Matted Wedding Albums Explained

A matted wedding album is a type of professional wedding album. It’s the opposite to a flush mount album, and here’s why:

• They contain photographic prints that are lightly taped to a mat;
• A mat is like a mount you might see in a photo frame. It usually has a bevel-edge and frames the picture for better presentation. It also protects the print from making direct contact with other pages when the album is closed;
• The mat is then attached to the page.

So while it’s possible to have large prints within the album, they will not go right up to the edge of the page.

There are two main types of matted wedding album – pre-made and bespoke.

Pre-made matted wedding albums

These usually come with 10, 15, 20 or 25 pages – that’s how photographers buy them from the manufacturer.

Common sizes of pre-made albums are 8 “x8”, 10 “x10”, 10 “x12” or A4, and they may be held in stock or ordered especially for each wedding.

Traditional matted albums held one photo per page and they were usually square photos. Now album manufacturers have created hundreds of mat designs, so you can have varied numbers and sizes of photos per page.

There are two ways to create a matted wedding album. First, you choose the mats for the album then decide how to arrange the photos. Or second, pick the photos for the album then choose mats to fit them.

Bespoke matted wedding albums

A bespoke matted album is a completely unique product. They’re not limited to certain mat designs created by album manufacturers. The only limit is the photographer’s imagination!

There are generally more sizes available to choose from and you will not be restricted by a certain number of pages in your album. You’ll also have a wider choice of cover materials, page colors and page styles.

Three ways bespoke albums are designed and made

1. On computer – there are numerous album design programs that start with a blank canvas and allow the photographer to drag and drop images onto a double page spread at whatever shape, size and arrangement they choose;
2. Pen and paper – some album companies allow photographers to draw the whole album design, with measurements and spacing between the photos, and they’ll create the album based on that;
3. Outsource – wedding album suppliers often have in-house designers who will create the album plan for photographers, and allow them to make changes until they’re happy with the design.

Some photographers have an interactive planning session with the wedding couple, and they’re designing the album together. Others may not allow the couple any input into the album layout, as the photographer is the person with the experience and creative vision.

Take away points

• Ask your photographer if you’re getting a pre-made or bespoke wedding album;
• Find out if you’re restricted by a certain number of pages within the album;
• Ask your photographer how they’ll design your album – will you be involved or will they have full creative control?

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