This is interesting. A company called Unique Wedding Memories have come up with a “wedding reportage” concept. They are offering a boutique journalistic service to completment the traditional wedding day package of photographs and albums.
I think this is actually a wonderful idea. It offers a new dimension to the wedding services offering and certainly fills a niche. Charles Michum, co-founder of the company explained the concept:
“Wedding albums are fine as a place to store photos, but what about the vows, the speech and the well-wishes from guests? Our speciality is books and we feel that the special day deserves more than an album. Our journalists know how to capture the mood, the spirit and the essence of the big day. A wedding is about words. Vows, speeches and congratulations are what make a wedding special. We did a wedding book recently where there were some great anecdotes about the best man nearly messing everything up. These are the special things that make a wedding unique, but the memories fade over time unless somebody makes a proper record of what goes on.”
As a product, the books certainly represent luxury. And we’re sure that having your own journalist on hand at the wedding will make the happy couple feel very special indeed.
What impressed me the most was the sheer range of options available. Unique Wedding Memories offer a “Classic Reportage Package” that starts at £500. This package is aimed at people who don’t want a journalist at the day. Instead, one of the guests armed with a detailed brief takes on the role of “correspondent”. The editorial team supervise from a safe distance and edit the copy into a fantastic, luxury hard-back.
For couples looking for a more complete experience, Unique Wedding Memories offer a “Premium Luxury Reportage Package” that includes full wedding photography service, album, plus reportage service and book. They don’t impose any of the normal copyright restrictions that wedding photographers typically insist on. This options could certaily take some of the pressure off couples who want a hassle-free experience when choosing service providers.
The books themselves are exquisite. We were sent a memento hard-back and luxury 12×12-inch hard back. Both featured razor sharp images, quality binding and most important, engaging and moving copy that really does make the expense worthwhile.
Our prediction – this is a concept that will take off and make serious waves in the luxury wedding sector.
By Victoria Eden.