Crafting your wedding scrapbook album can be a daunting task without proper planning. You might find yourself overloaded with information, not knowing what to include, or you might forget something important. This is a small guide to help you sort out everything you need before you get your hands dirty. Just make sure you read part 1 before you proceed.
Selecting Photos For Your Wedding Scrapbook
It can be hard to decide what pictures to include in your scrapbook. Most brides get literally hundreds of photos back from their photographer, so you may need to be choosy. Pick only the best photos that really convey something special. Don’t forget that apart from your hired photographer, it’s very likely that yours friends and family have also taken some great photographs worth keeping.
If you send out a request for all wedding guests to send you their photographs you may well be inundated with pictures to sift through for your wedding scrapbooking album but at least you will have plenty of choice.
Some photos that you don’t want to leave out from your album are: pictures of the place where the ceremony happened, you walking down the aisle, and the wedding ceremony itself. You may also want to include photos of the reception and the cutting of the cake.
Choosing a Theme
photo by idoityourself
If you had a themed wedding, you might want to stick to it when crafting your scrapbook, so the overall effect will be consistent. This makes your wedding scrapbook layouts all tied together and it feels like a real album and not just a collection of separate pages that you pieced together. But keep in mind that this is not set in stone and that the primary goal of a wedding scrapbook is to depict the thoughts and feelings you had on your wedding day.
Having said that, when composing wedding scrapbook layouts you usually want to have some type of common element running through all your pages. When coordinating your album, don’t feel like you need to use the same paper, or even the same color, on every page in your album. It’s much more visually pleasing and easier to scrapbook if you use papers and embellishments that coordinate with the photos. For example, just because your wedding color was pink doesn’t mean you must use pink throughout your book. You might instead choose to use the same journaling font throughout for a look of continuity.
Common elements can also include a special shape or item that’s on every page, such as hearts, intertwined rings, or even a teddy bear or something else that’s special to the couple. You can add this to the corner of every page in your wedding scrapbook layouts or rotate which corners you print it on.
Colors
Many choose to use their wedding color scheme, but you can use other color combinations if you prefer. When choosing your colors remember to add variety to your scrapbook pages and layouts.
Try to choose colors that will accentuate the photos and other material. For example, let’s say your wedding colors were gold and peach. You could add cream, light pink or even acqua to make the yellowish tones really pop. Putting together unusual color combinations will give your album a different look and set them apart from other wedding scrapbooks.
Embellishments
Just like everything wedding-related, your wedding scrapbook should look elegant and distinctive, so you might want to add embellishments. Today’s scrapbook stores offer so many choices of embellishments it may be hard to decide what to use. Pick from wedding bells, lovebirds, hearts, flowers, wedding rings and wedding cake to help accent your photo collages. Eyelets, brads and ribbons are also suggestions that will add character and personality to your wedding scrapbook.
But a word of caution is necessary. One common mistake with many wedding scrapbook layouts is making them too busy; there are so many things that brides want to include that the pages just get crowded and overwhelmed. But when you streamline your wedding scrapbook layouts and make them less busy, your photos really stand out. So, be careful no to add too much embellishments and stickers with flashy colors, or your album will look cheap. Instead, keep it simple and elegant.
Paper
Vellum paper is a great option. It looks elegant and it is not hard to find.
Floral patterned papers also work well for wedding scrapbooks. They tend to match with wedding decor, and lend themselves to the overall wedding theme.
photo by Sharleen Morco
What to Include And How to Organize
It’s usually easiest to arrange a wedding album in the order of events. You may have more photos for one particular area, and fewer in another, depending on the size and style of your wedding.
But keep in mind that a wedding scrapbook is not all about pictures. Take some time to write down the events and emotions you had during your wedding. Don’t forget the little things, like how you felt while you walked down the aisle or how the weather was. You will appreciate that in years to come.
There are many different ways you can capture the general feeling and atmosphere on your wedding day. You could ask more experienced friends to write down marriage tips and include them somewhere in your album. Anecdotes are also fun and interesting to read. You could incorporate this as an activity at your bridal shower or bachelor party, and have your friends help you remember all those little funny things about you and your spouse.
You might also want to devote a page or two in your wedding scrapbook to include any interests of the bride and groom that may have been a part of the overall wedding theme.
A More Personal Approach
photo by idoityourself
While this is supposed to be your wedding scrapbook, it doesn’t mean you only have to include memories from your wedding day. In fact, much of the fun of a wedding lies in the memorable events that took place before your marriage, such as the proposal, all the planning, the look for the right dress and so forth. You can scan in your wedding license, vows or other priceless documents to include on your digital pages and even frame them using collage picture frames.
You can also add mementos and items such as the wedding invitations, reception napkins, cards and pressed flowers. Only remember to put those inside memorabilia pockets, as they may discolor and ruin your album. You also might want to include congratulatory notes or cards from friends and family you may have received during your engagement. They will serve as a reminder of your feelings during such an anticipatory event.
Another great idea is to create some Wedding Scrapbooks as “Thank You” gifts, and send out to those special friends and relatives who took part in your marriage ceremony and make your wedding what it was. Scrapbooks always make a lovely surprise and are a powerful way to say “Thank you for being a part of such an important day in our lives”.
The Next Step
Take your time to properly plan your wedding scrapbook. Write down everything you need and get organized. This can be a little dull at times, specially if you have lots of information, but it will definitely pay off in the end. When you’re all setup ready to get started on actual page layouts, check the next article in this series “Wedding Scrapbook Page Ideas”.
