Wedding Album

[slylyeatingbiscuits]

Hoping this is the best place to post this for all you wonderfully creative types to see

I got married last year, and have all of my wedding photos printed off (usual photo size, 6x4?). We were given a wedding album as a gift on the day but so far haven't put the two together. I know how much it means to my DH to get this done as a reminder of the day, and I'm now on maternity leave so would like to spend a little bit of time putting it all together as a surprise for him.

However, my creative flair is non-existent so any tips would be appreciated!

Would it be a good idea to get some printed out at different sizes to make it look more interesting?
I was going to buy some photo corners - is this a good idea?
Am I better sticking them in the book straight rather that at an angle?
Is there anything I can do on the actual page of the album (around he photos) to make it look nice?

We also had a reading at our wedding that I wanted to incorporate into the album - is it best for me to just print it out on fancy paper and stick it in?

I appreciate that all of these are personal taste, but I'm really just after some ideas/opinions/help before I make a start on it. I don't want it to look like I've just flung it all together!

Thank you

If you google 'Wedding Scrapbook Pages' that will give you ideas on different layouts (and may also cause you to spend lots of money on fancy papers and stickers). There are pages with lots of 3D embellishments which are not to my personal taste but there will be lots of ideas about grouping photos together and incorporating phrases and mementos to make your album look more interesting.

@TheWoollybacksWife I will do that today, thank you for the suggestion! I've tried to google for ideas but the only things that cake up for me were the photo books that you can get printed which is not what I'm after.
No the 3D embellishments are not really my thing either but I would like some 'tasteful' decoration to make it more interesting.

I think it really depends what sort of 'style' you are looking for - things stuck in straight tend to look smarter and more formal whereas stuff at an angle is a bit more casual and 'whimsical', which is very much my style but everyone is different!

I would invest in some decent glues, etc, I made myself a travelling scrapbook 14 years ago now and was very disappointed to see that almost all my stuff has come unstuck But that was before I knew anything about this stuff and didn't use proper glue or proper paper so I'll have to redo it all one day!

I would also say stamps (rubber/plastic etc) and inks are a good idea as you can reuse them several times throughout the scrapbook but they don't stick out too much and interfere with the way the book 'sits' when it is closed, like 3D embellishments do. They are also a hell of a lot cheaper! You can get some really pretty metallic inks that look lovely in stamps.

I would also say don't make your background paper too 'busy' or patterned - I was given some lovely papers as a gift but found the patterns on them were just too much to use them as a background, they ended up being distracting from the actual content on the page. Stick to simpler, subtler patterns or just plain colours then jazz it up with stamps, embellishments, frames etc.

I find The Works and The Range quite good for crafty scrapbooking stuff, just have a browse and see what inspires you.

Good luck!

What about this sort of thing? I find keeping it simple is good, putting too much content on a page makes it look cluttered and hard to read.

@sharkirasharkira thanks so much for the replies! I never would have thought to look in those places so will definitely have a browse

I think sticking everything straight would be more what I'd go for. I was thinking some pages just have one larger photo then other maybe 2 or 3? Laid out differently to mix it up a bit?

I love that screenshot, I just can't imagine being able to recreate it I honestly am the least creative person I know! Stamps could be a really good idea though, even I couldn't go wrong with a stamp surely...

I'm sure you'll be fine when you get going If need be practise with some cheap scrap paper before you start sticking the real photos, play around with layouts and put everything on the page where you think it would look nice before you stick anything down permanently.

You can get clear plastic blocks that you stick stamping letters onto so that you can see through the block and get it in exactly the right place if you see what I mean. It also means if you stamp doesn't 'take' properly the first time you can line it up exactly and do it again!

Definately mix up the layouts, that'll stop every page looking the same as you flick through You can buy ready made pages like the one above with the gold bits, they just have a space left for you to stick your pictures in so it's pretty easy. I think Hobbycraft sell individual papers so you could try there too.

Well DH is off work this week, so I won't be able to actually start doing it... I could get everything together ready to start next week though

My DBIL is really creative, and excellent at drawing, and was going to get him involved, but like the thought of doing it myself for DH.

I was hoping to put a copy of a reading in from the wedding too, think it would be a good idea just to print it out on fancy paper and stick it in? Have you got a recommendation of glue I should use?

So sorry for all the questions I just really want to get it right.