Your wedding is a day you’ll look back on for decades to come. Long after the cake’s been eaten, the toasts have faded, and the honeymoon’s over, you’ll have one thing to return to again and again—your wedding album.
Just as your lovingly-selected dress or hand-tailored tux set the stage for the big day, your wedding album cover design sets the tone for everything inside.
More than a photo album, it’s a book of priceless memories and a lifelong conversation piece. Make sure the design captures your wedding in all its beauty by considering the wedding album cover design tips, elements, and inspiration below.
What Makes the Ultimate Wedding Album?
There’s only one thing that a memorable wedding album cover design needs. It’s not the hottest color trends or the coolest handwritten fonts. It’s not even professional photos, although an expert’s take on lighting and shadows certainly wouldn’t hurt.
All you really need is YOU.
The ultimate wedding album comes down to how well it captures you as a couple. What makes you and your partner you?
Is it a certain laid-back attitude and carefree vibe? It is a bold activism that stops at nothing? Is it an unwavering focus on family, friends, and a happy home?
Whatever makes you tick, that’s what you want to base your wedding album cover on. The more you, the more meaning your album will have.
To get those creative ideas flowing, ask yourself questions like these:
- What was the theme of our wedding?
- What was our color palette?
- What bonds us as a couple more than anything else?
- What jokes or memories stand out in our relationship?
- What was the most deeply personal moment of our wedding day?
- When I close my eyes and think of our wedding, what image or feeling first comes to mind?
- How would we describe our wedding to our kids, if we plan to have them?
- What made our wedding so beautiful and unique?
The answers to these questions can help you decide what to feature on your wedding album cover. By talking through them with your partner, you’ll get to relive your favorite wedding moments together, too.
Tips for Planning Your Wedding Album Cover Design
Like pretty much every other part of wedding planning, designing your wedding album cover can be both exhilarating and exhausting. The good news is you’ve already survived the wedding—and compared to that, the album is a piece of (wedding) cake.
Here are a few tips to get you started:
- Set the emotion. That whole “don’t judge a book by its cover” thing? Totally unrealistic. The cover is the first thing you’ll see and the first thing to think about when designing a wedding album! Consider the emotion you want to set: Modern and minimalist? Dramatic and elegant? Rosy pink romantic or understated neutral?
- Photos or words? Unsurprisingly, many wedding albums display a beautiful photo on the cover. But there’s no reason you have to! A lovely quote or simple presentation of your names can be equally stunning. (Heads up: There are fantastic examples of both in our inspiration list below.)
- Think about the presentation. Where will you display your wedding album? Will it lay flat on a coffee table or stand upright in a bookcase? Thinking about this can make sure you’re focusing your design efforts where they’ll be most visible and appreciated.
- Consider the number. That’s right—some couples choose to create more than one wedding album, either for variation’s sake or to gift albums to close family and friends. Some even create multiple albums in varying sizes to form a cohesive set.
- Don’t forget the budget. As much as we might love a gold-plated cover with hand-laid Swarovski crystals, some dreams are just too big. Fortunately, digital design is a budget-friendly middle ground where you can recreate cool textures and effects without the higher cost of premium materials.
Popular Wedding Album Sizes
Wedding albums come in virtually any size and shape you could imagine, but there are a few always-popular options:
Square
- 8 x 8 inches (20.3 x 20.3 cm)
- 10 x 10 inches (25.4 x 25.4 cm)
- 12 x 12 inches (30.5 x 30.5 cm)
Rectangular – Portrait or Landscape
- 8 x 10 inches (20.3 x 25.4 cm)
- 11 x 14 inches (27.9 x 35.6 cm)
Most often, the choice of wedding album size comes down to budget, though your intended use may come into play, too.
If you’re hoping for an eye-catching coffee table piece, then a larger album would be perfect. If you want something portable and easy to take along on visits to the in-laws, then the smallest size might be better.
Creative Elements for Wedding Album Covers with Examples
Okay, so you’ve thought about what makes you you and which album size is ideal. Now, what about the look? What elements actually go on an impressive wedding album cover design?
Again, the answer can be anything! But, if anything is a little too broad, start with these ideas.
Photo
If you’re going to put a photo on the cover, it’s worth thinking hard about which photo to honor with that coveted spot. A “first look” photo can be touching, while a cake-in-the-face photo can be surprising and fun.
Frame
Frame-style wedding albums are another popular choice. Choose an album cover with a physical cut-out (like the example below), or recreate the look digitally by placing a polaroid or film frame around your image.
Words
Just because it’s a photo album doesn’t mean you need a photo on the cover—after all, there will be plenty of those inside! A few well-chosen words can strike an equally gorgeous tone.
Your names, a favorite scripture, beloved lyrics, or even a meaningful congratulations message from a guest could all work well as an album cover.
Fonts
If you’re featuring words as a primary element of your wedding album cover, think about how they should look.
Do you want a classic wedding font or something quirkier and non-traditional? You could even pair fonts for extra personality and appeal.
Layout
Add pizzazz to your wedding album cover by featuring multiple photos and pieces of text arranged into a unique layout. (Pro tip: If your photos look too busy when laid out together, make them monochrome!)
Background
An interesting background element can set the right mood for your wedding album design, whether it’s a color, pattern, or texture.
3D Elements
Make your wedding album a delight to touch, hold, and feel by adding some 3D textural elements. Classic materials like silk and leather add a luxurious effect.
8 More Wedding Album Cover Ideas
If the ideas above weren’t enough, there’s plenty more wedding to go around.
1. Three Photos in a Row
2. Dramatic Square with Vintage Frame
3. Personalized Magazine Spread
4. Leather Album Cover with Box
5. Digital Wedding Album Cover
6. Multi-Chapter Wedding Story
7. Classic Embossed Cover
8. Portrait of the Happy Couple
What Are Your Favorite Wedding Album Covers?
Ready to say “I do” to your perfect wedding album cover design? If so, here’s one last piece of advice: Don’t let yourself feel boxed in by what a wedding album “should” look like. It’s your wedding and your album!
Drawing on the ideas and inspiration above, you’ve got the creative license to capture your wedding day exactly as you want to remember it.
Cover image via md-pictures.
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