FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT ALBUMS & COFFEE TABLE BOOKS

Why are wedding albums important to you?

There are many reasons wedding albums are important to us, but the most important is that we want you to have a tangible product that you can hold in your hands and look at whenever you like. If we're honest, people who have only the image files or negatives from their wedding rarely do anything with them (largely because putting together a photo book is a lot of work!) and the photos remain hidden away in some digital archive and you rarely ever see them or share them with the people you love. Albums and coffee table books provide a way for you to enjoy and share your photos with others, and gives us an opportunity to complete our artistic process. Because we shoot with your story in mind, we are also shooting with your album in mind, and if we don't make at least a digital version of your wedding story, we feel like we've left something unfinished!

If a wedding album is not included in my collection, can I choose to purchase one after the wedding?

Absolutely! You're welcome to purchase an album or coffee table book after the wedding, and often, couples take advantage of our photo gift registry to gather monetary gifts from wedding guests that will go toward your album investment or other designer photo products.

What is the photo gift registry?

The photo gift registry we have available is much like a gift registry at a department store in that your guests can make a financial contribution toward your wedding photography investment, and typically these funds are used toward purchasing an album, for album upgrades and additional album pages, or for any of our specialty designer photo products. For couples who choose to set up a registry, we can provide small cards with information about how a wedding guest can contribute to your new life together in this way, and you can have your wedding party and family distribute them for you, or you can send them in your wedding invitations. This is an especially great idea for couples who are not in need of 'household' kinds of gifts such as cookware, home decor, etc.

What is the album production process and timeline?

At the conclusion of your event, we immediately download and backup your images for safe-keeping. We then browse through and make a selection of the best images that tell the story of your day and begin pre-designing your layout. We present you a preliminary design a few weeks after your event, and usually one week after you see your album design, the rest of your image gallery goes live. You review the album design and the additional images in your gallery at your leisure and make one round of any requested changes you'd like to make. Once you approve your design, we'll place the order to our album supplier and, your album will be finished within 6-12 weeks, often sooner!

I've heard that you 'pre-design' each wedding album. What does that mean?

This means that we take the burden on ourselves to create the layout of your album without your input on the first round. In essence, we speed up the album design process so you don't have to agonize about which images you want in before you can really visualize the whole album, we make our artistic recommendations about how to best group and display the images of your wedding day in album format, and then we present the first draft to you for consideration. Many couples accept the pre-design with very minimal changes (we try very hard to tell your story artfully and include the photos we think you'll love best on the first try!), but you're always welcome to request whatever changes you wish to. Pre-designing gives us a great place to start! It's not intended to inhibit you from seeing your personal vision fulfilled.

Is it possible to make changes or add spreads to the pre-design you create?

Of course. After you have some time to review your design and complete image gallery, we will make one round of any changes that you like. We can take photos out, put photos in, re-arrange photos or pages, and more. We'll tackle any changes you like, as long as we receive them all at one time. Additional rounds of revisions will be billed accordingly, but we rarely have additional rounds of revisions!

Are you able to accommodate requests for album styles other than the samples you show?

Yes. We can make you any kind of album you like. We have chosen the album styles you'll see during a consultation based on their quality, contemporary yet classic look, and because we feel they reflect our aesthetic and artistic point of view...in short, we love them to pieces, but if you're not crazy about them, or if you have another album style in mind, let us know! We love to fulfill custom requests.

How soon will I receive my wedding album after I approve the final design?

This varies based on the style of album and the time of year we place your order, but you'll never wait more than 12 weeks after you've approved the final design unless something truly catastrophic prevents it from arriving! Typically albums are ready much sooner, and as soon as we receive them from our manufacturer, we pass them on to you!

Can you explain what a guest sign-in book is?

A guest sign-in book is essentially a photo guest book that includes your engagement session images. We design the layout to include your engagement session photos and open space for guests to sign their names and leave you a note. Guests typically sign as they arrive for your wedding ceremony, just like you would with any traditional guest book. We provide suitable pens for you, so you don't have to stress about that, and when it's filled up with the signatures of the people attending your wedding, it acts like somewhat of a companion album to your feature wedding album (usually your sign-in book and feature albums are the same size), and provides a wonderful way to remember your day.

How should I care for my album?

The albums and books we create are high-quality and are designed to last for decades. It is, however, important to take good care of them so they are not damaged throughout the years, and in general, it is good to keep them in a dry, cool or room temperature location, away from direct sunlight, little hands, pets, liquids, etc. When handling your album, make sure your hands are clean and dry, and if you're going to dust your books, be sure to use a moisture-free lint cloth.

Do you design albums for people other than your own wedding clients?

We frequently design albums for other photographers, and on occasion, we have design requests from couples who are already married and have a disc of images from their wedding shot by another photographer, but they have no wedding album. We are glad to design an album for you as long as you have a written permission from your photographer. In these cases, we credit your photographer inside the back cover of your book for their work. It's always important to give credit to an artist for their creative work!

WHAT PEOPLE HAVE TO SAY ABOUT WORKING WITH US

"Emily and Kolby with Solace Arts are simply the best! They went above and beyond what I could ever have asked for in a wedding photographer. Not only were they incredibly friendly and professional, but the pictures were absolutely breathtaking! On top of taking incredible pictures, Emily did an amazing job on the design of my photo album. To this day, people still comment on how beautiful my wedding album is and I NEVER tire of looking at it. I would highly recommend Solace Arts to anyone who is looking for photographers who not only take beautiful pictures, but also create an incredibly friendly, caring, stress-free environment on your big day. You will be taken care of and every moment of the most important day of your life will be captured beautifully."