I've probably read almost all the DIY album posts on Hitched, so I thought it was only fair to provide feedback on the people I used to help other brides make up their minds.
Originally, we were quoted £400 for our wedding album and £100 extra for two parent albums which we could decide on after the event. However, our wedding photography didn't go to plan on the day and we ended up doing a reshoot in Thailand. As our second shoot was abroad, we weren't able to order a album, but I still really wanted an amazing quality book. Nearly all high quality album manufacturers only deal direct with photographers, but I still wanted something that would rival that quality and last the test of time. With Photobox/Bob Books/Blurb etc not offering the layflat premium weight paper flush mount I was looking for, I decided I had to look further afield. Originally, I ordered some test prints from ZNO (a USA based company which ships albums from Asia). However, I wasn't very happy with the colour reproduction from the test prints I ordered so I decided to go with Saal Digital which is based in Germany.
I opted for a 36 page, Extra Thick, 28 x 28 cm with glossy pages, Titanium Leatherette cover and corresponding grey storage box, this cost £162.95. These are some of the most expensive options Saal offer, so it really easy to order a cheaper product but this fitted best with the look we wanted. Saal also offer a £15 welcome voucher on their website. I personally used this to order a smaller softcover book to sample the quality and colour balance before making a much larger order. However, it would be equally as useful for making smaller parent books as their smallest book starts at £10.95.
To design your book, you install the Saal Software onto your pc, which is pretty easy and you can start designing from there. The only problem that I had was I had multiple images with the same name in different folders (edited and non edited) and this was a little confusing because the Saal software didn't easily show me which folder my image was from. However, beyond that, the book was easy to design and software showed me the total cost as I made changes which made it easy to track.
What I received
Beautifully fitted presentation box which perfectly fits my album. This added £20 to my total order, which is a little expensive for a box, but it's perfectly made and will keep our album in great condition.
Leatherette covered album,, which is nice and weighty. It would have been nice to have the print embossed, but unfortunately, this wasn't an option, but perhaps something Saal will offer in the future. Also they use the word leather and leatherette interchangeably on their website and it would be helpful if they made this clearer.
600g/m2 pages. This is where Saal really stood out from their competitors. I wanted the superior quality of rigid pages, most other providers were offering 170-200g/m2 which lead to the pages feeling a bit flimsy and getting damaged easily. By going for the Extra Thick option it really does feel like a luxury product. The extra Thick option is limited to 36 pages and it was a hard job editing down the shots to fit, but realistically, that's the most you will have in a high end album and any more pages and it would simply be too heavy.
Excellent print quality on all the pages within the book, the picture here doesn't do the quality of the book I received justice. I opted for the glossy option, because it made the pictures from Thailand pop. However, it might not be the best option for a traditional British wedding, in which case Saal also offer a Matt option which might be better suited. Saal also offer two other finishes (Silk and Metallic) for prints, but these aren't available for books.
Delivery was £4.95, and it took 9 days from ordering to arrive from Germany, and it arrived the last working day before Christmas, so it might be a little faster out of peak season. Overall, I'm over the moon with book I received and think it represents excellent value for money. I was able to choose every picture I wanted to include and have complete control over the design, ending up with a professional grade product as a very competitive price. Hopefully, this helps other brides out there who might want to go to the DIY route, you can still end up with a top end product!