Buying matted album as a non-professional photographer?

[steven_anderson5]

<p>I'm shooting a friend's small wedding because they can't afford a photographer, and as a gift I would like to make them a matted album of my best photos. It doesn't have to be Italian calf leather or anything like that, but I am looking to buy a nice matted album either with the slip-in mats you buy separately, or a predetermined ordering of mats.</p>

<p>Unfortunately everyone who sells these sells only to professional photographers, so I have no idea how much they cost, or how to buy them, etc... it's like a black hole only available to pros. How can an ordinary Joe buy one of these?</p>

[picturesque]

<p>E-Bay. Here is one.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.ebay.com/itm/Professional-10x10-Wedding-Photo-Album-With-30-Mats-Personalization-Available-/350445086044?pt=US_Photo_Albums_Boxes&hash=item519827a55c">http://www.ebay.com/itm/Professional-10x10-Wedding-Photo-Album-With-30-Mats-Personalization-Available-/350445086044?pt=US_Photo_Albums_Boxes&hash=item519827a55c</a></p>

[steven_anderson5]

<p>Thanks Nadine. </p>

[daverhaas]

<p>I'm not sure that most places "only sell to professional photographers" - but maybe there are 1 or 2 places still stuck in the 20th century. </p>

<p>How do they know if you're a pro or not? </p>

<p>Dave</p>

 

[picturesque]

<p>Usually, a pro has a resale license. Plus they check if you have a website, etc.</p>

[frank_mezzanini]

<p>For about the same price (actually less) i put 160 photos in a printed book using Aperture. if you don't have aperture or iPhoto just google "wedding photo albums" you will have hundreds or should i say 18.1 million links to look at. :-) it helps to know in advance you are going to do the album, then you can shoot the "right" pictures to tell the story. have fun. </p>

[frolickingbits]

<p>Most of the really top quality album companies only sell to pros, you need to have at the very least a website with a pro portfolio. <br>

I've never worked with them, but a Google search turns up this company that seems to have sub $200 albums: http://www.weddingalbumsandmore.com/ </p>

[nathalie_thorner]

<p>Hi Steven,<br>

<br />I don't know if this helps, but i recently made a wedding album with http://www.sweetmemoryalbums.com.<br>

This is not matted, but they print the uploaded photos on real photo paper, and the album has sturdy pages and looks and feels great!<br>

I used their collaborate design service, where i arranged all my photos online and they let some designer make rest. The result looks stunning :)<br>

The album arrived just a week after i signaled i was happy with the design and was neatly wrapped- so, yes i can recommend them!</p>

<p>hope this will help,<br>

Nat :)</p>

[john at storybook pages]

From what we see, there are fewer and fewer album companies who offer quality matted albums...
Specifically, Zookbinders dropped matted albums several years ago (still one of the leading flush mount sources), and Leather Craftsmen, one of the oldest and most respected matted and flush mount album makers (since the 1940s) went out of business at the end of 2022.  

We've found Finao Albums a great source for matted albums - both "overlay" and "page mount". The way Finao makes the album pages allows us to design the page layouts any way we want - no longer bound by precut mats. They're expensive but they're gorgeous.