Why this photographer gives an album with every Elopement!

**As of 2020, we no longer give albums with every elopement package**

I’ll never forget it. Back in 2015, I went to show a bride and groom their pictures a couple weeks after their wedding and when they opened the door, I was greeted by the parents and many friends, all ready to see the pictures! After the showing, everyone clapped as if they just finished watching a movie. The pictures were a huge hit!

Then I pulled out a little 128gb thumb drive and handed it to the bride. The Father of the bride quickly snatched the thumb drive from her, looked at me and said “This is all we get for $4,500?”. Of course, I told him about all the pictures I took and the memories they were going to have for the rest of their lives, but I understood what he was saying.

That night I went home and told my wife what had happened. I decided right then, that from now on I was going to give an album to every single wedding I shoot in the future! Oh, but I hate editing albums! Well, that’s not entirely true… I hate the back and forth with the bride and groom after the wedding to pick out pictures, where to place them in the album and of course, help them figure out the pictures to delete so they can be within their allotted pages without having to dish out extra money. Not forgetting that after all this back and forth, their album would ultimately be delivered 2-3 months after their wedding!

That’s when I came up with a solution.

Yes, I would include an album with every wedding, but it would be on my terms. The bride and groom were going to have no say at all with the pictures going into their album. Sounds harsh, I know… but it’s not really. With them not having a say on the wedding album, I’m able to deliver every album within a month (at the latest). I also reassure every couple that I would be more strict than they could ever be at telling their story and pick the absolute best pictures to go in it! And I reassured them that if I ever had any question at all, whether or not someone should be in the album, I’d give them a call!

My brides LOVED it! What I didn’t realize was that most brides don’t want to go through the hassle of picking out pictures for their albums anyway! They’ve already done so much planning already up to this point and I’m the professional and know exactly what is needed to make a great album!

I did however offer all couples the ability to edit their own album for an additional $1000 up charge. One couple out of the last 30 weddings has opted for that and guess what… it took 3 months to get their album. Everyone else has had their album within 30 days of their wedding!

The truth is, my wedding couples were so happy to see their wedding and show it off to friends 3-4 weeks after their wedding! They would come back to me saying “my friends are upset because they still don’t have their wedding album a year after their wedding!”. Unfortunately, that’s a very true fact. There are many photographers that get so behind on their weddings, that the album doesn’t get delivered for a year!

The point is, that one dad got to me, but in a good way! I have never had more happier couples that when I started giving wedding albums for free with every wedding package! And these are not crappy albums, they are some of the best albums out there!. I use to charge $1500-$3000 for these exact same albums and people were paying it, but it made me happier to give these albums as a free gift to my couples.

That’s why every single elopement / wedding package I have comes with a free album. I believe it is one of the most important things you will receive from me, besides the pictures, to remember the most wonderful day of your life!

The only difference between wedding and elopement albums is that you get so many more amazing pictures at an elopement to show off to everyone when you get back from the honeymoon!