My sister got married this past year on a very tight budget. One way she was able to save money was having me create her wedding album. The “professional” album was going to cost an arm and a leg so she asked the photographer to give her a CD with all the wedding pictures instead of having him make the album. I then went through the CD along with pictures that I was able to take and also pictures from friends and family, and began to create the album pages using Photoshop.
At first I thought I’d print the pages and then mount them in an album just like the photographer would have done, BUT, as I researched in the internet I found that buying the outer shell of the album and the adhesive pages to later mount the prints on, would cost a whopping $500+!!!!!! Ridiculous!!!!! So I checked out KodakGallery.com, Shutterfly.com, and some others and saw I could get the album done for WAY less. I’ve used several of these sites throughout the years and they are all pretty good. I went with Kodak because I could make the album in a larger size, 14 x 12.
I was able to include most if not all the pictures taken by the photographer!! Which traditionally you’d be able to pick a handful and end up with a 10 to 20 page album at a very high price. My sisters album ended up being 82 pages and really beautiful, if I do say so myself. The best part is that I was able to print another album in a smaller size for my parents and later for my brother-in-law’s family with just a click of the mouse!
So, if you’re looking for a way to save some $$$$$ on your wedding or a family member’s wedding, creating the wedding album yourself is the way to go! A lot more of those special moments will be scrapbooked at a more affordable price.
Here’s a sample of a couple of pages:
Adobe Photoshop Elements 6 (Mac)
PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 5 and PREMIERE ELEMENTS 3 BUNDLE WIN MINIBOX (29180248)
cindy says:
love the site. very informative and useful
Cristy says:
Thanks for the comment Mom of Three! I just recently saw that Costco is pretty good for printing layouts. Yeah the “extras” can get expensive. Hurray for digiscrapping!
Mom of Three says:
This is the exact reason I began digiscrapping. We don’t have anything in the way of income to be spent on “extras.” I make my pages, store them on costco.com, and have them printed as I can. It’s gone really well! I use CS3, and visit a number of blogs and sites for kits and the like. Your Smiley Grunge really stood out, cute!
Buying Photoshop for Dummies, by the way, is a great way for beginners to learn the program.
Cristina says:
Well Ali, I could teach you. Let me know when you have some time, 1 hour is good. I’ll be posting some how to articles very soon, so look out for those. Once you understand what the tools do and follow a few steps, you’ll be scrapbooking in no time! Thanks for spreading the word! Love ya!
Ali de Armas says:
Cristy, this is great! If only I could learn to put the pictures in the computer (sort of know), use the people who print the pictures and then do an album, I could might become your customer!!!!
I am sending copies of your e-mail to my granddaughters… All my love, Ali