Move over, wedding albums!
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If Pinterest isn’t enough, one can always turn to Instagram for inspiration. You just have to follow the right pages to get your algorithm to be an echo chamber of positive affirmations. For instance, seeing this incredibly aesthetically pleasing video of a wedding book posted by @itscelesta gave me inspiration (for a hypothetical, future dream wedding, single gal here!) and made me ask myself: When did wedding albums become wedding books?
The first instance of photography was seen as early as 1826. The first instance of wedding photography was seen post the 1930s, or the Second World War when cameras became slightly easier to carry. Naturally, as photography became so incredibly accessible, the idea of creating albums became more and more popular. Historically, the carte de visite format of album-making was a pioneer in solidifying the concept of albums altogether.
The carte de visite (French for ‘visiting card’) format, which evolved from having card-sized photographs to including full-sized photographs on pages, was an expensive yet affordable luxury and became an heirloom being passed down through multiple generations. Somewhere along the line, albums became an integral part of the process of and occasion of weddings. But, when did they go from being the plain old installable 4×6 or 5×7 prints to becoming a magazine, or coffee table book format?
In an interesting 2016 video posted by London-based photographer Dave Vickers on his YouTube channel, The Photo Show, we’re given the lowdown on how to mount pictures in your album. Then, in a 2020 Reddit thread, which asked the same question we’re asking ourselves on this quest, ‘When did wedding albums go from having film photos installed in them to being a well-printed flat-lay book?’, we found some answers.
With the digitisation of photography, the last decade has been a slow climb to the modern-day wedding book. What used to be a compilation of film photographs being mounted on pages or being installed in plastic sleeves, has become a sleek and fuss-free book that you can decide the layout of. “People are now realising that, beyond the splendour of the day, it’s the memories captured on film that stay… Couples are prioritising storytelling, recognizing that while jewellery may gather dust, and hospitality is for the few days and then it’s over… memories remain vivid through film,” said The Wedding Filmer’s Vishal Punjabi in an interview with Manifest. Making it even more evident why even though so many aspects of wedding planning have become digital, wedding photography and films remain a constant.
Today, the options are endless, you can opt for hard-cover photo books or ones that are leather-bound or fabric-covered. Most people opt for landscape wedding books and brands such as Odd Giraffe, Vista Prints, Glorious Wedding Album, Photojaanic and Wedshot India can offer you some great options. Those who are looking for a more classic aesthetic usually go for the leather-bound cover, whereas if you’re looking for a lighter, more natural aesthetic, a linen-bound and covered wedding book could be your cup of tea. I gravitate towards a magazine-format wedding book, simply because it has a certain suave, yet laid-back vibe about it. It is a less formal variation of the many that are available.
Here are some designs or formats to consider if you prefer to create your own wedding book and would like to stick to something more minimalistic.
Harshita Singh is a Digital Writer at Manifest and besides obsessing over aesthetic ‘IT Girl’ Sunday reset reels on Instagram, she finds joy in going down the rabbit hole of conspiracy theories, exploring new wellness practices and being mildly addicted to oat-milk coffees. View Profile
