Planning a wedding is expensive.  Heck, just being in a wedding is expensive! And I definitely know that, so while this Wedding Wednesday post includes a tip I love, I totally know that some people are completely MAXED out in their budget (I was one of them!)!  That being said, if you are looking for bridesmaids gift ideas of have a little extra in your budget, today I am sharing about a tip that can make a HUGE difference in your getting ready images, and that is getting robes or shirts for you and your bridesmaids to wear!  I have seen this done a lot of different ways this season with many of my lovely #JGbrides, and I have stated really incorporating it my photography because it can be so fun!  They certainly do NOT make or break your getting ready photos- but they can really enhance them!  I should mention- I did not get them for my bridesmaids at my wedding, and I wish I would have!  Here are a few reasons why:

1). The vein one, but also my favorite…they make for a CUTE photo op before everyone gets dressed! Hair and makeup is done, everyone is looking BEAUTIFUL…and we can grab a few sweet images of you and your very best friends really hugging and enjoying each other! Sometimes bridesmaids dresses, and especially wedding dresses, provide some limitations to how casually and closely posed you can be with those ladies who mean so much to you- but in Robes, we can do lots of fun and sweet things that take just a couple minutes but give you a totally different style of picture than we can do once officially all dolled up!

2). They can make for such a cohesive look to your images!  When everyone is in different outfits, as you can see below in the images from my wedding (that I LOVE- don’t get me wrong- but how fun would they be if we were all in cute floral robes?!), there just isn’t really a stylized look, and I think that could have added to the images!  I will forever treasure these regardless because of my sweet friend’s smiling faces though (and you will too, robes or not!)! 🙂 Thank you Beth Laurren!!

 

When everyone is in matching robes though, everywhere the camera turns it feels like there is order and color and cohesiveness- which can be especially great if you are getting an album!!

3). You could even use robes to tie in your wedding colors! My sweet JGBride below did that, tying in her royal purple, and it was absolutely lovely!  Those images would be beautiful on any page next to any of her purple details shots- because they tie right in!  After that, you will see beautiful cranberry robes- exactly the color of her wedding details and bridesmaids dresses! They added to that lovely bride’s fall wedding look SO much!

4). Also- if robes aren’t your thing, a few of my brides have gotten their bridesmaids adorable tank tops so people can just be comfy in leggings, but still have that look! One of my brides even bought tank tops just from any random store (so they could be super cheap!), and then added “bride” and “bridesmaid” at a BFF sleepover party with her Cricut! Love it!  There are so many options…monograms, text, dressy, casual, long, short…you can make it whatever you want!

Here are some more images of my brides from this  year wearing them- I can’t wait to expand my capturing of this semi new tradition in 2016!!

Here are a few places you can find these for a huge variety of prices, including some specific links to my favorites:

Your regular department stores- one of my brides found theirs at Kohls!

Amazon has a wide variety of options, some with free prime shipping!

Etsy has just a huge amount of options (for EVERYTHING in life, really!).  If you get overwhelmed paging through though, click here, here, and here for a few of my favorite options!  Some even throw in the bride’s robe for free!

LOVE the Wedding Prep Gals with lots of different options as well!

**Bonus tip: If you have an easy going bff who won’t mind, assign someone to soft clean-up duty–empty water bottles, food packages, and purses everywhere can really clutter up space quickly and lessen the beauty of the getting ready space! As a photographer, I try to do this but also never want to move something someone needs- so if it is someone a bit more “in the know”, that can be super helpful!! 🙂

For other Wedding planning tips, click here for all Wedding Wednesday posts!