanblackburn.biz/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Groom-Rustic-Wedding-688x1024.jpg)
![Destination Wedding Photo CT](https://susanblackburn.biz/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Glastonbury-CT-Wedding-Photos160-1024x683.jpg)
A “First Look” for Dad: This is often a very emotional and meaningful moment that I really love photographing for my Brides.
![Saratoga NY Mansion Wedding Photos](https://susanblackburn.biz/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Best-Saratoga-NY-Photographers-0011-1024x683.jpg)
![Albany Renaissance Wedding Photos.](https://susanblackburn.biz/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/State-Room-Albany-Wedding-Photographers-0010-1024x683.jpg)
![Upstate NY Wedding Photos](https://susanblackburn.biz/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Saratoga-Mansion-Wedding0401-1024x683.jpg)
Individual Portraits of the Bride and Groom: You look amazing, so make sure you include at least a few individual portraits! A selection of full length, as well as tight closeups is ideal.
![Queensbury Hotel Wedding Photo](https://www.susanblackburn.biz/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Susan-Blackburn-014-683x1024.jpg)
![Glens Falls Wedding Photo](https://www.susanblackburn.biz/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Queensbury-Hotel-Wedding-Photos-029-683x1024.jpg)
![Wedding Photos Saratoga Springs NY](https://www.susanblackburn.biz/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Queensbury-Hotel-Wedding-Photos010-683x1024.jpg)
![Fall Wedding Photos Upstate NY](https://www.susanblackburn.biz/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Upstate-NY-Wedding-Photos-072-683x1024.jpg)
Candid Ceremony Moments: Images in a photojournalistic style capture the moment and tell the story. Personally, I feel like the ceremony is the most important part of the day, so you should have more than one page dedicated to this.
![Saratoga Springs NY Wedding Photo](https://www.susanblackburn.biz/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Thirsty-Owl-Saratoga-Wedding-Photo-040-1024x683.jpg)
![Saratoga Springs NY Thirsty Owl Wedding Photo](https://www.susanblackburn.biz/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Thirsty-Owl-Saratoga-Wedding-Photo-037-683x1024.jpg)
![First Kiss Wedding Ceremony Photo Saratoga](https://www.susanblackburn.biz/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Thirsty-Owl-Saratoga-Wedding-Photo-044-1024x683.jpg)
![Wedding Ceremony Adelphi Hotel Saratoga NY](https://www.susanblackburn.biz/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Adelphi-Hotel-Saratoga-Wedding-061-1024x683.jpg)
Family Groups: A few family formals are fine to include, just don’t get crazy. I feel like family formals can be displayed around your home as small prints, but a few in the wedding album is perfect.
![Wedding Family Portrait Photos Albany NY](https://www.susanblackburn.biz/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Century-House-Latham-NY-Wedding-Photos-020-613x1024.jpg)
![Fall Upstate NY Wedding Photos](https://www.susanblackburn.biz/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Upstate-NY-Wedding-Photos-065-1024x683.jpg)
![Summer Wedding Flower Girl Saratoga Springs NY](https://www.susanblackburn.biz/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Gideon-Putnam-Saratoga-Wedding-Photos-001-683x1024.jpg)
![Saratoga Wedding Adelphi Hotel Photo](https://www.susanblackburn.biz/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Adelphi-Hotel-Saratoga-Wedding-064-1024x683.jpg)
Bride and Groom Together: When choosing your wedding album pictures, make sure you dedicate a few pages to portraits of the two of you together in the album.
![Choosing your wedding album pictures](https://susanblackburn.biz/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Utah-Destination-Wedding-Photos133-1-683x1024.jpg)
![Elegant Elopement Wedding Photos Congress Park](https://www.susanblackburn.biz/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Congress-Park-Elopement-Photos-004-1024x683.jpg)
![Summer Wedding at Fort William Henry Lake George](https://www.susanblackburn.biz/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Ft-William-Henry-Wedding-Photos-16-688x1024.jpg)
![Saratoga Springs NY Wedding Photos](https://www.susanblackburn.biz/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Adelphi-Hotel-Saratoga-Wedding-067-683x1024.jpg)
Reception Photos: The Reception is important to put in your album. Most couples put a lot of thought into their party. When choosing your wedding album pictures, be sure to include a couple pages of details and fun shots.
![CT Destination Wedding Photos](https://susanblackburn.biz/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Glastonbury-CT-Wedding-Photos175-1024x683.jpg)
![Wedding Album Photos](https://www.susanblackburn.biz/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Mansion-Saratoga-NY-Wedding-Photos-047-1018x1024.jpg)
![Automobile Museum Saratoga Wedding Photo](https://www.susanblackburn.biz/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Saratoga-Auto-Museum-Wedding-Photos-129-1024x683.jpg)
![Automobile Museum Cake Cutting Photo](https://www.susanblackburn.biz/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Saratoga-Auto-Museum-Wedding-Photos-131-1024x683.jpg)
![Saratoga Mansion Wedding Reception Candids](https://www.susanblackburn.biz/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Saratoga-Photography304-766x1024.jpg)
A Great Photo for the End of the Book: Make sure you end your album with a great photo of the two of you!
![Downtown Saratoga Springs NY Wedding Photo](https://www.susanblackburn.biz/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Adelphi-Wedding-Photos621-1024x683.jpg)
![Rustic Barn Venue Saratoga NY Fall Wedding Photo](https://www.susanblackburn.biz/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Fall-Upstate-NY-Wedding-Photos-042-683x1024.jpg)
One final tip for choosing your wedding album images: After you make the initial choice, walk away for a day and come back and look at them. Do you feel any important moments are missing? Or do you feel you have too many of the same type of image? Do you have a selection that tells the story of the day? One of the services I provide to all my clients is designing the layout of the wedding album–I notice that they often either forget something important or they have too many images depicting one particular thing.
Now that you know what images to choose, don’t put off this task any longer!
Here is a sample wedding photo album from a wedding we recently photographed in Saratoga Springs NY. The Bride got ready at the historic Adelphi Hotel and the ceremony and reception took place at the National Museum of Dance. Enjoy!
If you enjoyed this post, you might also like to read another post about Wedding Albums.
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