Family Yearbooks

2014 Edition

When I posted on Facebook that I finished & ordered our 2014 Yearbook, several friends shared that they wanted to know more or were “stealing” for themselves 🙂  I figured it might be helpful to share some tips/lessons learned from our yearbooks, in case anyone else out there want to start. (And I HIGHLY recommend it–I’m obsessed with them!)

First of all–yearbooks are AMAZING!  This is only our second–we made the first the year we got married.  That year we saw SO MANY friends, traveled to a number of cities, and wanted to actually DO something with the hundreds of photos spread out across facebook, instagram, and our phones.  Enter: the family year book.  They’re also great for sharing–this weekend we went up to the farm and brought the book with us.  Every family member (including kiddos) wanted to look–it was a fun way to fill everyone in on what we’ve been up to.  Scott’s cousins even noted how fun it would be to show this to our kids one day (to remind them that mom and dad USED to be cool) 🙂

The General Process:

Choose a photo book service you like.  I use Shutterfly because it’s easy, familiar, and I always get coupons, but there are certainly others (some peeps I know like Blurb).  Whatever you use, make sure it has a) an app that lets you upload pics directly from your phone, and b) has the ability to access your social media pics (if that’s your jam).  I promise, you DON’T want to (read: probably won’t) do the work of saving those pics to your computer; then all those memories will be forever exiled to the depths of the internet (instead of in your hands/on your shelf!)

Upload & Organize photos into albums. Some people do it by theme (i.e. family members), by events/season (trips, milestones)–but we do ours by month.  The first year this took FOREVER because I couldn’t always remember which month things happened.  This year I created an album for each month and uploaded as I went. Come December, I already had my pics organized in Shutterfly and was able to hit the ground running.

Make your album: Again, this is all about personal preference.  Some like the clean classic look of white pages, others like designs & patterns.  Some like descriptions, summaries, or captions–others like their photos to speak for themselves.  Shutterfly has all kinds of inspiration examples, and you can choose between custom or simple paths for designing your pages.  I choose the custom path because I’m a control freak I like to play with the layouts, but for those short on time, simple might be a great option!

Lessons Learned:

Even though this was only my second year, it was LEAPS AND BOUNDS easier than last.  Don’t make my mistakes and follow these lessons the first time around:

• Upload pictures as you go: I honestly cannot tell you how much time this saved. Sometimes I got behind and had to do a few months worth (i.e. it wasn’t until September that I physically uploaded June-August pics into their respective albums) but I still chipped away at it over time.   Doing this saves so much time on the back end, and could be the difference of actually making a year book and not.  And while you’re at it…

Monthly albums–uploaded throughout the year

• Design the pages as you go: I’m fortunate enough to get a winter break, so I make my yearbook then.  That said, if your new year is bananas, simply design your yearbook as you go!  Maybe once a month, or at the end of each season, sit down and create a few pages (your photo book service should save the project).  Similar to the note above, this will make the process a bit less overwhelming, and could be a fun chance to stop and reflect on the year as it’s happening 🙂  Speaking of pages…
• Add as many pages as you want: My first year, I tried to stick to 2 pages per month unless it was really eventful (i.e. when we got married/honeymooned).  That led to two regrets: leaving out some pictures I loved and CRAMMING as many into those pages as possible (sometimes making them so small I could barely see!)  Since pages cost $, this seemed smart at the time, but I also felt like I was missing out.  This year I added pages to my heart’s content, and I don’t regret it for a second.  2014’s book was roughly 20 pages longer, but using discounts l only paid $10 more.  And I am SO HAPPY we put in those extra pictures–it helps tell our story more completely, and really, what else would I do with those shots??
• Capture the boring stuff: We have so many pictures of the everyday, the ordinary, the mundane.  Porch time with the dogs.  Weekly visits to the breweries.  Home cooked meals we really enjoyed.  As exciting as our lives are 🙂 THESE are the moments that capture us perfectly.  And we’d be misrepresenting our year if we ONLY included the big stuff.  Plus it’s so fun to look back and remind yourself of the hobbies and habits you held, and watch how they change over time.

Yes-that IS a whole page about a pantry…

Because years from now, we’re going to want to remember the time we Iced Nick with a bomber…

So that’s it: family yearbooks 101 by yours truly.  I hope this helps you to get yours off the ground–and that you love it just as much as we do!