Creating The Perfect Wedding Scrapbook
By by Wes Waddell
Creating the Perfect Wedding Scrapbook Your wedding is one of life's most cherished events, and that means that saving that memory is one of the most important tasks that anyone can undertake. For some, this can make it almost a nerve racking experience. That is until now... Here are some tips that will make it a simple and memorable experience: First, plan ahead! Don't wait until the event is over and you find you are missing things that could have really made the pages stand out in time. If you take the time to plan the outline of your book in advance, all the critical parts will be easy to list and check off as you collect them. There are several decisions that when made in advance will save you time, money and worry. For example, you'll need to decide whether this album will cover your entire wedding - from engagement through the honeymoon - or, will you focus on just the wedding day itself? Unless you are going to create your wedding scrapbook in digital form and have it made into a Realbook hardbound scrapbook, I would recommend planning on 3 or 4 separate smaller books. A hand scrapped wedding scrapbook, especially with lots of dimensional pages can be thicker and larger than will fit into any conventional binder or scrapbook cover. By breaking your wedding scrapbook up into sections of time or events, it makes for a much more manageable scrapbook project. For instance, you might want to choose a 6x6 or 8x8 album project for the engagement, (bachelorette/bachelor party), and other smaller events with fewer photos. Then you can create the 8.5x11 or even 12x12 for the main wedding event with all its photographs and mementos that come with it. Digital highlight scrapbooks also make great gifts for the parents and in-laws... especially if you have them done as a real hardbound book complete with custom covers and dedication. Now that you have the big picture all planned out, get it on paper. Get a small notebook or planner for each book and a container for the photos and mementos. Then just run through each of the events in your mind or with the bride if you are doing it for someone else. Jot down notes on special pictures you want taken. Also, don't forget to start listing out the embellishments from the events that you will want to collect to add inside the scrapbook. Save things like a copy of the invitation, samples of the napkins or other colored papers used to decorate with. Don't forget the shower/party invitations and even the bill from the caterer; anything that might remind you of a special memory 20 years down the road. Some of the flowers from the church pressed and preserved are a definite must have. Other things to consider are airline (honeymoon) ticket stubs, place cards and even gift lists or guest lists. Fabric patches from dresses are another thought. Just let your mind wander and write down anything that comes to mind. You can always discard things... it's hard to come up with them after things are cleaned up and thrown out. I find that color schemes generally take care of themselves with the wedding colors and party schemes used in the actual events. It's also the easiest thing to change based on how the actual event turns out. If you have done your pre-planning for the photos and embellishments that add meaning, you'll find the page colors will easily come together. Remember that elegance and simplicity tend to go hand in hand. The wedding scrapbooks that stand the test of time are the ones that evoke emotions and memories on every page. The more detailed your plan is and the more embellishments you collect from the events, the less money you're also likely to spend at the scrapbook store when it comes time to finish the project. As each event completes, now it's time to go through your photos and memorabilia from those events. For me, Scrapbooking, especially digital or computer Scrapbooking, is about telling the stories of our lives, so I love to work with the photographs that really tell a story. Sometimes the "Best" photos aren't what are best for the scrapbook. While professional photographs are great and a necessary part of your wedding scrapbook, it's generally the candid shots and the unplanned moments caught on film that contain the most telling stories. The flower girl hiding behind the brides dress or the ring bearer with a face full of cake are just a couple of examples that I've seen. Mom crying