Do parents really want a wedding photo album?

k&n62517

Hi All!

I am researching what to get my parents and my fiance's parents for gifts. I see on these forums that a photo album is a great gift idea but I also hear that gifts should be something people will want and use (which is a no-brainer, of course). So I'm wondering if parents actually enjoy getting those albums or if it comes across more like "Here are some pictures of me and my husband to collect dust on your shelf!"

I think my mom would like to have the photo album for sure and she would never act that way about anything I get her, but I guess I want to hear from other parents if they liked getting a photo album as a gift or not. 

And if you do think it's a great gift, how does that work? An IOU with a thoughtful note at the RD? 

Thanks! 

Cookie Pusher

We gave Shutterfly photo albums to our parents after the wedding. We let them pick out what photos they wanted once we got them back from the photographer. We got them small gifts we thought they'd like at the rehearsal dinner. 

ILoveBeachMusic

I did not get a photo album from my DD and SIL. Normally that is something I would love! However, her photographer didn't get good pictures I would have wanted in the album. I would have loved a picture of of the couple though. Their individual pictures were beautiful.

k&n62517

Thank you both! It's a good idea to get something small so they have something to open at the RD. 

OliveOilsMom

We did not give photo albums as presents at the RD.  We gave my parents gift cards for restaurants, what they liked to do at the time.  We gave MIL a small computer as hers was dying at the time.  Both loved the gifts. 

After we got our pictures back, I made shutterfly albums and gifted them to the moms on mother's day.  I got the nicer hard back books for them.  They both loved the books.

climbingsingle

I don't think you can paint all parents with the same brush. Both my MIL and mom preferred to have printed framed pictures instead of albums. I let them choose that on their own, and for gifts we brought them back items we purchased for them in Italy (our HM location). 

MobKaz

My daughter and SIL purchased a collage frame and included several pictures from her wedding.  The majority of the chosen photos were of myself, my husband, she, her brother, and her husband.  There was one of just she and her brother.  There was one of the entire wedding party at the church altar.

My son and DIL had albums made.  We received a card at the rehearsal indicating their intentions.

I loved both gifts.  Although my intentions are good, I would never have done that for myself.  I was happy they chose to do it for me!

MissKittyDanger

We gave photos for Christmas to a bunch of people {in frames} instead of albums. It ended up working out better for us, since we didn't have a whole lot of photos done.

peachy13

We gave both sets of parents a shutterfly album I made with our professional wedding photos. DH's parents received an album that was mostly pics of their family + their friends (and not mine), and my parents received an album that was mostly pics of my family + friends. Both albums had a little bit of the same stuff, but it was obvious which one was for which family, if that makes sense. They both really liked their albums.. my mom has it out for her friends who want to see when they come over.

CMGragain

The best gift I received from my daughter - EVER - was a hug and the words "Thank you, Mom!  It (the wedding) was perfect!"
I would have been unhappy to not have received some of their wedding photos, and putting them in an album was a nice touch.  Shutterfly is great, too!
YES, WE DO WANT A WEDDING ALBUM!

MairePoppy

I love my Shutterfly album of my daughter and SIL wedding. They gave the parents access to their professional photos and I composed my own album of favorites pictures, adding captions and embellishments. I had a copy made for my parents, who were amazed by Shutterfly.  That album means a lot to me because I'm not sure when or if my entire family will be together again for a celebration. 

A thoughtful note would be a nice gesture at the RD.

MissKittyDanger

CMGragain said:

The best gift I received from my daughter - EVER - was a hug and the words "Thank you, Mom!  It (the wedding) was perfect!"
I would have been unhappy to not have received some of their wedding photos, and putting them in an album was a nice touch.  Shutterfly is great, too!
YES, WE DO WANT A WEDDING ALBUM!

I think that depends on the family. I know my mum appreciated us printing a couple photos out specifically for her, rather than a full album. We also didn't have enough for an "album" per say ... 

InLoveInQueens

MissKittyDanger said:

show previous quotes

CMGragain said:

The best gift I received from my daughter - EVER - was a hug and the words "Thank you, Mom!  It (the wedding) was perfect!"
I would have been unhappy to not have received some of their wedding photos, and putting them in an album was a nice touch.  Shutterfly is great, too!
YES, WE DO WANT A WEDDING ALBUM!

I think that depends on the family. I know my mum appreciated us printing a couple photos out specifically for her, rather than a full album. We also didn't have enough for an "album" per say ... 

Same here. We printed pictures of us together and with our families and stuck them in a collage frame for holiday gifts last year and they went over much better than an album would have. Mostly because it's so much easier and takes up less space to display a picture frame than an album and my parents/my MIL wanted pictures to hang up over an album which would just sit in the corner collecting dust. We also didn't have enough for an album, unless ~25 pages is an album :P

CMGragain

I like the Shutterfly idea.  Easy to carry in my purse to show to friends - the privilege of an entitled MOB!

MissKittyDanger

InLoveInQueens said:

show previous quotes

MissKittyDanger said:

CMGragain said:

The best gift I received from my daughter - EVER - was a hug and the words "Thank you, Mom!  It (the wedding) was perfect!"
I would have been unhappy to not have received some of their wedding photos, and putting them in an album was a nice touch.  Shutterfly is great, too!
YES, WE DO WANT A WEDDING ALBUM!

I think that depends on the family. I know my mum appreciated us printing a couple photos out specifically for her, rather than a full album. We also didn't have enough for an "album" per say ... 

Same here. We printed pictures of us together and with our families and stuck them in a collage frame for holiday gifts last year and they went over much better than an album would have. Mostly because it's so much easier and takes up less space to display a picture frame than an album and my parents/my MIL wanted pictures to hang up over an album which would just sit in the corner collecting dust. We also didn't have enough for an album, unless ~25 pages is an album :P

We did similar! Both wanted photos to hang vs albums.
I think it depends on age of parents, many around my mum's age group {early-mid 50s} want more hanging stuff rather than album.

ILoveBeachMusic

MissKittyDanger said:

show previous quotes

InLoveInQueens said:

MissKittyDanger said:

CMGragain said:

The best gift I received from my daughter - EVER - was a hug and the words "Thank you, Mom!  It (the wedding) was perfect!"
I would have been unhappy to not have received some of their wedding photos, and putting them in an album was a nice touch.  Shutterfly is great, too!
YES, WE DO WANT A WEDDING ALBUM!

I think that depends on the family. I know my mum appreciated us printing a couple photos out specifically for her, rather than a full album. We also didn't have enough for an "album" per say ... 

Same here. We printed pictures of us together and with our families and stuck them in a collage frame for holiday gifts last year and they went over much better than an album would have. Mostly because it's so much easier and takes up less space to display a picture frame than an album and my parents/my MIL wanted pictures to hang up over an album which would just sit in the corner collecting dust. We also didn't have enough for an album, unless ~25 pages is an album :P

We did similar! Both wanted photos to hang vs albums.
I think it depends on age of parents, many around my mum's age group {early-mid 50s} want more hanging stuff rather than album.

It just depends. I'm in your Mom's age group. I don't want a hanging picture - I have no wall space! An album would've been ok or a smallish picture to set on a shelf.

MissKittyDanger

ILoveBeachMusic said:

show previous quotes

MissKittyDanger said:

InLoveInQueens said:

MissKittyDanger said:

CMGragain said:

The best gift I received from my daughter - EVER - was a hug and the words "Thank you, Mom!  It (the wedding) was perfect!"
I would have been unhappy to not have received some of their wedding photos, and putting them in an album was a nice touch.  Shutterfly is great, too!
YES, WE DO WANT A WEDDING ALBUM!

I think that depends on the family. I know my mum appreciated us printing a couple photos out specifically for her, rather than a full album. We also didn't have enough for an "album" per say ... 

Same here. We printed pictures of us together and with our families and stuck them in a collage frame for holiday gifts last year and they went over much better than an album would have. Mostly because it's so much easier and takes up less space to display a picture frame than an album and my parents/my MIL wanted pictures to hang up over an album which would just sit in the corner collecting dust. We also didn't have enough for an album, unless ~25 pages is an album :P

We did similar! Both wanted photos to hang vs albums.
I think it depends on age of parents, many around my mum's age group {early-mid 50s} want more hanging stuff rather than album.

It just depends. I'm in your Mom's age group. I don't want a hanging picture - I have no wall space! An album would've been ok or a smallish picture to set on a shelf.

She has a few photos. One is framed on a small table, other is on the wall
I actually asked her the other day if she would have preferred an album, and she said no! Her exact words: "With technology, if I wanted to print more photos I would. Also I would've likely only printed the ones you gave me"

knottiebe015f32487724e2

My parents will absolutely love the albums, they like to take pictures and put it in their album. They still say its still the best memorabilia.