"Simple" Wedding Album

It's been a looooong time since I have made a book from scratch. I enjoy it, but it takes time, which seems to be at a premium. So I had to fight back panic when asked to make a wedding photo album for my dear friends' daughter. The challenge (besides being a Very Important Piece) was that the bride was in the UK and I am in Canada and her mom is in the US. So soliciting user requirements was problematic. How big should it be? How many pages? Style? Colour? All these things are difficult to determine long distance. Here is what I made:

Finished wedding album, 9 X 13 inches.

Karen wanted a simple, clean album with "Our Wedding" on the front cover. Landscape orientation. Dark blue, with dark blue pages. Silver accents. Originally she hoped to have her wedding party and guests (it was a small affair) sign directly in the book with a silver pen. I advised her to use loose slips of paper instead, so that if someone made a mistake, a page would not be ruined, and giving her the freedom to place their greetings wherever she'd like.


As I had no idea how many pages she would need, I decided on a post-bound album (two posts) with extenders and extra pages that could be removed if needed.

View from top of spine and hinged pages.

The posts are recessed under flaps so when one opens the album, they are not visible, but easy to access. The covers, spines and returns are made from Davey board, covered with navy blue bookcloth. The insides were covered with petal-inclusion handmade paper.

Album opened (inside back cover on right).

A project like this takes a lot of pre-planning. I'll admit I created a mock up from cereal boxes.  I used Canson Mi-teintes paper that I cut down from 19x24 inch sheets for the inside pages. I knew I needed to hinge the covers and the pages so when the pages are turned they would lay flat. This meant the page needed to be cut apart, spaced out and then hinged together again.

Enter self-adhesive black linen hinging tape that I acquired from Quietfire Design. (I also got the four silver colour corner guards from there.)

I needed to get the hinge space accurately and consistently measured before I laid down the tape. I discovered my Perfect Layers Tool was, well, perfect for this task. I wanted all 20 pages to be the same.

Lipped Perfect Layers Tool for spacing.

Removable tape in place.

Removable tape helped keep the paper from shifting.

Hinging tape laid down (both sides).

I made the piece of paper to the left extra wide so I could fold it back on itself before punching the two holes for the posts and inserting into the spine. This is to create extra space between the pages to accommodate the bulk of the photos, notes and mementoes that would be inserted. I also created a pocket page for the last page in the book for any other items (napkins, copy of vows, etc.).


When I made the cover, I created an opening and inserted a piece of pewter that I hand-embossed. The font was the one used for the wedding invitation. I found a free font service and was able to type in the words and have them converted to the font. As my printer is not working (updated my iMac software and lost printer functionality in the process!)

I pulled the title up on my iPad and traced it off the iPad screen with tracing paper! Where there's a will, there's a way!

Pewter insert.

I wanted to include a card that was simple and elegant to match the style of the album. I used Waltzingmouse Stamps to silver emboss the text on a scrap of the same paper used for the inside pages of the album, then die cut the label with a Spellbinders Nestabilities die. I ran around the edge with StazOn Silver Metallic Ink. I dry embossed the Scrollwork frame in my Cuttlebug. 

I used a metallic silver and dark blue layer to frame all with my Perfect Layers Tool.  I wasn't able to present this gift in person, but I have since heard that the happy couple were pleased with the album. Now I can relax!