Most of the time I find that my couples don’t have a ton of wedding experience.  If you’re not a wedding professional, it totally makes sense that you don’t have dozens of weddings under your belt!  I certainly don’t know it all, but I’ve decided to compose a list of what I have noticed as all the best thoughts, tips and tricks for a wedding day.  Being a former bride myself, as well as wedding photographer, hopefully these thoughts and insights will help all my future brides be as prepared as possible and end up with the most beautiful and flawless photos they could have imagined!!
After all, the only thing outliving all that delicious food, yummy cake, sparkling bubbly, boogie downs and laughter is your photographs!
Keep an eye out for more posts from this series over the next few weeks and months!

Getting Ready

As the first part of the day, this seems an appropriate place to dive into my thoughts on the wedding day. One of my favorite parts of capturing a wedding is being able to capture those blissful shots of the bride and her maids getting ready.  The room never fails to be oozing happiness and beauty.  Looking back on my own wedding day, these are some of my favorite shots from the day.  In order to get those stunning images, I have a few “getting ready” tips.
– Location and lighting are key here ladies!  Make sure you have a clean getting ready space that is well lit with some nice big windows for natural lighting (this light is fabulous for perfecting make-up, too!).  Try to keep your getting ready space clean and organized.  It may seem silly, but you don’t want disorganization cluttering your wedding photos!
– Likely, things will look pretty chaotic amidst all the make-up, hair spray, and undergarments filling the room.  If possible, have a separate room or location in mind for some clean photos of getting into your dress rather than needing everyone to tidy their items.
-A few fabulous ideas for this intro to your big day are:
1) A gorgeous hanger for your dress.  You put a lot into carefully selecting the perfect gown.  It deserves to be photographed on something other than your basic plastic hanger.  Wooden hangers look great, or grab one of my personal favs from BHLDN here.
2) An adorable robe (either just for you or for all the ladies) to wear while prepping hair and makeup.  Etsy is a great place to snag a bunch that will match your wedding day perfectly. This makes for photos your be proud to share rather a bunch of images of you in your sweats!
3) make sure to pre-gather any items you’d like detail shots of (garter, jewelry, rings, bouquet, shoes, any sentimental items, etc.).  If possible, have these items in a separate bag or box to be photographed quickly and efficiently when your photographer arrives!