YOUR WEDDING ALBUM is the ultimate finished product, a visual record of your wedding day – so make sure you choose the right one!

It should be a treasured possession that you will take delight in looking back on for years to come. It's up to you to decide how you will display your wedding photographs to showcase your big day. Just as photography has changed dramatically over recent years, so has the variety of albums available to show them off. The quality and finish of professional albums has increased even in the last few years.

Layout

The size and style of albums vary considerably, according to the style of your photographer. Your album is sometimes included in the package price, meaning that the photographer will supply an agreed amount of pages to display the photographs you have selected from the proofs. Some photographers will spend a great deal of time ensuring a good narrative layout for an album. Albums vary from 24-50 pages, with large albums displaying up to 10x10 photographs, while dimensionally smaller albums will take 8x8s or 7x5s. The styles of photography again affect this choice: group shots demand a greater size while reportage photography looks best in small dimensions, often in a 'flip' style album. Overlay is a stiff board that will frame your photographs on the page and is chosen in accordance with the album and photograph style. The most popular album overlays include hexagonal, square, rectangular and oval shapes.

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Cost

Albums will vary in price according to quality and most photographers can offer a choice. Do remember that they are expensive items in themselves, depending on materials and personalised finishes. Photographers can order and construct an album for you, which would be reflected in the overall cost. Albums cost from £60-650 and a digital book is around £2000.

Top tips

• Remember there is a huge difference between the albums you see in stationery shops and those that your photographer will offer you - this is reflected in the price!
• If you are not particularly taken with any of the albums your photographer currently offers, it's worth finding out whether they can order something special for you, although this may cost extra
• Digital imaging has taken the whole concept of the wedding album to a new level, with magazine-style layouts increasingly popular. Photographers can now design the album to fit around the photos, rather than the other way round.
• The editing and layout processes that take place unseen usually take many, many hours of hard work