The morning of your wedding day is going to be a little crazy. You’ll be getting hair and makeup done with all of your bridesmaids feeling constant butterflies in your stomach because your big day is finally here and than suddenly your photographer shows up and everything starts to feel REAL. But when I show up on a wedding day, I don’t start taking photos all in your face and freaking you out. Let’s face it… that can be nerve-wracking. Instead I devote the first 45 minutes of my time on your wedding day to simply capturing your bridal details. Why? Because these are all items you carefully picked out during your engagement to be apart of your special day. That special pair of shoes, your something borrowed and something blue, your grandmothers handkerchief, and of course… the dress. It’s SO special to see all of these items individually, before they are on you. Years from now, you may not remember the pair of earrings you wore or the perfume you sprayed on yourself before you became a Mrs. So that’s why I make sure to capture all of it for you. Of course, the morning of the wedding can be chaotic and gathering all of these details is the LAST thing on your mind. So in this blog post, I’m going to walk you through how to best prepare for this part of your wedding day 🙂

I always tell my Bride that the best way to plan for your Bridal Details to be photographed is to pack it all together the day BEFORE your big day. Not even the night before, the day before. The night before you will be busy rehearsing and celebrating your upcoming wedding with your bridal party and out-of-town guests so do it first thing in the morning. Pack it all together in a bag and keep it right next to your dress! That way you absolutely DON’T forget it. This is the best way to do it so when I arrive on the morning of your wedding, after I give you hugs and say hello to your Bridal Party, I am pointed in the direction of where all your details are and can get right to work without bothering you. There is no right or wrong way to pack your Bridal Details. It’s simply packing all the things that will be with you on your wedding day. Typically the most common items Bride’s want photographed are Shoes, Veil, Jewelry, Something blue, Perfume, Something Old, Handkerchiefs & Dress Accessories. **TIP: If you have a Special Hanger you’d like to have your Wedding Dress photographed with, make sure to pack that as well and have it hanging with the dress when I arrive!**

Two things I do ask my Bride’s to pack with them that they normal don’t think to do is the invitations suite (including envelopes!) and BOTH wedding bands. Why? Well, just like everything else, you worked long and hard on creating your invitations and they should be photographed! Not only that but Invitations set the tone for the wedding months before the actual day is here. The colors and the style of the invitations hint people at what’s to come and when photographing your details first thing in the day, it’s a great way to kick off your wedding photos and is a great way to begin your wedding album when designing it. It also sets the tone for ME and let’s me know what I can expect throughout the day, so that way I can tie it all together in your photos. If you have nautical details on your invitations, I can pretty much expect more nautical details during your wedding day and highlight that in your photos. As for why I photograph the wedding bands, these are the symbols of your marriage. They just NEED to be photographed together. It’s best for me to photograph them together during the day when I have the best natural light. If I photograph them later in the day, for instance during cocktail hour… by then, it’ll most likely be darker out and won’t look as bright as the rest of your details. Maybe that sounds too technical for most people but that would drive me CRAZY! lol Once I am done photographing the bands, we can get them to the Best Man before the ceremony or I can even bring them to the Best Man myself. (I’ve brought them to the church myself many times! I will keep them safe!)

As I said before, there is no right or wrong way to pack your bridal details. Every Bride is different and so it’s okay if you don’t have the common things to photograph, like I listed here! If you don’t have a something blue, that’s okay. No something borrowed? Don’t worry about it! I always tell my Bride’s that the beauty of getting married in this day and age is there are NO rules anymore. You can do whatever you want on your wedding day because it’s YOUR day. This also goes for the Bride who may think she has too many details. No such thing! I am there to capture it all happily and gladly for you 🙂

Those are my tips for preparing your Bridal Details Checklist! Let me know if this post was helpful for you and if you’d like to see more posts like this about any other specific parts of the wedding day!