My little side business as a wedding photographer has put me in
a perfect position to notice a new phenomenon at weddings: You know
that little memorialized keepsake gift the bride and groom often
leave on the dinner table at the reception? Typically, they're things
like bags of potpourri, a little bar of soap, or perhaps a deck
of cards. Lately, I've noticed that people are leaving CDs on the
table. That's right! Burned CDs with their favorite songs or songs
they think best represent their union.
The legality of distributing CDs full of copyrighted music is,
well, iffy... but if we take this CD idea a little further perhaps
we can make it even better?
Why not include a nicely labeled CD or mini-cd with the "thank
you" cards after the wedding? The mini-cd wouldn't have to contain
songs; it could contain images of the couple, perhaps some images
from the wedding, or even digital video. Everybody likes to see
the wedding pictures. So why not scan the pics from those little
instamatic cameras everybody leaves on the tables, and perhaps a
few of the shots from the wedding photographer. The CD is a great
way to distribute those pics to everybody, and will surely be appreciated.
This is very similar to what I've recently begun doing for my photography
clients.
Getting these images to a CD is pretty easy. Most CD Burners come
with pretty decent burning software, and if you're at a loss for
a good one, I can recommend Nero. I've used it for a few years now
and it's always come through for me. As far as the format for the
CD? I simply put the images onto the CD with no directory structure.
So when you open the CD, all you see are images, no folders. If
you have the know-how, you may want to consider creating a photo
slideshow complete with a musical soundtrack.
Once you've burned your CDs, you can create a beautiful label.
Be sure to include a picture of the happy couple on the cover.
So if you're planning a wedding, or happen to know someone who's
getting married soon, you might pass this idea along. With blank
CDs at such a low price these days, burning and sending a CD can
be cheaper than sending a paper thank you card (see this month's
10 SureThing Tips
article to read more about this).
-written by Ben Douglas
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