How often do you relive happy memories from the photo album on your phone or computer? I’ve asked dozens of friends and family this question, and it’s an unfortunately dismal number given how important memories are to us. When I asked my parents to see photos from their wedding, and they don’t quite remember where they are… No album, no pictures on the wall, they’re just hiding on the computer somewhere. If not to show my siblings and I, and maybe one day their grandkids, I thought they would at least enjoy looking at those photos themselves, but it seems like they’re distant memories.
What good are memories and stories if they can’t be enjoyed with the people we love?
Elk + Elm
It’s become so easy to take photos with the press of a button and store them in the cloud that we’ve lost touch with why physical prints are so valuable. My parents may not care about their wedding photos, but walk into my grandparents’ house and you’ll see their lives together painted on the walls. They have photo albums in the family room and framed prints of cherished memories everywhere you look. I’m certainly not suggesting we go back to interior design trends of the ’70s and plaster our walls with picture frames, but my grandparents’ photos speak to a generation that valued memories in print. If their photos bring a smile to my face and I can laugh and enjoy their memories, it must pale in comparison to the way they feel when reliving those stories together! It’s no wonder that they’ve managed to stay together for over 30 years.
This is why we feel really strongly about printing art, it preserves those memories in a physical form that digital just can’t replicate. We really feel for couples that tell us they skipped on printing their wedding photos. Hindsight is always 20/20, and we HATE to see couples regretting decisions they’ve made for one of the most significant events in their lives.
All you have to do is visualize something… Imagine you have a beautiful wedding album that tells the story of your wedding and it’s displayed on your coffee table for all to see.. once in a while, the two of you sit down to relive those memories. Anytime friends come over, they want to flip through to remember the day. A few years down the line some of your friends have kids, maybe YOU have kids, and you can show them all of these memories.
Our memories are fickle things and you never know the moments and stories that will be forgotten. Surely you’ll remember moments like getting down on one knee to pop the question and your first kiss as a married couple, but who’s to say you’ll remember incredible micro-moments like your great-grandma dancing at reception or a late-night toast amongst friends. Pictures act as subtle reminders, and if the story is front and center you’ll never forget them. Until modern technology can produce it, photographs are the closest thing we have to time travel.
Fine pieces of wedding wall art and wedding albums certainly aren’t cheap, but it’s a choice to invest in products that last lifetimes. Oftentimes with prints, you don’t realize the difference in quality until five or ten years later when your wall art starts to discolor and fade or your album begins to fall apart. We’ve partnered with Red Tree Albums and Musea Labs for all of our art products because they’re hand-made, last a lifetime, and have an aesthetic that is on par with what you would find in a museum. Investing in professional print means that those products will still be around to show your family for years to come.
If you were to take away one thing from this blog post, remember the importance of preserving the memories you cherish most. Not in cyberspace, but in a way that keeps the memories alive and allows them to be shared. Because what good are memories and stories if they can’t be enjoyed with the people we love?
Are you engaged and searching for a wedding photographer? We would love to meet you and see if we’re a good fit for each other. Apply to work with us here!
