The big events in your life deserve to be celebrated. Those tend to be the memories you look back at, the ones you want to share with friends and family, and the ones you will take the most pleasure flipping through. Though putting together a wedding album can seem like a daunting task, milestones photobooks tend to actually be easier than you imagine.
First, you generally have an abundance of good quality pictures (maybe even professional ones) to start with. Even more importantly, life events have a natural boundary (generally just a day or so), that makes it much easier to sort and organize them. No need to dig through piles and piles of pictures: you clearly know when that event began and ended, and you can quickly come up with an initial photo selection.
So, I would encourage you to get started on your milestones photobooks: those will probably be your favorites to flip through, and they won’t require nearly as much effort as you may think!
1. Narrow your selection
You are likely to start out with a large number of pictures for a big event – say 500 pictures for a wedding. So, your first goal needs to be to pare that down to a reasonable number. As a rule of thumb, you should have no more than 4 pictures per page on average. That will make it much easier to put together your photobook. As explained here, not having too many pictures is the key to an enjoyable photobook-making process.
2. Create a narrative
Whether it is chronological or thematic, I really recommend adding a structure to your milestone photobook. Unless your book is really short (less than 30 pages), you need to have some separation between the different sections.
For a wedding for example, you could have different chapters for getting ready / first look / the ceremony / photo session / cocktail / dinner / party. Or you could go with a thematic structure for an engagement party, and have a chapter for the bride-to-be’s family, one for the groom-to-be’s family, then a final one with everyone together.
Whatever structure you choose, adding an outline will make your book flow more naturally, and it will be all the more enjoyable to flip through.
3. Include every participant
Whatever milestone you’re celebrating with your photobook, it is likely to be one that is centered on people. Therefore, make sure you honor each guest or each participant by including them at least once.
For example, if I am making an engagement / wedding photobook, and I have pictures of the couple with each table, I like to do a double page, and have the group photo on one side, and individual portraits of everyone sitting at that table (possibly with their names) on the other. This way, when the couple is flipping through their album years later, they will be sure to remember all the guests who made an effort to be there for their big day.
Milestones photobooks are important keepsakes of life’s greatest moments, and they’re also easy and enjoyable to make. So if you’re looking to start your journey making photobooks, this is a great place to start !