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You may have a vision of how you want the overall event to go, but keep some flexibility in your plans. You never know when a great idea will hit you that you can incorporate. Also, it is a big day where there are a lot of players at work. Little things can get forgotten or go wrong. Don't let it bother you. By Sabrina (Sikora) Dommenge
Colors that you like to look at should be part of your physical space, table cloths, napkins, flowers, candles.
They bring family, friends, and favorite or special places together to celebrate their commitment and create a lasting memory. Care is given to the food, music, flowers, passages read to commemorate faith, and the pledge given to each other. Read More
Photos by RaidenShine Photography
Throughout time, archiving wedding images has changed, and it has stayed the same. These images tell the story of the two of you and become one of your most cherished treasures––the kind people are known to go back into burning buildings for. Be sure to do your research and know what is best for you and talk it over with your photographers before the pictures are even taken to get their take on some of the options. Here is a list of some of the more common ways to not only preserve, but also showcase some of those incredible moments, but this is only the tip of the iceberg.
Wedding AlbumThe photo album is by far the most widely used medium for preserving your images, but over the years that has evolved again and again. Beautiful hardbound coffee table books are now an option and come in as many varieties as ice cream. The best of the books have what the industry calls a no-gutter, lay-flat construction. This makes it possible to now have an image showcased on two adjacent pages without losing part of your image to the middle binding. They are a bit pricier, but worth every penny. If your photographer does not offer an album package, you can opt for a standard album and insert your prints. If you are computer and web savvy, you can opt to create a printed album for yourself. By searching the web you are sure to hit on one of many websites to build your own book. Some of these websites may even offer the lay-flat books. Before you attempt to start building your album, be aware that it may require a significant amount of your time depending on the amount of images you select. Also, if your images have not been edited for quality, you may not be totally satisfied with the printed product.
Your best option is to have your photographer create your album since they will edit the selected images for print, brighten or sharpen and crop, enlarge, or reduce as necessary. They usually will have many years of editing experience, so use their experience to your advantage. If you do choose to create your own album, look carefully at available options. As with any other product, be sure to check a sample for the quality first.
If you choose to have an album made, you may also want to think about an album box to keep this precious keepsake safe. Album cases can be custom designed with an image or come in a variety of colors––the most popular color is classic black, usually in leather. There is no better presentation for your 12x12 album than a beautiful case.
Another popular way to preserve your wedding images is to use a photo box. Your photographer can have one created for you using your favorite image(s), or you can purchase one at one of the many craft stores in the area. For a more upscale, non-personalized version, some of the department stores and other websites carry leather photo boxes. These ready-made boxes typically hold about 400-600 4x6 prints. With a custom box through your photographer the box can be created to hold either 4x6 or 5x7 and vary in depth to hold between 50 and 800 photos. This is a beautiful alternative to the old shoebox. It also gives you a place to keep the photos that friends and relatives have taken for you.
As technology progresses, so do the options for storing your images. Back in the day, the photographer would be expected to archive your negatives for up to 10 years. Today, photographers will typically archive your digital images, including the raw (digital negative) files for a few years, but depending upon your contract and copyright agreement, some photographers are now providing their clients with either a DVD or a memory stick containing the JPG images that they can use for printing out the images themselves. This works in your favor if you want to print out a bunch of 4x6s for friends and family and it works out for the photographer, as you are now responsible for safeguarding your own images. If this is the case, our suggestion to you is to take the DVD or memory stick and upload the images to a backup drive immediately––it is best to keep the images in two places. DVDs and memory sticks can fail, get broken or lost, so making sure you have these precious images in more than one place is a good idea.
Once you have transferred all of your images safely, you can choose your favorites and load them to a small memory stick for use in one of the many digital frames available today. This is an innovative way to display all of your favorites instead of just one. If you have a particular digital frame that you have purchased, your photographer can likely help you by sizing your favorites and copying them into a special folder before giving them to you (making your job easier). The photographer would need the specs on the frame to create the perfectly sized images to be shown and make the best use of your frame.
This option too has changed over the years. No longer is a print a print. Your options are so incredible and changing every year. If your photographer is going to seminars and trade shows and staying up with the technology, they can offer you a myriad of choices. Paper choices, matting, framing, sizes and shapes (including fun round or oval images) are just the beginning. An enlargement can now be done of different mediums––the other mediums available currently include canvas, metal, slate, glass, acrylic, wood and most anything else you can imagine.
The canvas images can be enhanced first to emulate brushstrokes if you desire and can be as simple as having the canvas mounted on a mattboard, foamcore, or styrene plastic, ready for framing, or after the image is transferred to canvas it can be gallery wrapped for a frameless presentation with the edges wrapped around one to three inch wooden stretcher frames. More recently there has been an emergence of multiple images wrapped individually and then stacked onto a main image giving the presentation another level of dimension. The market and your imagination have stretched your possibilities and will continue to evolve over the years.
Metal offers some new options for showcasing and preserving your images. Metallic paper and inks create a very high gloss, almost 3-D look. In addition to the metallic paper and inks, images can be printed onto a piece of metal, which is becoming more and more popular.
The finished product can be a single piece of metal or the image can be split into two or more parts and hinged together. This actually gives the appearance of more of a piece of artwork.
Slate art takes your image and transfers it to a piece of hand-chiseled slate. The slate comes with a stand and is perfect for a mantle or wall shelf for displaying it. This is typically something you or your photographer will need to research to find the best pricing as it can fluctuate drastically from vendor to vendor.
3-D Etched Glass art is a process that takes an image and etches it onto a thick piece of prismed glass, which can then be illuminated. The result is a unique item that can be displayed on a desktop or mantle for years of enjoyment.
Mugs, T-shirts, sweatshirts, coasters, aprons, key-chains, calendars, puzzles, and whatever else you can think of is now possible.
As you can see, when deciding how to preserve your wedding images, there are many things to consider. If you have a specific medium in mind, talk to your photographer and be sure to have it included in your package or listed as an aftermarket option. Before taking final delivery of your package, don’t forget to find out where and how to order special products and what the costs would be. Then, settle back into married life and enjoy the many images and pieces of art that will likely grace your home.
This story from the Winter 2012 issue of Vermont Bride Magazine
The RaidenShine Photography team consists of two dedicated photographers that have a passion about wedding photography, quality and customer service. Joe and Linda Crosby are both award-winning photographers in their own right and combine to make a great team. Active members of Wedding and Portrait Photographers International (WPPI), they meet annually with other WPPI photographers from all over the world to exchange ideas, new products, and new technologies so that they can bring those ideas and technologies to their Vermont Brides. www.raidenshine.com.
Read these Vermont Bride Featured Love Stories online! Love Story: Kellie (Goessinger) & JJ Oliver. Read the Love Story online here. Photo by Stoilov Studios, Vermont. |
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 [Above] Sara (Forest) Sokolowski. Read the wedding Love Story online. Photo by Polis Photography. |
 [Above] Vyna Phuong Le and Phu Van Truong. Read the wedding Love Story online. Photo by RaidenShine Photography. |
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