What to Include in a Wedding Memory Book

A wedding is a momentous occasion and, if you’re like most couples, you’ve probably spent at least a year planning all the details of your big day. You’ve thoughtfully chosen a color palette you’ll love and beautiful invitations to send to your guests, hand-selected table linens and flatware, booked a caterer and hired a florist, and so much more.

But no matter how much you plan, your wedding is still only one day. You may want to save all those details to look back on later. After all, no matter how small, all of these elements made your special day what it was. One increasingly popular way to keep a record of these little memories is to create a wedding memory book. Keep reading to find out more about this special keepsake.

What’s a Wedding Memory Book?

Just as it sounds, a wedding memory book is a sort of binder or log where you can store all of the special moments and details of your special day. Generally, it’s meant as a storage option for the many components that made up your wedding planning. It can be helpful to think of a wedding memory book as an extension of your planning binder, except you will fill the memory book after the event and include all the physical components or detail photos of your wedding. You may also want to add some journal-type pages to write down how you felt at certain times throughout the day and to record specific details, such as who was in the wedding party.

How’s That Different From a Photo Album or Scrapbook?

In truth, a wedding memory book is quite similar to a photo album or scrapbook. However, there are a few notable differences between these three keepsakes. Most obviously, a [wedding album design](https://www.zola.com/expert-advice/how-to-design-the-ultimate-wedding-photo-book) is often limited to strictly photographs of the big day and is usually put together with little to no ornamentation. Alternatively, a scrapbook will often feature a few photos in addition to some decoration, captions, and short descriptions about what was happening when the photo was taken.

A wedding memory book, on the other hand, can be thought of as a cross between a photo album and a scrapbook. As described above, these books are usually more of a binder that will hold photos of your wedding’s details, such as your shoes and the tablescape, as well as any physical elements that can be kept, including invitations, ceremony programs, and dried flowers.

What to Include

Deciding what to include in your wedding memory book is entirely up to you. However, to help you get started, here’s a list of some of our favorite items to include:

• Paper Goods and Stationery:
  • Engagement announcement
  • Engagement party invitation
  • Save-the-date
  • Bridal shower invitation
  • Bridal shower thank you card
  • Bachelor/bachelorette party invitation
  • Rehearsal dinner invitation
  • Welcome dinner invitation
  • Complete wedding invitation, including:
    • Outer and inner envelopes
    • Belly band
    • Invitation card
    • Wedding reception card (if applicable)
    • Directions or map card
    • Response card and self-addressed stamped envelope
    • Hotel accommodations card
  • Welcome basket tag
  • Ceremony program
  • Pew cards or "reserved" seating card
  • Escort card
  • Place card
  • Table number card
  • Menu card
  • Favor tag
  • Thank you card
• Detail photos
  • Dress hanging with jewelry and shoes laid out
  • Close up of dress details
  • Bouquets and buttonholes/corsages
  • Wedding rings
  • Wedding car
  • Empty venue/church, including the altar, flowers, interior, and exterior details
  • Reception venue
  • Tablescapes, including head/sweetheart table, guest tables, wedding guest book table, dessert table, place card table, favor table
• Other items
  • Dried flowers from the bouquet, boutonnieres, and arrangements
  • Copy of vows (printed or handwritten)
  • Pages to write down details, such as who was in the wedding party, who gave speeches, and any other important memories

While this list should help you think about what you might like to include in your wedding memory book, it isn’t set in stone. You should feel free to make your memory book your own and add whatever made your big day special for you as a couple.

Wedding Memory Book Ideas

Much like deciding what to include is a personal choice, so is the type of memory book you want to create. Whether you choose to buy a pre-made book or DIY your own from scratch is entirely up to you. Here are some of our favorite wedding memory book ideas.

Pre-Made Books

Of course, the easiest way to put together a wedding memory book is to simply purchase a pre-made one. These books typically look more like a journal with spots prompting you to tape in photos or stationery. These books can be an especially good option if you don’t want to have to think through all the details you might want to include—the book will tell you. However, the drawback of a pre-made memory book is that they are far less personal than creating your own book.

Handmade Books

An excellent alternative to a pre-made memory book is to purchase a handmade or customized book. You can usually find these on websites like Etsy, where creative vendors will sell their services and products. What’s nice about this option for your wedding memory book is that the product will often be far more customized for your wedding specifically. These vendors may be able to incorporate your names, wedding date, color palette, and wedding style on the cover and throughout the pages. In some cases, you may even be able to send them the items you would like included in the book, and they will assemble it for you. The end result is a beautifully personalized memory book without all the work.

DIY Books

The most affordable option is to create and assemble your own wedding memory book. To do this, you can purchase an album or scrapbook binder at a craft store and then decorate the cover as you’d like. You can wrap the cover in a material representative of your wedding day, such as lace from your dress, table linens, or ribbons from your bouquet. Then, to assemble the items inside, use a hole punch to add paper goods to the binding and include pocket pages for any small or oddly-shaped items. While this option is obviously the most personalized, affordable, and perhaps meaningful, it is also the most labor-intensive.

A wedding memory book is a perfect way to store all of your favorite details from your big day. We guarantee that you will enjoy looking back through the book for years to come, reflecting on everything and everyone that made your wedding so special. Plus, it makes a great companion to a traditional wedding photo album, giving you a complete story and memory of your wedding day.