These days, everything is digital – you can save hundreds, even thousands, of photos onto your phone and onto your laptop. It’s quick, it’s convenient, and you can pull out your phone anytime to look at them…. So, why print your photos?
But, be honest – how many of the photos in your camera roll do you actually look at? How often do you take out your laptop to show your photos to your friends and family? How often do you ignore that notification that tells you your phone is running out of storage? The truth is that while digital files are important, you should also print out your elopement photos and have some physical copies! There are so many perks and advantages to being able to hold your memories in your hands, so this guide is all about why you should print your elopement photos.
Why Should You Print Your Photos?
Here are just a few reasons why everyone should print their elopement photos!
It Just Feels Different
There’s just something about holding your photos as opposed to looking at them on a screen – it’s a totally different feeling, and the tangible-ness of printed photos makes looking at them even more special. Flipping the pages of a photo album and watching the story unfold in front of you is so much more fun than swiping on your phone screen or clicking the arrows on your keyboard. It puts you back into that moment, allowing you to relive the incredible adventure that was your elopement day!
You’ll Look at Your Photos More
Here’s what usually happens with digital photos – you get the gallery, you love it, you look at it every day for a week… and then you don’t really open it again. There’s so much going on on all of our computers and our phones, and it’s pretty unlikely that you’ll actually scroll several months back in your camera roll to look at your elopement photos again.
Having printed photos makes looking at them so much easier! If there’s an album that lives on your coffee table, you’re much more likely to see it when you sit down and to open it up. If you frame a few photos and hang them in your hallway, you’ll walk past them every day and be reminded about the day you got married. A huge reason why you should print your elopement photos is simply that you’ll actually look at them!
You’ll Share Them With Family and Friends
Having printed photos is also a conversation starter. When people come over months or even years after your wedding day, there’s little to no chance that you’ll tell them, “hey, let’s sit on the couch and I’ll get my laptop and we can scroll through photos of our wedding day.” But, if they spot your album on the coffee table, or they see the photos on your walls, that’s a great conversation starter!
They might be curious about the epic mountains in the background of your wedding photos, and they’ll ask you questions – which is a perfect opportunity to tell them about the unique way you got married, and all the adventures you had on your elopement day. It’s much easier to open up the album and share your photos that way! So not only will you look at your own photos more often, but you’re also more likely to share them with others.
Digital Files Can Be Lost
Along with the emotional and sentimental reasons to print your elopement photos, there are also a few practical reasons – like the fact that technology isn’t always the safest! Hard drives fail, laptops break, phones get replaced, and files can get lost pretty easily. It would be a little (a lot) devastating to lose all of your wedding photos, so having physical prints is a way to avoid that heartbreak!
Of course, prints aren’t 100% safe either – they could get lost in a fire, a flood, a coffee spill, and plenty of other scenarios, so it’s best to have physical copies and digital files too. Store your digitals in multiple places (at least two, but three is best), and keep your prints and albums in a safe place, but in general, the real world is a safer place for photos than a hard drive!
Prints Can Be Passed Down
Have you ever found a photo album from your parents or grandparents? Seeing those photos is so special – and it’s an experience that can’t really be recreated with digital photos! Having an album or some prints to pass down to future generations will create a really special family heirloom, and something for future generations to discover and enjoy.
Your Photos Deserve It!
The last reason why you should print your elopement photos is simply that they deserve it! Your elopement day should be an incredible experience – it should be the best day of your life, and one that you’ll want to remember forever. After creating your own wedding day and crafting a unique, one of a kind way to begin your marriage, the memories of that day deserve more than to be stuck behind a screen for the rest of forever!
Printing your photos allows you to immerse yourself in the story of your elopement day all over again, it allows you to hold those memories in your hands, feel all those feelings again, and see it all unfold in front of you. It’s often surprising how quickly memories fade – and your photos will be the only physical reminder you have after the day is over. So print your elopement photos, they deserve it!
How to Print Your Elopement Photos
I know that the low prices at Walgreens or Costco can be tempting, but with printed photos, you absolutely get what you pay for. You’ll absolutely see the difference between a cheap print and a high quality one, so don’t spend the money on printing your photos just to get an inexpensive album or a batch of $0.25 prints!
Instead, you can print your photos through your photographer. After you get your gallery back, you can order albums and prints of all sizes. This way, you’re guaranteed the best quality photos, and you support your photographer!
If you want to learn more about how to print your elopement photos, or you want to plan your adventure, contact me!
