Love is in the Air: Wedding Prints
For anyone who’s planned their own wedding, you will know all too well that for all the time it takes to plan, the day comes and goes in an instant.
Luckily, no matter how fleeting the moment, the day is often captured by photographers, with images ready to relive time and time again. However, the reality is, these photographs live on in hard drives, in folders on phones, or perhaps shared across social media - hardly enjoyed or shared except on days like anniversaries or birthdays.
A survey from one US framing company suggests that 29% of couples had between 500-1000 images shot at their wedding. Of that 29%, only 32% went on to frame their photos.
With all of the love, sweat and tears that goes into a wedding, we think that it’s a moment worth sharing and remembering through print - whether small and displayed on a bedside table or monumentally large and hung for all to see.
For many couples, we bring to life their significant personal moments through fine art printing onto high quality, exceptionally smooth 310gsm cotton rag paper stock. We protect each print in a handcrafted frame, designed to withstand up to 100 years of the elements and passing down through generations.
To help you move from hard drive to hardwood frame, here is our guide to selecting and framing wedding photos (because, with 500 to choose from, it's no easy feat)...
Photographer Georgia Verrells for customer Anita.
Choosing a photograph for a small frame
If you’re printing at a smaller scale, like our 300 x 200mm frame, closer, detailed shots are your best bet. Tight candid shots embracing each other, headshots or micro details like hands or wedding bands make for good small-frame content.
We would also suggest printing full-frame without a white border for these smaller prints.
Choosing a photograph for a large frame
If you’ve selected a larger frame, like our 900 x 600mm (or even better, the utterly impressive 1200 x 800mm), then large-expanse landscape shots are more appropriate.
Consider the composition principle of ‘rule of thirds’. Roughly an image should be divided into thirds horizontally and vertically. The focal point of the image - the couple themselves - should align along the intersection of lines or along one of the lines itself.
This should allow for ample ‘whitespace’ or expanses of background to place more emphasis on the couple, whilst also avoiding overwhelm when printing at such a large scale.
The rule of thirds in action.
Too many images to choose from?
With so many good photographs, a collection of multiple images (large expanses, details and candid images) in a gallery-wall layout can recreate a moment well beyond a single image.
Consider including -
- A couple’s portrait
- Photographs with family or close friends
- Close up details - from invitations to flowers to the cake
- All encompassing landscape shots (if it was an out-of-town wedding)
As with any gallery-wall, a mixture of sizes, frame colours and image formats will produce a more visually interesting outcome. Take a look at our Salon Hang article for a detailed guide to planning your gallery wall.
Choosing a frame
Frame choice will depend on your space and the images at hand. Black is timeless and striking, especially when framing a monochrome print or photographs from an inner-city wedding with industrial or urban backdrops.
Natural wood frames or white frames work well for weddings in the country, hinterland or by the ocean with softer, more natural hues complimented by the lighter frame selection.
Photographer Gold and Grit for customer Brodie (also banner image above).
Selecting a layout
Depending on the number of photographs you wish to frame, prints can be displayed either on their own, in a gallery-wall or salon hang style, or in a triptych formation - whereby three prints in the same frames are linearly displayed.
How you choose to layout your photographs will depend on your space, budget and image selection.
Remember, a gallery-wall can come to be over time. You can always start with just one photograph today, and add another frame with every new anniversary or occasion.
Large or small, one or multiple, what matters most is that your photograph is printed and enjoyed in the first place as opposed to sitting dormant on a USB.
Alex Cohen photography for Myles.
Where to place images
Once a couple has selected images, frames and a layout, where they choose to place their wedding photographs is highly personal and dependent on their space.
An alternative to the gallery wall is to position smaller photographs on shelves amongst other sentimental items. This way it becomes part of a larger life story, contextualised by other objects that were collected along travels, meaningful heirlooms, or other photographs of the people or things that hold meaning in their life.
Some couples may choose to celebrate these moments more modestly, printed in a small frame and displayed on a mantle in their bedroom or on a bedside table. Conversely, an extra large print is decidedly impressive and would work well suspended above a fireplace, large dining table or living room for all to enjoy.
So, do you have wedding photographs waiting to be printed? Consider the images you may have stowed away. Whether they’re from your big day or any other important moment in your life, printing and framing allows you to relive and enjoy them every day.
And we think that’s much better than hiding in a hard drive or the occasional Instagram post.
You can easily print your own photographs with our updated Print and Frame page here. Of course, you have any questions around printing and framing your own wedding photos contact us here.
Thank you to the couples who chose Format to frame their wedding prints and gave their permission to share these images.