Wedding Scrapbooking — How to Capture the Special Day

The size of your scrapbook will depend on how much of the wedding you want to include. Choose what wedding events you’ll be covering, and then pick a book size that can appropriately accommodate your content. Don’t want to leave a moment out? We don’t blame you, the wedding took a lot of planning, energy and money. If you need multiple books, consider breaking them down into categories like “rehearsal dinner,” “ceremony” and “reception.”

Taking on a project like this right after your wedding may be a bit daunting. You did just finish planning one big party! Why not get some friends involved in helping you make your scrapbook? Inviting over friends and relatives for a night of scrapbooking mayhem will prove to be a fun night and a great way to reminsce. Not to mention that your scrapbook will come together much more quickly and you’ll have access to different creative perspectives. Make extra copies of wedding photographs your guests will want to keep for themselves.

We know you’ve looked through your wedding pictures a million times. But it’s time to pick the best. Gather all the materials you will want in your scrapbook. Wade through the memorabilia, family group shots, and cake-faced closeups to pick your favorite moments. When narrowing down photographs, try to pick the best photo from each setting. It can get boring to look at too many photos from the same vantage point (even though your hair really did look amazing from the back). Also, consider your scrapbook’s audience. If your book is just going to become a house pet, you can make it as personalized as you want. But if it’s going to travel around in your purse for a month, try to include everyone who attended the wedding and was photographed.

Most layouts are created with 2-3 different types of paper. It’s safe to start out with one pattern and two solid colors that you like. Choosing colors that complement your photos will help make your images pop. For instance, instead of using a color similar to your bridesmaid dresses, use a scrapbooking paper that is the same color as the embellishes on the dresses. You can also use a color scheme to set the mood and enhance the feeling of your photos. Shades of blue tend to be cool, whereas red tones will bring out your red-hot romance. 

The real subject of your wedding scrapbook is, of course, the wedding. Using a few bigger, closeup photographs per page will draw your viewer in and make them feel a part of the event. A good rule is for every two pages, use one large photograph and 3-5 medium photographs and change up the pages throughout the book. Each page should tell its own story. When building a layout, layers of paper help keep the scrapbook looking clean and professional. Make borders around photographs to offset them from the background. You can use ribbon or colored tape to create sections. Remember to give yourself space between items so they don’t run together or begin to look like a collage. Incorporate no more than one piece of memorabilia per page to avoid getting too cluttered.