Iowa City weddings often mix a small-city downtown, a university campus and the Iowa River with a guest list from across the Midwest. Here is how to choose between a wedding album and a wedding magazine, and how to build a book you will enjoy.
Starting with what you have
Open your gallery and note how many images you truly love. A few dozen strong portraits point to a magazine. Several hundred varied photographs, with long reception coverage and many guests, point toward an album. Neither answer is wrong; the key is matching the product to the material.
Consider your settings as well. Iowa City offers campus buildings, riverside parks, historic downtown streets and nearby farms, so your gallery likely includes variety. A book that preserves that range gives future viewers a sense of the town and the day.
How the album works
An album holds up to 40 spreads and comes in 12×24, 16×24, 15×30 and 20×30 inches. Prices include 15 spreads and a photo cover, starting at $240 for a classic 12×24, with lay-flat from $275. Leather covers are $25 more and acrylic is $39.
The designer builds each spread for you with Smart Auto-Layout, and you can swap, crop and reorder the photos. You approve every page before printing, and we print exactly what you approve. That control matters when you are putting years of memory into a single object.
How the magazine works
The magazine has 20 pages, measures 8.5×11 inches and costs $70. It offers 15 original editorial styles, and you preview every page. It reads like a feature on your wedding, with headlines, full-page images and tidy groupings.
It is a particularly good fit if you are graduating, moving or just starting out and do not want to spend heavily on a book. It is also good for sharing, since you can order copies for friends and relatives without a large expense.
Photo selection tips
Choose images in categories: place, people and details. Select a few for each, then fill gaps in the story. A shot of the street outside the ceremony, a sibling's reaction and a close-up of a ring can each carry a page on its own.
Avoid including every photograph of the same moment. Pick one version of each and move on. If two frames are close, choose the one with the better expression, and save the other for a magazine or a separate collection.
Budget and timing considerations
Think about how your budget fits across the keepsakes you want. A 12×24 classic album starts at $240, a lay-flat at $275, and the magazine is $70. You may prefer a smaller album with extra spreads rather than a larger size, since additional spreads cost between $8 and $18 each depending on the size and binding.
Set a deadline for yourself. Pick the date by which you want to approve the design, and work backward from it. A holiday or an anniversary gives you a date to work toward, and the online designer saves your progress so you can step away and return with a clear head. A worked example helps. A 12×24 classic with 20 spreads is $240 plus five extra spreads at $8 each, so $280, which is still less than the $340 base price of a 20×30 classic. If page count matters more to you than physical size, spend the money on spreads.
Giving copies to family
A copy for each set of parents makes a straightforward gift. A grandparent copy, with a larger cover photograph and a simple sequence, is also a lovely gesture. Plan for delivery well before a holiday, since printing takes 5 to 7 business days after approval and payment.
We ship from Florida to Iowa with tracking. Standard delivery is $32, Express is $60 and Economy is $12. If an album arrives with a print or binding defect, is damaged in transit or does not match the proof you approved, tell us within 14 days and we will reprint it free or refund it in full. The FAQ and contact pages cover anything else you want to ask.
Questions
How do I decide whether I have enough photos for an album?
An album includes 15 spreads at the base price, so a gallery of a hundred or more favorite photos works well. Fewer photos fit a magazine nicely.
Can I order a magazine now and an album later?
Yes. Each is designed and ordered separately, so you can start with one and add the other whenever you like.
Planning an album from your Iowa City photos? Design it online; you approve every page before it prints. See wedding album sizes and prices or the 20-page wedding magazine.