Paper Vows

Paper Vows is a sixteen-page wedding booklet you can make the week you get the photos, while everyone still wants to see them. It is for couples who do not want to wait for a printed album, and for the parents, grandparents and bridesmaids who would each like a copy of their own. The wedding style is ivory paper, Cormorant Garamond for the names, thin gold rules and a soft fade on the photographs that flatters mixed light. The cover holds a photo with your names and the date. Page two is a title page for the venue and the words you want first. From there the pages alternate between full-bleed photos for the big moments, framed single portraits, a two-photo spread for the two families, photos with captions and dates, a quote page for the vows or a reading, a five-photo collage for the guests, and a final photo-with-journal page for a note of thanks. The back cover has a small photo and a closing line.

Give the full-bleed pages to the photographer's best three: the aisle, the kiss, the first dance. Use the framed pages for portraits with space around the subject; the frame is thin and the ivory margin does the work. The collage is where the friends go. The fade filter is gentle, so bright, well-exposed photos still look bright; it mostly evens out the difference between the ceremony and the evening. For the cover and back sheet, use a 160 to 200 gsm ivory or bright white stock if your printer's bypass tray takes it, and score the spine fold with a ruler and a bone folder or the back of a butter knife before folding. Print one copy first, check the page order, then print the rest.

Printing this booklet means two pages per side on both sides of the sheet: 16 pages is 4 sheets of A4 or Letter, nested and folded to A5 or half-letter. If your printer duplexes, use the flip-edge setting shown on the download card; if not, print Side A, reload the stack and print Side B, and run the free one-sheet test page first so you learn your printer's flip before spending photo paper. 100 to 120 gsm matte paper for the inside, 160 to 200 gsm for the cover if your printer's bypass tray takes it, and score the fold on anything heavier than 160 gsm. Two staples on the spine with a long-arm stapler, or open a normal stapler flat over a folded towel. The template uses 21 photos across 16 pages.