For a bride, there is a lot to plan and remember and think about, especially on her wedding day!  When I was a bride, there was so much was going on that morning (and we were traveling an hour to our location too from where we got ready)- so one of the things I try to educate my brides about ahead of time is what bridal details they want to remember on their day. This post is for brides, and their photographers, to help remind them.

Today we are focusing on bridal prep time.  When I am photographing weddings, I typically try to arrive about an hour and a half before the bride will get dressed. That gives me about half an hour to catch the girls interacting together and final bridal hair/makeup, and an hour to really focus on all of the bride’s beautiful details!  I LOVE this time of day- it gives Michael and I a chance to warm up, creatively and physically, into the hubbub of the day! Michael doesn’t usually photograph much at all during this time, but he is an amazing dress carry-er if I ever saw one!  It makes it so much quicker for me to have his help swapping lenses and details, putting rings back in boxes, etc.  Sometimes I think brides aren’t sure ahead of time what this built in part of their timeline is for in terms of my coverage of their wedding, but it is so important to telling the visual story of their day!

That being said- if you are going to have your photographer working with your details for an hour- it is helpful to know what to prepare! Like always, the suggestions in this post are just my thoughts- as I stated in my very first Wedding Wednesday post here, my number 1 rule is for brides to make their own rules! So this isn’t a permanent or exhaustive checklist- just some things to consider!  Some brides will have more, or fewer, details!  Here are the details I most commonly photograph:

T H E    D R E S S : Tip here ladies…get a hanger other than the plastic one your dress comes on! It doesn’t have to be super fancy with your name on it even though I do love those- even just a wooden hanger from the hotel/etc you are getting ready at is better than the plastic!)

B R I D E S M A I D S   D R E S S E S :  I love to include these while I am photographing the details! If they are all the exact same, and there aren’t special hangers for them, I will probably only need 1 or 2 but if they are different, especially different colors/patterns, I may grab them all!

 

R I N G S : All 3, please! I know it is typical for the bands to be given to the people who will have them at the ceremony at this point, but I love to photograph these with your other details, and they can go to the appropriate people right after!

J E W E L R Y : This includes earrings, necklaces, bracelets, etc- anything the bride will wear! I like to photograph these being put on after the dress, so keep them off until you are all set to go, and I will photograph them each to capture these beautiful details!

I N V I T A T I O N : I always tell my brides that I love getting one in the mail before their day- it is so exciting for me- but I know sometimes the budget doesn’t provide for extra and sometimes the mail does sad and bendy things to paper! So feel free to bring a clean one that hasn’t been folded/etc if you have an extra for me to use (and feel free to include save the dates/etc if you want!).

 

V E I L   A N D   H A I R P I E C E S : If it is possible to wait until after details are photographed (or even after you are dressed!) to put the veil/hairpieces in, that is ideal- I love photographing details! But I also know that sometimes the hair stylists are the only one that can put them in well- in which case, do what is needed! I will get great photographs of these pieces in your hair as well!

S H O E S : Love how they photograph!!  Flats or heels, I want them. If you are planning to wear heels only for a portion of your day (ceremony only, etc), I still want to photograph them- there is something so beautiful about a heel with earrings dangling from it! 🙂

K E E P S A K E S : If you borrowed something from your grandmother, or have a special pin/charm, make sure that those are with your other gathered details- I love to hear the story of these special details and why they are important to you!

B O U Q U E T S   A N D   B O U T S : Especially if we are doing a first look (which I completely recommend for all brides because they are AMAZING! Ask me for more details!), you will need these at the getting ready location so we can bring them to portraits! But I love photographing these with the other details regardless! We can keep them in water when we aren’t using them!

G I F T S : If gifts or letters are exchanged between the bride and groom, I would love to grab a couple great images of those!

P U R S E : Not all brides have one, but if you do- let’s use it!

P E R F U M E : This is another thing that not a lot of my brides have- but a perfume bottle adds such a delicate and feminine touch to your images!  Think a little about this in your planning- they photograph beautifully!

Here is a list all together in case you want to copy it for planning!

The Dress

Bridesmaids Dresses

Rings

Jewelry

Invitation

Veil and hairpieces

Shoes

Keepsakes

Bouquets and bouts

Gifts

Purse

Perfume

To view more Wedding Wednesday posts for brides and photographers, click here!