March 10, 2016

Gathering Your Bridal Details

bridal details checklist for your wedding dayAs wedding season quickly approaches, it’s time for all those final details to come together for the spring brides!! This is where I am discussing all the nitty gritty wedding details with my brides about their big day- timeline, locations, family formals lists, etc. And one other important thing that we discuss at this point is the instructions for gathering their bridal details! This is something that isn’t really intuitive for brides to think about, but ensuring that you plan ahead and organize all the little items that your photographer will gather from you on your wedding day will make the morning of go much smoother AND will ensure that you get beautiful photos of all your little bridal details!

I think for some brides, it’s not all that intuitive as to why these photos are needed. I know it didn’t even occur to me when I was a bride to give my photographer all these items to photograph! You probably put a lot of thought into all the details of your wedding day! From the dress and the jewelry to the invitations and the programs, every little detail was selected by you with your wedding vision in mind! So who wouldn’t want beautifully styled images of all those little details and how they all came together?! These are the photos that will start telling the story of your big day! Another reason you’ll want these images is that these are the shots that will help your wedding get published!! Editors of bridal blogs and magazines LOVE all those pretty detail shots that help to inspire their readers that are planning their own wedding!

It’s important that you plan ahead when it comes to gathering your bridal details for your photographer. The last thing you want to do on the morning of your wedding is run all over gathering all these little items! Having all these items gathered ahead of time allows you to just hand them over to your photographer when they arrive and then not have to worry about them! That’s even a duty that I would suggest handing off to your maid of honor so that you don’t have to worry about it at all!

I send all my brides a comprehensive list and description of all the items I will be gathering from them when they arrive on the wedding day. I figure this is something that a lot of other brides (or even photographers) could benefit from, so here is rundown of all the items on that list, plus a few extra details that can really help to take your detail photos to the next level!

Bride’s Attire. You probably put a lot of effort into choosing the perfect wedding dress for your big day. After that, you picked all the perfect little details to go with it- the shoes, veil, jewelry, belt, hairpiece, etc. So those are all things that you will definitely want photographed! Getting a shot of all these elements together can really help to tell the story of the bride and her wedding day! Another thing to include is a nice hanger for your dress! You want to ensure that these photos portray the elegance of your bridal ensemble, so a plastic hanger just won’t do! Consider investing in a nice wooden hanger or you can get a cute personalized hanger with your new last name or monogram! bridal details checklist for your wedding day bridal details checklist for your wedding dayAll 3 Rings. When I say all 3 rings, I am referring to the engagement ring and both the bride and groom’s wedding bands. Wedding rings are a timeless symbol of marriage, so including your own rings in these detail shots really helps to personalize these photos! Usually the wedding bands are given to the best man for safe keeping on the wedding day, but I suggest keeping them with your bridal details so that your photographer can photograph them with the rest of your details then hand them off to the best man (or whoever is in charge of them) when they are done! Wedding bands are the most common bridal detail that we are having to chase down on the morning of the wedding, so ensuring that they are with the rest of your items at the beginning of the day will save us some headache! bridal details checklist for your wedding dayBridesmaids Dresses. The bridesmaids dresses are another thing that you put a lot of effort into picking out so that they complement your bridesmaids, your wedding dress and your overall wedding theme! So including them in your bridal details is a must! And getting matching hangers for all the dresses can really help take these photos to the next level!bridal details checklist for your wedding dayAnd the bridesmaids dresses are also great to use as a backdrop for the smaller detail items! This allows all the photos to be consistent with your wedding colors and style! bridal details checklist for your wedding dayInvitations and Paper Goods. Invitations are something that you may not have thought needed to be photographed on your wedding day, but they are a big part of your wedding story and certainly deserve to be included in these shots! They set the stage for the whole wedding! And they are a great prop for detail shots as the date and names on the invitations can be used to really personalize your detail photos! You will also want to include any other small paper items used for your wedding- programs, save the dates, etc. All these pieces really tie your whole wedding vision together!

For your invitations, I suggest including a full invitation suite (envelopes, rsvp card, menu card, etc) that has not gone through the mail! You’ll want a fresh crisp invitation to be photographed! And if you had calligraphy or any special addressing done on the envelopes, you’ll definitely want to include an addressed envelope! I would suggest having your calligrapher address an extra envelope or two that you can set aside to be photographed! And if you don’t want a real address to be posted on the blog, have them use a fake address or maybe the address of your wedding venue!bridal details checklist for your wedding day bridal details checklist for your wedding dayFlowers. Flowers are a big investment and probably something that you put a lot of effort into picking out! I always tell my brides to have their bouquets and boutonnieres delivered to where they are getting ready and to have them arrive about a half hour before I plan to arrive. This way they are sure to be there for me to photograph as soon as I arrive! bridal details checklist for your wedding dayOther miscellaneous items. You may have other little special items for your wedding day that don’t necessarily fall into any of the categories listed above. But if there are any other special items that are a part of your wedding day, you’ll definitely want to include them with the rest of your details! This could be things like family heirlooms, a special handkerchief, your something blue/borrowed/old/new, garter, etc. I also suggest including a nice bottle of perfume to be photographed! It helps to tell the ‘getting ready’ part of your wedding day! bridal details checklist for your wedding day Styling elements. These are the items that can really help to take your detail photos to the next level! A simple image of an invitation suite on a bridesmaids dress can really be elevated when you add a loose flower or a nice piece of ribbon that matches your color scheme! So I always suggest that my brides think about gathering little items that are cohesive with their wedding theme to use in their detail photos! This can be things like ribbon, fabric, loose vintage stamps, patterned or sparkly paper, etc. Another great thing to do is to tell your florist to include some leftover flowers and greenery with the flower delivery so that these can be used in your detail shots as well!

This sparkly paper and pink textured fabric were both items that Emily gave me to use for her detail photos! They really elevated these photos and complemented her sophisticated blush wedding theme!bridal details checklist for your wedding dayEllen’s bridesmaids bouquets included these yellow sunflowers and I was able to use this leftover bloom with her detail photos! So perfect!  bridal details checklist for your wedding day I know this list is quite comprehensive and a little overwhelming, which is why I am always starting this conversation with my brides way before the wedding day! Planning ahead and gathering these items over time ensures that this task does not add any extra stress to your wedding day! Here is an itemized list of all the items discussed to use as a checklist!

Gown and hanger

Veil

Shoes

Jewelry (earrings, necklace, bracelet, hair piece, etc)

All 3 rings

Garter

Heirloom or special items

Bridesmaids dresses (and hangers)

Flowers (bouquets & boutonnieres)

Invitation suite and other paper items

Perfume

Extra styling elements (ribbon, fabric, paper, etc)

 

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