Shutterfly Wedding Album — Is There a Better Option?

Shutterfly is where most people start when they 
think about ordering a wedding album. It's familiar, 
it's heavily advertised, and the price looks 
reasonable at first glance.

But a wedding album is not a birthday card or a 
holiday photo book. It is the permanent record of 
one of the most important days of your life. The 
standard that applies to a casual photo gift does 
not apply to a wedding album.

Here is an honest look at what Shutterfly offers 
and where the gaps are.

What Shutterfly Does Well

Shutterfly has an easy-to-use design interface 
that most people can navigate without help. Their 
shipping is generally reliable and their customer 
service is accessible. For casual photo books — 
family vacation albums, holiday gifts, year-in-review 
books — Shutterfly is a perfectly reasonable choice.

Where Shutterfly Falls Short for Wedding Albums

Paper quality. Shutterfly uses standard photo 
book paper — lighter weight than what professional 
wedding albums use. The difference is immediately 
noticeable when you hold a premium album next 
to a Shutterfly book side by side.

Binding. Shutterfly's standard binding creates 
a gutter crease down the middle of every two-page 
spread. For a wedding album where ceremony and 
reception photos naturally span two pages — a 
kiss, a first dance, a wedding party portrait — 
that crease cuts through the middle of your 
most important photos.

Construction. Shutterfly is a technology company 
that outsources its printing. The construction 
reflects a mass-market approach designed for 
volume, not longevity.

A Better Alternative for Wedding Albums

Wedding Book Press produces premium hardcover 
and lay-flat wedding albums printed and bound 
at our Maryland facility on 100-lb heavyweight 
paper. Our lay-flat binding opens completely 
flat across two-page spreads — no gutter crease, 
no photos cut in half, every image visible exactly 
as you designed it.

The same construction used by professional wedding 
photographers to deliver client albums — available 
directly to couples with no minimum order.

For a wedding album you will keep for decades 
and show to your grandchildren — the difference 
in quality is worth it.