A lady, let’s call her A, contacted me to ask about a photobook for Mother’s day.
The thing about A is, that she is a computer Wizard. She made a few photobooks in the past. She has the knowledge and experience to do it herself.
You are probably thinking, so why did she contact me?
The answer is very simple. She didn’t have the time to deal with it. She knows how much time-consuming it is. She experienced the website crashes in the middle of everything. She was never really happy with the results and her perfectionism meant she could not decide on anything. Layout, colours, sizes. She simply didn’t want to go over that headache again and prefer someone else to do it for her.
We discussed what she wanted and finalised the details. Things like what cover it will have, how many pages, and how many pictures she will need to send me. She took a few days to think about it and asked to go ahead.
I always ask for the photos to be sent to me as soon as possible. Ideally at least 6 weeks before the day, you want the photobook to arrive and be ready to give it to your loved one. A had a week to send me the photos.
Which photos to include:
When she asked, which pictures to include in the photobook. I always say, what story do you want to tell in the photobook? Do you want it to be about mum? Do you want it to be more about the children and grandchildren? I always like to add some old black and white photos so I asked if she have access to old some photos. For the album that we were going for I needed around 100 photos and these is the photos is I asked for:
Early days: 20-25 photos of her as a baby with her parents, family photos, school photos, family holidays, wedding, and honeymoon.
Family: 50-60 photos of the children and grandchildren. Milestones in their lives, birthdays, school, holidays, weddings, births, and any other photos that she wanted to include.
About mum: 20-25 photos around friends, work, hobbies and things she likes.
These are rough numbers, and not always available and that’s fine. We can still tell the story with what you’ve got.
Excited to get started I waited for the photos. We agreed that she will share an album in google photos cause that’s where all her photos are stored.
Unfortunately, A took ill and wasn’t able to share with me the photos early enough. She sent the photos 2 and a half weeks before Mother’s day. Bear in mind, only printing and delivery take around 10 days. But I was determined to get the photobook in time for mother’s day.
As a mum of three with a toddler running around, I didn’t at the time have a lot of hours to work. but as I didn’t want A not to have a gift for her mum on mother’s day, I made sure it will be ready on time.
I worked in every minute I had spare, night or day, to get it ready, not compromising on the quality, making it to the highest level as I always do. we had a few exchanges of messages with some changes she wanted to make and add a couple of photos she found. And once she was happy with the photobook I send it to print knowing it will be in time for mother’s day.
Sadly, it’s not a completely happy ending this time. when I got the photobook I noticed the printer made a mistake and I had to ask for a second print. All photobooks are first delivered to me for quality check. Even the best printers in the world can make mistakes. The photobook arrived on Friday morning. I quickly wrapped and packed it safely, and ran to the post office before lunchtime, to post it for next-day delivery. Unfortunately, there was another mistake made by the Royal Mail and it wasn’t delivered the next day but only on Monday. But hey, better late than ever, right? Some things are worth waiting for…
Her mum’s comment on the photobook was ‘mind-blowing‘. A said her mum never used that term for anything.
I will always make sure I deliver the highest quality photobook. But sometimes things are out of my control. I am sure, in a few years time, she won’t remember it arriving late. But she will have a lovely keepsake to enjoy over and over again.
Liat x
Click here to know more about how I can help you with your Mother’s day photobook
