How much would you pay for a professionally done photobook?

Re: How much would you pay for a professionally done photobook?

• aliwis000 member

  

  June 2015

  At first I thought you meant a photo book for like a sign in book at the reception...but I am guessing you mean album.
  
  My photographer's albums start at $2,000 and go up from there. These suckers are very expensive everywhere I looked but the 2k on his was still one of the most expensive. Our package came with a $100 credit lol. So that does not make a dent. We will not be doing an album in the foreseeable future. I will probably throw something together using shutterbug or something with photos I like and call it a day. I refuse to pay 2 grand on an album.
  
  But that is just me. I am sure there are a lot of people who would gladly spend more. Its just about your budget and how you want to use it.
  
  
  

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• beachyone15 member

  

  June 2015

  Our photographer's albums started at $900 and went up from there. There's no way I'd ever pay that price. DH and I made our parents wedding albums for Christmas and used the Premier Lay-flat photobooks on Snapfish. I thought the price was very reasonable and we were very happy with how they turned out!
  

  
  
  
  
  
  
  

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• photokitty mod

  

  June 2015

  If it is a professional quality leather bound book with thick lay-flat pages (like cardboard thick) then those books usually cost at least $200 to have made. As in that's the cost for the photog, then you are paying for their time and talent - that's why they are so expensive. I was pretty shocked when I started looking in to the pro lab pricing on albums.

  
  

  If it is a hardback book with regular pages, then you can get one of those made at Picaboo (my preference), Shutterfly, etc for around $30 with a coupon. I would take my photos and make one myself for my parents. 

  
  

  I chose a package with an album, as I described above, bc I didn't want to pay $200 plus to make it myself. I made one for our parents and us at Picaboo as well.

  
  

  Only you can decide if you really want a fancy album. I have looked at ours twice. Personally I wouldn't have shelled out the extra $500 if it wasn't included.

  ~xoxo~

  
  

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• haleyk620 member

  

  June 2015 edited June 2015

  Our photographer has a variety of options to choose from: different sizes, cover options, number of pages, etc. Depending on which of those we choose, the price will change. My FI and I are talking about ordering a 40 pg 9X13 book that will cost about $800. And that was about middle of the range pricing as far as the options go. We just wanted a nice, well made book for the two of us to enjoy in year to come.

  
  

  That being said, our photographer will also give us a flash drive with all images on it and a release form so we will be able to whatever we want with them after the wedding. This was one of the reasons we chose this photographer!

  

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• badbnagdway member

  

  June 2015

  This is all really helpful. To clarify, yes, I mean a wedding album with our photos. We have a flash drive of the photos and are able to print them ourselves as well so it is not beyond reason to just do a book. 

  
  

  photokitty that is helpful and educational on the book costs. I didn't realize how expensive a professional looking book would be just to print. That makes me feel like it is closer to reasonable then. 

  
  

  I think we will have to save up some to do our book. We stayed in budget for a wedding we could afford, but still, we are pretty wedding-expensed out right now. I kind of wish I had chosen a package that included an album from the start just so the sting would already be gone. 

  
  

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• photokitty mod

  

  June 2015

  badbnagdway said:

  This is all really helpful. To clarify, yes, I mean a wedding album with our photos. We have a flash drive of the photos and are able to print them ourselves as well so it is not beyond reason to just do a book. 

  
  

  photokitty that is helpful and educational on the book costs. I didn't realize how expensive a professional looking book would be just to print. That makes me feel like it is closer to reasonable then. 

  
  

  I think we will have to save up some to do our book. We stayed in budget for a wedding we could afford, but still, we are pretty wedding-expensed out right now. I kind of wish I had chosen a package that included an album from the start just so the sting would already be gone. 

  I know right, it sucks they are so expensive...and that price was a few years back when I was researching in case I decided to go into the wedding business.

  
  

  I make wedding albums for my family, I've made 6 so far. It takes hours and hours. If not days. Assuming she is truly doing a custom layout and not just dropping photos in to pre-sized frames on the page. Granted, I'm pretty good at it and I spend the time needed to make it look really nice - layout wise.

  
  

  If your photog is really good at it and you want a quality album,I'd say it is worth it. If I was able to get my design in the fancy book (I use Picaboo, bc it's cheap, but it's not pro-printing quality) I would have been thrilled. My photog isn't quite as good as deign layout as I am, so I wouldn't have paid for his book if it wasn't included. (BUT I'm also SUPER picky, bc I can do it myself, but I can't bc I need to be in the photos )

  
  

  Talk to your photog, tell her that you need to save up for the album and ask if she has a time millet for when you need to order. She might have to extend your online proof site or something like that. It took me months to select the images for our album, but since it was included there was no deadline. I would think she'd be willing to make it whenever as long as she stays in the business and her album pricing doesn't change.

  
  

  GL!

  ~xoxo~

  
  

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• AprilH81 member

  

  June 2015

  I couldn't justify spending that much money on an album so I did ours myself (plus smaller ones for our parents).

  
  

  I did a 12x12 book for us with the standard cover, but I upgraded to lay flat pages and added a ton of extra pages.  Before it went on sale it was about $225-250, and I waiting until a 50% off sale on Shutterfly.

  
  

  The parent books were 8x8 with lay flat pages and much smaller (the parents chose their pages from our book) and after a sale were about $55-60 each.

  

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• photokitty mod

  

  June 2015 edited June 2015

  AprilH81 said:

  I couldn't justify spending that much money on an album so I did ours myself (plus smaller ones for our parents).

  
  

  I did a 12x12 book for us with the standard cover, but I upgraded to lay flat pages and added a ton of extra pages.  Before it went on sale it was about $225-250, and I waiting until a 50% off sale on Shutterfly.

  
  

  The parent books were 8x8 with lay flat pages and much smaller (the parents chose their pages from our book) and after a sale were about $55-60 each.

  How did it turn out?? I've never had the guts to buy one of the fancy expensive ones on shutter fly or picaboo. You should post or PM pics

  ~xoxo~

  
  

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• vmj23 member

  

  June 2015

  i did my own flush mount album online (used adoramapix), it was a 12 x 12 it came to 52 pages and the price would have been $445 but i used a 40% off code (which was amazing!) so I spent only $295  I didn't ask my photographer about pricing if she were to make it, but I imagine the same book would have been well over $500.  I spent a lot of time working on it, so I can def see photographers charging a good amount to make them.   

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• AprilH81 member

  

  June 2015

  photokitty said:

  show previous quotes

  AprilH81 said:

  I couldn't justify spending that much money on an album so I did ours myself (plus smaller ones for our parents).

  
  

  I did a 12x12 book for us with the standard cover, but I upgraded to lay flat pages and added a ton of extra pages.  Before it went on sale it was about $225-250, and I waiting until a 50% off sale on Shutterfly.

  
  

  The parent books were 8x8 with lay flat pages and much smaller (the parents chose their pages from our book) and after a sale were about $55-60 each.

  How did it turn out?? I've never had the guts to buy one of the fancy expensive ones on shutter fly or picaboo. You should post or PM pics

  It turned out wonderful!  We should meet for drinks and I'll show you.    My Mom and MIL love their books.

  

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• JerseyBeachGal22 member

  

  June 2015

  I, too, thought you meant a guest book at the reception. I think that's a great price!! Especially if your photographer is doing a wonderful design/layout of the entire album.

  I'm sure I'm in the minority here, but I couldn't fathom not having a professionally produced wedding album. There is a huge difference in the quality (acid-free pages, gilded edges, coated pages to protect from spilling/fingerprints,etc). My parents' album was done so meticulously well with the highest of professional printing services, that now 33 years later it is still in pristine condition with zero yellowing, bending, etc. and has been browsed through hundreds of times. It's gorgeous! So yes, while Picaboo/Shutterfly might provide you with an album that looks good today, it most likely will not stand the test of time. To FI and I, it is key to have our album last long enough for our children/grandchildren to be able to appreciate it. Our album will cost $1,750 (and I suppose it's worth noting that we are funding our wedding ourselves - no one is handing over money, haha).

  
  

  At the same time, my FI and I opted out of getting our parents' albums through the photographer and we will instead create theirs through a company like Picaboo (since we get all of the pictures edited on a flashdrive to be delivered with our album). So, I suppose it is all in your preferences, priorities and budget. 

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