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Making the Most Out of Each Album
Making the Most Out of Each Album

Tips for creating a world-class wedding album on BigDayMade in minutes.

Ian Cornwall avatar
Written by Ian Cornwall
Updated over a week ago

BigDayMade is the only online platform dedicated to showcasing your wedding work to increase the visibility of your business online and help drive you new leads. Our self-publishing workflow lets you put your best work on our site and then share your content, with just a click, to Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google, Yelp, Foursquare, and Instagram. We then make it super-simple for other participating vendors to do the same, amplifying your reach.

It All Starts with the Album 

BigDayMade is different from basic directories out there. The core of our platform are albums of 30-50 professional images, showcasing a single wedding, accompanied by a list of participating vendors. We start with the album because couples tell us that the first--and often, most important--way to evaluate a vendor is seeing their work in action.

Which Images to Include

When creating a wedding album, the goal is to tell the story of the wedding day through 30-50 images to inspire engaged couples and help them evaluate your work and that of other vendors. 

We realize that each ceremony and reception are different. To help serve as a guide, here is a list of items we would suggest including in your albums. We realize, of course, that not all weddings will include all of these elements (and there may be some we are missing!)

  1. Getting Ready - Bride
    - Wedding dress
    - Bridal hair & makeup
    - Bride's shoes & accessories
    - Bridesmaids dresses

  2. Getting Ready - Groom
    - Groom’s outfit
    - Boutonnier & accessories
    - Groomsmen’s outfits

  3. Ceremony
    - Ceremony site florals
    - Other ceremony site details
    - Ceremony site without guests
    - Ceremony site with guests
    - Bridesmaids dresses
    - Wedding ceremony

  4. Other Details
    - Bridal bouquet
    - Bridesmaids bouquets
    - Wedding rings
    - Wedding invitation
    - Wedding ceremony program
    - Guestbook
    - Picture table
    - Guest gifts

  5. Portraits of couple
    - Assorted

  6. Cocktail hour
    - Cocktail hour site
    - Floral arrangements
    - Food
    - Entertainment

  7. Reception - Meal
    - Reception site
    - Seating cards
    - Cake/dessert table
    - Individual place setting at table
    - Table centerpieces
    - Sweetheart table
    - Food
    - Bride/groom speech

  8. Reception - Entertainment
    - Reception site
    - Dancing / celebration
    - Cake cutting
    - DJ/Entertainment
    - Photobooth

Here's an example of a great wedding album: 

Tagging Other Vendors

In addition to uploading wedding images, tagging other vendors in your images increases the visibility of your business. Your album will appear on the profile page of all other participating vendors you tag. We also believe it is very important for all vendors to be properly credited for their work. 

Here are some tips to keep in mind: 

  • The photographer should be automatically tagged in each image.

  • While technically the venue is in every picture, only tag the venue in images that highlight a specific view, ceremony setup, dining arrangement, or other special element of the venue. Do not tag the venue in images like a close-up shot of flower, rings, etc. 

For example: Here's a tagged image with "Going Lovely" as the Wedding Planner: 

This wedding now appears on their BigDayMade profile

How to Stand Out!

First and foremost, select images that you feel showcase your best work. We realize that often you have a choice in the images you include. Below are some guidelines based on our research and interviews with couples.

DO:

  • Select images that highlight both the big moments as well as the details of the day.

  • Select images that show multiple items, where possible. For example, people dancing on the dance floor + colored uplighting + DJ in background is generally better than just the DJ by himself.

  • Sequence photos chronologically - Your arrangement of images should mirror the sequence of events as they actually unfolded.

  • Sequence photos to show context first - This means that before showing a detail shot of a floral arrangement, place setting at a table, boutineer, etc., make sure you show an image with context. E.g. show an image of the overall reception site before showing a detailed image of the centerpieces.

  • Show people in images to help illustrate the scale of the physical space or how a space could be arranged (ceremony seating, a busy dance floor). NOTE: this is *different* than including portraits of family and friends, which we want to avoid (see “don’ts” below).

DON’T:

  • Select bad images (obvious, but worth repeating) - It’s better to get 2-3 strong images that each show part of a specific detail than 1 bad image that might capture more of the specific detail, but is blurry, has bad lighting, etc.

  • Include portraits of family & friends - Almost as a rule, exclude family portraits. These are important images for the actual couple, but other couples generally don't want to see these.

  • Include embarrassing or very personal images. Your couples should be comfortable with you sharing all of these images.

  • Include weapons, guns, or anything that’s clearly illegal or intended to hurt or offend other people.

  • Repeat images - Whether it’s the same wedding guest, same background, or same lighting, remember that each image is another opportunity to show a different element of the wedding. Take advantage of that opportunity!

  • Show too many black & white images - Most photographers will include B&W images, which can be a great way to add diversity and emotion to your album. As a rule of thumb, however, don’t exceed 10% of the album with B&W. 

Questions? Please email hello@bigdaymade.com and we're happy to help! 

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