After our kids were graciously given a mountain of toys at Christmas from grandparents, I couldn’t help but ask myself where (and why) we prioritized the spending of our money since we tend to spend most of our time outdoors!

While our kids of course were super stoked to open each gift and have no problem making use of the toys, I couldn’t help but think that one day each of these toys would end up broken, donated, or in the trash. And that led me to where/why we invest our money in displaying images. Because when our kids are 18, 25, 40 they will not be digging around for magnetiles (no doubt the best toy!) or legos, but they will still sit down and flip through our yearly family albums & wedding album to recall memories, our family culture, and meet great grandparents that passed before their time. To us, our gallery walls and albums are truly priceless & a gift we hope to pass down through generations.

After reflecting, we came up with 7 things that make albums a priceless & precious heirloom to pass down for generations…

1. A Physical Archive

One of the biggest benefits of an album is that they’re a physical archive. You don’t have to worry about backing them up, wondering if you’re gonna lose them on a corrupt hard drive or crashed computer.

2. Less Distractions

The second thing is that tangible things beat screens. If you think about looking on your phone and how you interact with a phone: you get easily distracted & move around to different apps or messages that pop up or swipe between tabs & email on your computer. Whereas things that I love like vinyl records or albums or a book is that you sit down and you just have this one thing. It’s an in the moment, completely immersive experience versus a haphazard click through images.

3. Meant for Print

It’s so important that even as we hold our loved ones in our hands and in our arms and we hug them on our wedding day, so too our prints and our albums should be held in our hands. Images are meant to be printed: that’s how the editing is intended to go for them.

4. Aesthetics & Home Decor

To have something like this sitting on your coffee table or a bookshelf looks way better than pulling out your computer. Your laptop is probably not gonna be sitting out for people sit around it and go through your wedding photos. And people are going to ask to look at your photos way more often if you have them sitting out on a coffee table or on a bookshelf because it’s accessible and easy to get to.

5. Less Screen Time

So many of us already work with screens so often. We have our phones with us. And so I think this is just a great way to interact, to be present, to slow down from all the hurry. It’s why we love Instax prints. But we love them because it’s something tactile, physical to gather around more than a computer screen, a tv, etc.

6. Passing It On

As you have kids, it’s just a great way to include them and let them flip through your wedding images and kind of creating that family culture/tradition of multi-generational living a little bit and them getting to see grandparents and stuff like that. It really sparks great conversation & shows the value of being committed in marriage. It bonds your family that much closer & helps you treasure one another all over again.

7. Limitless ROI

The thing about photos is they really only increase in value over time. They become more nostalgic. As people inevitably pass away and as heartbreaking as that is we have these memories and those photos and they just compound in interest as life continues on. The ROI is in the value you place on memories, relationships with loved ones, and tangible goods that are unique to you & aesthetically pleasing in your home.