Inside an Artistrie Wedding Album
There’s something about seeing a wedding album this way that just feels different. Slower, maybe. More complete. Like the story finally has somewhere to land.
This is a newer sample album I designed, and it feels like a natural refinement of how I’ve been approaching things lately. Not a huge shift, but more of a coming into alignment between how I photograph, how I edit, and how it all ends up living in print.
The format is vertical, 9×12, which I’ve been wanting to move toward for a long time. I’ve traditionally designed square albums, and they can absolutely work, but I kept running into the same thing. The images I love most, especially the vertical ones with a little more presence, never quite felt like they were being shown the way I saw them. They’d get cropped, or scaled down just enough to lose a bit of their impact.
With this, they don’t have to.
The first spread really sold me on it. Two vertical images, side by side, printed large. It has that immediate wow feeling, but in a quiet way. Nothing dramatic. Just space and scale doing exactly what they’re supposed to do.
From there, the design stays simple. I’m not layering or trying to fit a ton onto each page. If anything, I’ve been moving in the opposite direction and paring things back, letting the photos speak for themselves. It becomes more about rhythm. Where you pause. Where things build. Where you turn the page and feel a shift.
Awhile back, I also started designing albums by photo count instead of page count, and that honestly changed everything for me. It takes away that feeling of trying to fit the story into a certain number of pages. Instead, it unfolds the way it’s meant to. Some moments need space. Others naturally come together.
Even on a wedding day, I’m thinking about this more than people might realize. I’m looking for variety. Wide shots, tighter frames, reactions happening just outside the main moment. My second photographer is always getting completely different perspectives too, which ends up being so important here. It gives the story more depth and movement once it’s all put together.
And then there are always a handful of images that I just know are meant to live in an album. The ones that feel like something you’d want to walk past every day and still stop for a second.
This one is bound in a soft mink-toned suede. It’s warm, a little understated, and really easy to live with. Although I will say, if this were designed for a specific client, I’d probably tailor the color to them. Neutrals are safe and timeless. But bold color can pack so much personality and be so fun. The pages are thick, lay flat, and have that nice weight to them without feeling too precious. It’s meant to be handled. Left out. Picked up without thinking twice.
Because that’s kind of the point of all of this.
Not just to have the photos, but to experience them this way. Something about seeing them printed, sequenced, and held in your hands just hits differently. I’ve had so many clients say it feels like they’re seeing their wedding for the first time again.
And for me, this is where the work really clicks into place. It’s the version of the story that feels the most complete.
If you’re planning your wedding, you can explore more about the experience here.
A closer look at the albums created for Artistrie couples.
