5 Tips for getting Ready on Your Wedding Day
The time spent getting ready on your wedding day is so important for setting the tone and mood for the rest of your day – and it’s often overlooked when it comes to planning all the little details. After photographing 100+ weddings, I am sharing five tips to help you feel prepared and set you up for beautiful photos!
1. Find the natural lighting
When deciding on your getting ready location, consider the room with the most windows and natural lighting. Natural lighting always photographs best! The first thing I often do on arrival is open all the blinds and turn off all yellow artificial lighting to create natural and well balanced lighting.
2. Clean up the room
Keep your getting ready area clutter free for photos! Designate a closet for all the bags, put the food and water bottles in a different room, and remove all clutter from the background. You’ll often find me cleaning up the area before photos, but knowing what to do beforehand is so helpful when it comes to keeping on schedule and saving time for more photos later.
3. Keep your wedding details easily accessible
Your wedding details are usually the first pictures I take on your wedding day. These include your wedding/engagement rings, flowers, shoes, jewelry, heirlooms, or anything you want photographed. Having these ready and grouped together makes it easy for me to step right in and get the photos rolling.
4. Stick to a hair and makeup timeline
Coordinate the timing of your hair and makeup artist with your photographer. A few weeks leading up to the wedding I always work with my couples to create a timeline for the day. Every photographer works differently, but I have found that having your hair and makeup about 1/2 way complete at the start of your pictures usually allows the perfect amount of time to document this part of your day.
5. Putting your dress on
Decide ahead of time who you want to help you get into your dress, then make sure they are dressed and ready beforehand. This helps the photos look complete and put together + everyone is feeling their best.
