Wedding Day Mom Brag Books

The Moms Brag Books that I specially design have been very popular this year.  I offer two different versions and often get asked about them, so I thought it was about time to show a few of them off and hopefully answer a few questions ahead of time.

I will start with the Square 7x7 sized Custom Designed Mom's Brag Book that are much like mini versions of the wedding books that I make for the bride and groom.  Here is a little bit of information on this particular book:

• The 7x7 Square Book can fit up to 50 images including the back and front cover.
• The respective mom gets to pick out those images via an online gallery Favorites folder or listing in an email.
• This book fits in purses easier and contains numerous custom designed pages in addition to the designed cover.
• The is a hard cover book with pages that have a luster finish to protect against smudges and stains.
• The paper is heavy duty pearl paper that really shows off color and contrast well.

Here are a few examples of some recent square books:

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The front and back cover of a custom designed wedding day Mom's Brag Book.

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A two page spread of a square sized Mom's Brag Book filled with wedding photos.

Some books will have a two page spread where the image crosses over to both sides.  This all depends on whether we have the right image for this style of design.  Other touches include the wedding date and sayings, quotes and phrases of love, togetherness, peace and family.  I really enjoy putting these together and mother's of the brides and grooms are overjoyed to have them and show off to friends and family.

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Two page spread in a mom's wedding brag book containing religious quotes.

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Custom designed page of a mom's brag book with quotes of love pertaining to their loved one's wedding.

The other book offered is a an 8x10, landscape sized Mom's Brag Book that also comes in a hardbound cover.  Here is a little bit of information on this particular book:

• The 8x10 Book can fit up to 50 images including the back and front cover.
• The respective mom gets to pick out those images via an online gallery Favorites folder or listing in an email.
• This book is slightly larger, but the pages are plain white with photos simply laid out.  Only the front and back cover is designed.
• The is a hard cover book with pages that have a luster finish to protect against smudges and stains.
• The paper is heavy duty pearl paper that really shows off color and contrast well.

Here are a few examples of some recent 8x10 books:

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A custom designed mom's brag book front cover in an 8x10 size.

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A custom designed mom's brag book back cover in an 8x10 size.

So what are the main differences between these two book?  The 8x10 gives you the advantage of slightly large images, but isn't as easily handles or purse friendly as the 7x7 book.  Also, the 8x10 will not have the design flourishes within the pages and the quotes and sayings that you see the in square designs above.  Just like my wedding albums, no two books are alike.  I don't believe in cookie cutter type of albums on such an important event.  I want to give mom something unique just as I will the bride.eddingw

Wedding Album Designs

As I get ready to showcase my wedding photography at the many Northwest Indiana bridal shows this winter, I thought it was a good time to revisit some of the custom wedding album designs I did for clients this year.  I plan on ordering some duplicate copies so I can show them off at the shows and also give new clients a chance to see an entire wedding from me.  This can be helpful for newly engaged couples looking to hire a photographer for their wedding.

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First and foremost, I'm purely a local wedding photographer, serving Northwest Indiana, Chicago and Michigan. However, I'm very proud of the designs that I do for my client's albums.  I like to wear that hat as well and nothing is outsourced.  After the wedding is complete and all of the images are edited, I notify my couples and we have a Premiere Night.  First we watch their highlight video of images captured from getting ready all the way to the reception.  We then look at images one by one.  After all of this is complete, we decide together what would be the best images for the front and back covers of the wedding album.

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The above walking away shot made for a fitting end to Dustin and Jenny's album.  We took many great shots on the spectacular bridge that overlooks Centennial Park in Munster, but something about the happy couple making their way into the sunset, resonated with the newlyweds as well as me.

For Nathan and Nichole's outdoor military wedding at Wicker Park, classic white was featured throughout the book.  I added many flourshes with brushes in photoshop to give them a unique, yet classic design for their album.

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Adding quotes is also very effective and when laced throughout the album.  Chris and Candy's summer wedding at Avalon Manor seemed to call out for many philisophical words of love.

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Stacey and Steve's wedding reception at The Center for Visual and Performing Arts in Munster was a grand old time.  For their reception pages, some champagne decor seemed to compliment the happy mood of the bride's father spinning her around on the dance floor as well as the other key events at the reception.

One of their favorite wedding images of the day is this photo of them strolling through the garden at the Shrine of Christ's Passion in St. John, Indiana.  The off white rose added a nice soft touch to the decorated album page.

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I encourage you to fill out the contact form and schedule a meeting to take a look at sample albums in person. I love cusomizing them for my wedding clients and I'd love to show them to you as well.  See you at those bridal shows this winter!!  :)

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Modern Wedding Album Designs

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I'm about halfway through the Northwest Indiana wedding season and I've already showcased quite a few recent wedding images from throughout the year.  Today we show off some wedding album designs.  These are straight from the pages of three recent clients.  I'm currently working on a few mom brag books, but we will save those for another day.

The photo above is the front cover for Ryan and Sara's wedding book which just arrived this week from the printer.  I can't really do these wedding albums justice without putting them in your hands when we meet for our intitial wedding consultation.  Let me give you some of the finer points about them:

• custom designed pages
• protective coating on each page for smudges, fingerprints and light liquid
• 12x12 hardcover
• coffee table design 

After your wedding, I begin the editing process for all of your photos (think film developing, except for digital) and perhaps adding special effects, etc.  Then we have Premiere Night where you will see a video of highlight images from throughout the wedding day.  The next step is seeing all of your images on a large screen in the viewing room of my portrait studio in Crown Point.  Out last step this night is to pick out a dominant color for your wedding album.  Usually we go with the bridesmaids colors or wedding theme color, but not always.  We will discuss our options.  I then ask the couple to pick out front and back images with some guidance from me. From these selections I then design a custom cover that usually contains the newlywed's name and wedding date.

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One of my favorite fonts is this heart font on the front cover of Michele and Nick's wedding album.  Other times we go for a more classic look as with Stacey and Steve's album from their Spring wedding at St. John the Evangelist.

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Couple's often choose a walking away or waving image for the back cover of their book...

The inside page designs will continue the color theme of the front cover, sometimes with more intense colors such as this deep purple design with glowing purple flowers and a tinge of red.

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These coffee table style books will often hold most, if not all of the wedding images.  They have become quite popular and are what I consider the modern wedding album.  These comtemporary looks are almost always chosen.  I do offer a more traditional flush mount album as an add on option.  It's called the Leather Craftsmen Luxury Album because of it's hand crafted leather exterior and super thick pages.  These are perfect for showcasing a few of your favorite pictures from the big day.

I sometimes will incorporate a champagne bottle design when featuring reception images such as first dance.

Famous quotes are often a hit with my clients and I try to match them up with an appropriate image such as this one of Ryan and Sara overlooking Lake Michigan at The Dunes Lakeshore in Northwest Indiana.

To see some older albums from past weddings have a look at the gallery page in the wedding album section.  The next step would to fill out my contact form and set up a time to take a look for yourself.  See you soon!!

Introducing Wedding Album E-Books

All of my wedding clients and some of my engaged couples as well, are familiar with my custom designed wedding albums.  They are large 12x12 hardcover coffee table style books with your wedding pictures laid out and embedded onto the page.  They are a big hit, especially the designer flourishes I put onto many of the pages.

I'm happy to announce that E-Book versions of these books are now available.  I convert the designs into epub format that is readable by apps. such as iBooks for the iPad and iPhone.  Here's how it works: 

• After your designed book is finished in software, I send out to the printer and it's usually a 10 day turnaround after that.
• During this wait time (or anytime after) you may now purchase an E-Book version.  The E-Book will cost $9.99 and I will provide a link for download.
• You will need to download the free iBooks App. from the Apple App. Store.  It is compatible with iPad and iPhone.  Install on one or both devices.  You can also pass the book around to friends and family.
• Instead of turning physical pages, you will be turning the full color pages onscreen.  It's the ultimate portable brag book.

The Wedding Album E-Book works great on the iPad and equally well on iPhone.  You simply drag the file into iTunes for Mac or Windows and then sync your device with the iBooks Application already installed.  You will then have your wedding album on your virtual book shelf.

This is a great way to leave your actual physical book safe at home and take your wedding around town to show friends and co-workers.  The E-Book is an exact replica of your wedding album.

Here are a few examples of some recent client books.  The first image is the cover of Zach and Olivia's wedding book followed by a custum designed Henna themed page from Jay and Rupal.

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Next time you are at the hair salon, take out your iPhone and show your stylist your wedding right there on the spot....

For now, this new offering is only available on iPad and iPhone, but Android versions will be coming soon.  Take a moment to view this quick video promo all about Wedding album E-Books:

For a full screen version of this video, go here.