Should you include wedding guest photos in your wedding album?
In today’s era, where smartphones effortlessly double up as cameras, everyone seems to be capturing as many moments as possible (when they’re not busy taking selfies, that is!) Weddings, in particular, tend to be occasions where guests unleash their inner amateur photographers. Couples now often communicate to everyone before their big day, to make sure they limit the use of phone cameras at certain points to ensure that those enthusiastic shutterbugs among their friends and family don’t inadvertently get in the way of the ACTUAL wedding photographer!
It’s fantastic that we can end up with a multitude of captured memories from our wedding day, each offering a different angle and perspective. However, when it comes to curating the wedding album, it does present a dilemma: should these guest photos be included in the album?
As a professional wedding album designer, I’ve been asked this question numerous times by clients. So, I thought it would be useful to discuss the reasons why you should, or shouldn’t include these photos in your wedding album…
What wedding guest photos can offer.
Photos taken by your wedding guests do offer a certain charm; a unique glimpse of your wedding day through their eyes. They capture lighthearted and (sometimes drunken) moments and emotions that a professional photographer might have missed, or just simply didn’t have the opportunity to capture – after all they can’t be everywhere at the same time! They provide a somewhat “behind the scenes’ style that just feels a little bit more candid than the official photos.
What are the downsides of wedding guest photos?
However, despite their charm, guest photos can vary vastly in terms of quality. While they may look good on a phone screen, printing them out can highlight any flaws, such as lack of detail, poor colour and lighting or blurred areas. Additionally, resolution becomes a concern when printing these images and considering how large they can be blown up without sacrificing quality – sometimes they are just too small to be usable.
Comparing Wedding Guest Photos to Professional Photos
It’s essential to remember why you hired a professional wedding photographer—they possess the technical skills and equipment to capture photos with perfect lighting and resolution. They also have the expertise to compose the perfect image, where to stand in order to get that shot and which moments to capture throughout the day whilst not missing anything important. Not to mention, they are masters at editing the finished images to polish them further. Once you place those amateur guest photos next to the professional images, the discrepancy in quality is unmistakable, even more so once they are printed out and it can really affect the overall quality of your wedding album.
How to incorporate wedding guest photos in your wedding album
So does this mean you shouldn’t include the wedding guest photos in the album at all? There are ways you can include them without risking diluting the quality of the professional photos and the overall aesthetic of your wedding album. Here’s how I’d suggest you do that…
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- Use only the best quality wedding guest photos. Zoom in to check for blurry areas or lack of detail, make sure the lighting and colour is ok and don’t be tempted to include photos that are too “silly” just because they made you laugh; they will look even more amateur! If in doubt ask your album designer to quality check the images and if possible, edit the images to make them as polished as they can be. This is a service that I offer as well as the overall wedding album design.
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- If you really want to include them alongside the narrative of the professional wedding photos then use them sparingly. Professional photos should always take precedent so only include a guest photo if there isn’t a professional image depicting that particular moment or scene.
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- Ideally, include the guest photos in their own double page spread or add in a separate section. You can entitle it something along the lines of “Guest Photos”, “Candids” or “Behind the Scenes”
- If budget allows and if you have quite a large number of guest photos, then you could always create a smaller album or photo book just for those images. That way you have a beautiful wedding album with the professional photos creating a visual story of your wedding and a second photo book with all those extra moments taken by your loved ones. Both offer a completely different viewpoint!
The last word..
Ultimately, whether you choose to include guest photos in your wedding album is a personal decision. While I would ideally suggest keeping them separate, it’s your heirloom and wedding keepsake, so you should decide what works best for you. If you need assistance with quality control or editing, feel free to get in touch—I’d love to help you create your perfect wedding album, whether it includes guest photos or not!
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