A trend that has been sweeping the country is the collage style flush mount wedding album. This album is a merging of modern technology with the classical elegance of library bookbinding.

Various size pages as 10x10, 8x10 or 5x5 are designed in the artist's studio using photos from the wedding. Photos can be used as page backgrounds, and other photos then incorporated into the design. A panorama can be created spanning two pages. The creative possibilities for the photographer in the design process are limitless.

The studio has the pages / photographs printed, and then ships the pages to a binding company such as Leather Craftsman shown in the photo above. Options for the library bound book cover are numerous. A variety of leather, and even wood or metal cover styles are available depending on the studio.

The bride and groom then have an album as unique as the couple themselves.

Local wedding photographers are embracing
this new technology.

Local wedding photographer Sean Cayton of Cayton photography says of the new concept: “ It's not your parent's wedding album. It's different, and because it's different it appeals to the bride and groom looking for something really unique and special to showcase their wedding pictures. It also offers us the opportunity to graphically design our albums in-house, allowing us more creative control in the process. That's important to us, because we can tailor each album to each client in a very unique way. ''

Lee Craker of Storyteller Weddings Says: “It is the perfect way to visually tell the story of the wedding in an album. I love the attention to detail that can be given in designing the pages, and it's nice to present the couple with an heirloom for a lifetime of enjoyment and memories."

Ryan Kercher of Black Forest Photography reports: "Since we are still 'analog capture', (film) photographers, the process is more labor intensive than the album building workflow we are used to, mainly from the layout area of production. The huge advantage it does afford however, is the ability to give us complete control over the creativity of the album without limiting us to the standard 'cookie cutter' mats offered by most album manufacturers. The look and feel of the flush mount albums are in a class by themselves and we have found that very few of our customers are on the fence about the concept. They either love them, or stick to the traditional style albums, but the bottom line is that it is yet another wonderful way that we can be flexible and offer our customers a product that reflects their style & taste."