How I Offer Heirloom Albums | Christa Rene Photography

I wanted to share a little more into my album process! I don’t have a big in-person-sales initiative and don’t push album sales other than just letting people know about this option!

But one of the reasons I want to share more about it is because I really believe in the value of albums. Even though viewing digital images on any screen is incredible (just like being able to download an entire wedding with a click), there’s something just so amazing about actually getting images printed and holding images in your hands. Being able to flip through high quality pages with beautiful images showcasing the happiest day of your life on paper instead of a screen is such a special thing. Especially when you think about how years and years later, you will still be flipping through these same pages.

I knew if I offered albums, I truly wanted them to be high quality for my clients. This meant it would be more of an investment, but one that would really be valuable, beautiful, and timeless! I looked around extensively at companies, reviews, pricing, and evaluated quality of past albums I’ve ordered from different companies. And after evaluating a lot of options, I decided to use Kiss! Their albums are just absolutely beautiful, extremely high quality, and each one is handcrafted. They offer beautiful silk, woven linen, and tanned leather covers all with multiple shades available! Their pages are thick and print extremely true-to-color. They also offer a variety of other options like cameo windows, engraving, and more to make an album even more personal and beautiful! And it’s a company only photographers can order from! I shared a $50 credit link for photographers at the end of this post!

I also wanted not only the actual quality to be luxurious, but also the design to be flawless! I have designed albums before, but heard about a company that professionally designs spreads for album orders! I began using Align Album Design to design the spreads. Their team is incredible, fast, and they have an amazing system in place! They offer 3 rounds of edits after submitting the album details and images (I use the first round, then send to the client for the final round(s)), and they make it easy to send to the client so they can approve the edits or make changes they’d like with just a few clicks! I’m obsessed with their designing skills! Outsourcing this makes my job easier, allows my clients to get their albums faster, and the design to be even more amazing! Here’s a few spreads of a beautiful album they designed!

To be sure the client has their favorite images included in their album, I have my client “favorite” a certain number of images in their online Pass gallery. I’m able to see which ones they chose as their favorites! This way I can tell the designers to definitely use those images, but also include my favorites I think complete the story of the day around the ones they chose! To allow my clients to easily see the different album options available, I purchased Davey & Krista’s album sales template! They even designed it based off of what Kiss offers, so purchasing this was SO helpful!

This process allows me to offer amazing value to my clients in both the album quality and design, have an efficient workflow so they don’t have to wait months for their album, and allows them to begin their marriage with a beautiful heirloom!

I’m able to have an even better business & life balance!! Do you struggle with this? I TOTALLY hear you. SO I’m offering a FREE e-book on business & life balance. It’s a hard struggle. Whether you’re in school, working that other job, trying to build your marriage without working all the time… it’s a LOT! I’m sharing the tips that have helped me most, and am sharing them for FREE with you! View this free e-book in the shop HERE!

Resources:

Album Company | Kiss (If you’re a photographer and use this link, you can receive $50 off of your next order of at least $100)

Designer | Align Album Design

Album Webpage | Davey & Krista’s The Album Template

Online Gallery | Pass