So you’ve got hundreds of photos of your wedding day, they can’t all possibly fit in an album. Just how do you go about deciding which shots make the cut? Here’s a few tips…….

Aim for approximately 80-140 photos

Your final number really depends on a few factors including your budget, the album you want and the number of photos you have in the first place, but this range is a good guide. Too few photos and you may be missing out key parts of the day……too many however ends up being a bit overkill and you’re likely to end up with photos in your album that are too similar.

Start by sorting the photos into sections

If you’ve got 800 photos sitting on your computer, it’s a bit daunting just looking at them all, let alone deciding which ones to put in your album. Grouping them all into separate sections or parts of the day helps to break it down so it seems more manageable and so you don’t miss key moments. You could make separate folders for bridal prep, groom prep, ceremony, reception, evening etc

Aim for a mix of photos from throughout the day

This may seem obvious but it’s easy to get carried away and fill half of your album just with the group shots. You don’t need to have an even amount of images from every part of the day, but it’s a good idea to choose at least several shots from every section. This will ensure the story flows flawlessly between the key parts of the day.

Get rid of the similar shots

As photographers tend to take several shots of each moment, it’s likely you’ll have lots of photos that are almost identical so an easy way to start whittling down the images that make the cut, is to pick the best shot for each key moment. It’s a hard decision if they are all beautifully taken but sometimes you just have to be brutal and decisive! There is little point including shots that are practically the same.

Make sure you’ve covered all the key moments

A wedding day is littered with special moments: the bride’s entrance, exchanging rings, the first kiss, speeches, cutting the cake and lots more. So it’s worth writing a checklist to make sure you have at least one shot capturing those moments.

Make sure you’ve captured a range of guests

Whilst those 10 photos of Great Auntie Jean are hilarious, you want to make sure you’re documenting lots of different guests that came to your wedding. After all you don’t want to be looking at your album 10 years down the line and realising you’ve haven’t got your partner’s Nan anywhere!

Earmark your absolute favourites

There’s that stunning shot of you both standing on the bridge at sunset, or a beautifully captured image of the moment the groom claps eyes on his bride, that you love. By marking out your favourites, you can ensure that these shots are prominent within the album and not lost amongst other photos.

Make a “Maybe’s” list

As a designer, it’s really useful to have a few back up photos in case there is extra space on a double page spread. So if there are photos you’re unsure you want to make the cut but don’t necessarily want to discard then add them to the maybe’s list.