Cape May is a Victorian seaside town at the southern tip of New Jersey, with painted houses, wide porches, beaches and a lighthouse that appears in many wedding photographs. If you married there, your gallery is probably full of light and color. Here is how to choose the right keepsake and make it feel like the day.
Why Cape May photos deserve large pages
The town is known for its Victorian architecture and its shoreline, and wedding photographs often include both. Wide beach scenes, long porches and a sweep of ocean sky look best when they have room. An album at 15x30 or 20x30 inches lets those images take up space.
With a lay-flat binding, the pages open completely flat and a photograph can run across the center without a seam. A beach portrait with your veil in the wind is a good example of an image that wants to cross both pages.
Timing matters at the shore. Summer weekends are busy, with crowds on the beach and traffic on the roads into town, while September and early October are calmer and the water is still warm. Late-day light over the Delaware Bay and the ocean is soft, and a sunset portrait is a good use of ten minutes.
Where a magazine fits
A wedding magazine is a great complement to an album. It has 20 pages at 8.5x11 inches, with an editorial layout and 15 original styles to choose from, and it costs $70. One can carry the whole weekend: the arrival, the ceremony, the dinner and the farewell brunch.
Because it is light and inexpensive, you can order a copy for each family. It is an especially good fit if your guests traveled to the Jersey Shore, since a copy they can bring home carries the weekend with it.
Weather can change the plan at the Jersey Shore, with sea breezes, fog and the occasional nor'easter later in the year. A flexible schedule and an indoor porch or room for backup mean your album can still show a lovely day, whatever the sky does.
Selecting your favorites
Start by sorting photos into the stages of your day. Then pick the strongest few from each stage. For a shore wedding, make sure you include some context, such as a porch, a lighthouse or the boardwalk, so the album shows the place as well as the people.
Keep a balance between wide scenery and close portraits. A page of two small photographs next to a full-bleed ocean spread gives the book a rhythm. Smart Auto-Layout will create a first arrangement, and you can edit anything you like.
Remember to include the quiet frames, like shoes left in the sand, a boutonniere or a glass of wine on a porch rail. They give the album atmosphere.
Choosing between cover and binding
A photo cover is included in every album. If you would like something more tactile, leather is $25 more and acrylic is $39 more. An acrylic cover with a lighthouse or a sunset can look striking on a shelf near a window.
Prices include 15 spreads. A classic 12x24 or 16x24 starts at $240 and lay-flat at $275, with larger sizes of 15x30 and 20x30 at $300 to $375. Extra spreads are $8 to $18 each depending on size and binding, up to 40.
If you ordered your album soon after the wedding, you will have the memory of the wind and salt air in mind when you choose photographs. That is also the best time to write your notes down.
Gifts for the people who traveled
Cape May is a destination, and many of your guests probably made a trip of it. A magazine mailed to them after the wedding is a graceful thank-you. For grandparents and parents, consider a smaller album or a copy of your main book with a handwritten note inside.
Printing takes 5 to 7 business days after approval and payment, and shipping is tracked at $60 Express, $32 Standard or $12 Economy. If a book arrives with a print or binding defect, transit damage, or anything that does not match the approved proof, report it within 14 days of delivery for a free reprint or a full refund.
Questions
Which album size works best for beach photos?
The 15x30 and 20x30 sizes give wide scenes the most room, especially in lay-flat binding where images cross both pages.
Can I order extra copies later?
Yes. Your approved design can be ordered again, and you can add copies for parents after the first one arrives.
How long should I wait before designing?
Start as soon as your gallery is ready. Details are freshest within a few months, and the design takes a single evening.
Planning an album from your Cape May photos? Design it online; you approve every page before it prints. See wedding album sizes and prices or the 20-page wedding magazine.