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I’m Dakota, a Wilmington, NC-based photographer helping engaged couples feel comfortable in front of the camera and creative businesses grow with purposeful brand imagery.

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Featured Wedding Album Design: Casey and Kyle

March 9, 2022

It is no secret that physical albums are very special to me. There is nothing like flipping through the pages and seeing your photos large and in print, giving each image it’s own moment to be enjoyed. You can’t get that through scrolling through a gallery or seeing it in a Facebook album. That only comes from a printed album.

I am so excited that I have officially added custom designed wedding albums to all of my wedding packages for future couples, and I’m also thankful that my previous couples have decided their photos should live in albums too.

Casey and Kyle’s album is very special to me because it actually has TWO wedding stories – their intimate family wedding plus their big party with all of their favorite people.

They chose a 10×10 Black Linen Album with Rose Gold Debossing. I haven’t seen this combination before and I am in love!!! They also upgraded to Thick Pages so their book feels sturdy and full, as it should with 20+ spreads!

Here are just a few of my favorite spreads and my thoughts behind the design!

We opened the album with the details and getting ready from their original wedding day. I loved Casey’s dress!

This church is Casey’s family church, where her parents and grandparents were also married. Even through the initial stress of covid, it was a very sentimental and sweet day.

The story of their second “wedding day” at River Landing also started with details – their new invitations, her dress, and new earrings. I loved the photos of Casey getting ready with her mom and sister. They are so elegant!

For the bridal party, we kept the spreads simple to allow for everyone’s face to be seen, plus some details and personality. I love that they have a similar design but inverted to keep things complimentary but not repetitive.

Kyle and Casey decided to do a private first look for a few different reasons – first to have a moment to themselves, but also because they wanted to prioritize spending time with their family and friends after the ceremony… I mean, can you blame them? They waited a whole year for this party!

We were able to do all of the bridal party and family photos before the ceremony, so afterwards it was just a few portraits and then off to the cocktail hour!

After photographing Casey and Kyle two years in a row, I knew we would have a LOT of family photos in their album! I love that they’ll have these photos printed to show all those who attended to future generations.

For family and reception spreads, I like to fit in as many photos as we can… when it comes to big moments, I absolutely LOVE a simple spread with 1-3 images. These black and white photos of their ceremony definitely needed their own moments to be appreciated.

For this spread we were able to combine ceremony and reception details because the decor and color was so consistent throughout all parts of the day. I love that we were able to highlight their live painter (a surprise gift to Kyle from Casey!) and the touch of lemons from their original wedding day.

The most important aspect of portrait spread designs are allowing all of the images to stand out! We have a mix of wide and close up shots, color and black and white – and Casey loved the photo of Kyle’s brother/best man helping carry her dress! (It’s all about those in-between moments too!!!)

I LOVE a full spread image!!! There are too many favorite spreads to choose from, but this would be a top contender!

This album prioritized a lot of dancing photos!!! These spreads are always so fun because they are high energy and we can include more photos than with portraits. To break up the images and still allow them to shine, I love having a mix of black and white with color.

A simple, sophisticated black and white image is a perfect way to end the album!!!

hello!

I’m Dakota, a Wilmington, NC-based photographer Helping engaged couples feel comfortable in front of the camera and creative businesses grow with purposeful brand imagery.

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