Create Your Own Wedding Photo Book with DIY Software

As anyone who knows me can tell you, I love stories. I love telling them, listening to them, and sharing them. Stories are everywhere, too: whether around a campfire, in a book, on the movie screen, with friends over dinner…even at work in the neighboring cubicle, borne on all-too-audible gossipy whispers.

The love of a good story is something we all share. We also share the fact that each of our lives are incredible stories themselves, and we share the media on which those stories are told. Your family and childhood photos tell a story, as do your doodles, journals, and diaries over the years (well okay, some of us write down more than others). The snapshots you take throughout your relationship and engagement tell a story. Your wedding website is a great storyteller, along with–of course–your wedding photo album, both with which you can share the story of your big day.

A growing trend in photo albums is the so-called coffee-table book, essentially a hardcover or softcover bookstore-quality bound version of your photo album, the latest of which incorporate high-quality graphics design so that your imagery is laid out less like plain columns of photos and more like magazine pictorials. I’m a big fan of this photojournalistic approach, as the emphasis is on–you got it–the story behind the photos. Pepper the spreads with commentary, quotes, and captions, and the story of your engagement and wedding really come to life.

Your photographer may have an option like this available for you. And there are now services on the web enabling you to design and produce your very own quality photo books. In most cases, you download the software editor that they offer, select your photos and arrange your pages as you like, then submit the final version to the service for production. What a great way to tell the story of you, as a keepsake for years to come!

Include engagement and childhood photos, even photos submitted by your guests, and make it an all-inclusive storybook. Rates and turnaround time for these services are extremely reasonable, and you can produce as many copies as you’d like: give a copy as a gift to your parents, for example. Check out these samples from a few of my top picks:

Blurb (www.blurb.com)