One of my favorite things to do at my mom’s house is to look through my childhood photo albums filled with memories of holidays, vacations, graduations, and everyday moments. Sadly, now that I take pictures with my smartphone, I’ve let them live on my camera roll instead of printing physical copies—until I found a user-friendly online service. Thanks to Shutterfly, I’m finally taking precious moments from my device and putting them on pages of sentimental books for myself and others.
For my first Shutterfly project, I decided to make a photo book I’ve wanted to create for some time now: an album for my mom with pictures from her three kids’ weddings. My brother, sister, and I got married within three years of each other, so I thought it would be the perfect gift (and a small thank you for all of her help) from us and our spouses.
The process was so easy that I’m already working on other books, including one of my honeymoon, and I plan on making many more. If you’re interested in customizing your own photo album, the good news is you can save up to 40 percent on your order right now—and prices start at just $22.
Shutterfly has so many different book styles to choose from, including an entire section dedicated to wedding albums, and there are three ways to create one: do it yourself using the advanced editing tools, speed up the process with autofill and design suggestions, or let an in-house designer make it for you for free. I went the DIY route because I enjoy projects like this and wanted to make it as personalized as possible for my mom.
First, I selected a book size from the six options—ranging from 8 by 8 inches to 12 by 12 inches—as well as the cover and page type. I chose the 8-by-11-inch book with a genuine leather cover and deluxe layflat pages. Plus, I upgraded to professional color printing since I was using pictures taken by wedding photographers. Each book includes 20 pages, and if you want more, you can add them for about $2 each. Twenty ended up being the perfect amount for my project.
It was a breeze to upload all of the photos from my computer onto the site and view them throughout the design process, and I loved how it would check off the ones I already used so I didn’t repeat any. I added thin borders to the pictures and text to distinguish each couple and their wedding date, and I used helpful sizing guides so the photos were aligned with one another. I took my time (as it was fun to do), but I still started and completed the album within one afternoon.
I’m kind of a photo book snob, so I was very curious if it would live up to my expectations. When I received it in the mail, I was impressed with the high-resolution pictures, thickness of the pages, and overall design. I’ve previously looked into making a wedding album on other sites, but Shutterfly’s is so much more affordable, and it doesn’t skimp on quality. Not only did I love the results, but the photo book made my mom cry. She has it on display in her living room and says she “can’t stop looking through it.”
I’m so excited that I finally found a service that makes it easy to create physical photo albums that serve as personalized coffee table books and thoughtful gifts. Whether it’s a wedding, vacation, graduation, or a collection of random memories, consider making a Shutterfly book, especially while they’re up to 40 percent off. And keep scrolling to see more unique offerings available on the site.
