Bride Series: Getting Ready
Wedding season is nearing and we are getting more and more questions of the logistics of the wedding day. Having answered four very similar emails in the last seven days, I have decided to write down a point form of my suggestions to my brides. This will be applicable to all brides who want their weddings to be documented well. The anticipation of the day and the emotions following the first look.
If the bride’s and groom’s places/getting ready locations are far from each other and/or far from the ceremony location, we always suggest booking two rooms in the same hotel. You will save time commuting and reduce the possibility of running late if there is traffic or if “the unimaginable” happened. We can then appoint a spot for first look which is usually 5 minutes walking distance from the hotel and then walk/drive to the ceremony location afterwards will be a short one too. Believe me, this will do a lot in reducing the pressure of the day. (Note: it is also essential to ask for different floors so that you don’t accidentally bump into each other before the first look!)
This is important whether you decide to get ready at home or in a hotel. Make sure that you have your house cleaned 2-3 days before the wedding. And assigned a closet to keep all the wedding related details (props, etc) so it’s easier to grab for your ladies and gents who are helping you on the day and make your place less cluttered in the photos. This will help you move easier around the space too! We can gladly help you unclutter the place on the day, of course, but you are losing 10-15 minutes of our precious service cleaning and not taking pictures of you getting ready.
If you are getting ready at a hotel, please please please get your bridesmaids (and groomsmen) to keep their belongings in the closet. If you have breakfast that morning, it’ll be really helpful if the half-eaten trays of foods can be put aside in the hallway and the beds and the room are made a little (call for the room service! You won’t believe how quick they turn things around). The last thing we want is having a picture of your bestfriend’s bra on the bedside table or something similar like that, you know what I mean!
The key to achieve our modern and clean wedding images is light! If you are getting ready at home, we’ll have you get ready near the window. Usually hair and make up artist will suggest you the same thing but just so that you keep this in mind! This is the same if you are getting ready on-location/studio, window + light are your new bestfriends!
If you are booking hotel rooms, ask for rooms that are facing east or south and will have a lot of light streaming in the morning of! Some venues in Ontario provide bridal-suite for you to get ready/get into your dress, don’t be shy to ask the manager if the room is well-lit and has windows in it. If not, ask for a better-lit rooms and you’ll thank this tip later when you look at your wedding images!
Dear brides and grooms, you will need to assign a key person who will have the rings the morning of (preferably on the groom side at the groom’s getting ready location). If possible, get the same person to keep your wedding invitation to be photographed as well. Also, (from the bride’s side at the bride’s getting ready location) get your shoes, jewelry, something old/blue/borrowed, family heirlooms and anything else that you want to be photographed and remembered to be kept in one place (and assign and communicate with your sibling/friend to let us know once we enter the house/room). These are the first things we look for when we get to the getting ready locations and it’ll be helpful if we don’t spend 15 minutes looking around. Being able to move on to the next thing/event quickly is key to start the day stress free!
We are very honoured to be invited to document your day. After spending months of planning and following through what your wedding planner said and what is listed on this post, we still need you to trust us. You have done it all. You have communicated and delegated every thing. You have told us every thing that we need to know: the key people in the wedding, the happenings, the surprises and your dream of the day. We have known every single details and we ask you to just relax, enjoy the day, be yourself, fall in love deeper and celebrate! It is every photographer’s dream to not be micro-managed and document your day and the special moments from the heart.
Share the love,
Jenn and Kevin
Contact Jenn and Kev | View more of Hello|Inspira Toronto Wedding Photographer online portfolio | Become our friends on FB
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Love this. Saving this for when I get around to making a tip sheet for my brides!
Great post! I want to share this with my brides!
Love this Post! I’d love to share something like this with my brides too!
This is wonderful Jenn and Kevin! So many great ideas especially the consideration of getting ready in a room with beautiful light. This post should be shared with every bride to be.
Such a great post! I will be book marking this for the future!
This is FANTASTIC advice, wow. I love how you gave some great insight on things people probably don’t even consider. AWESOME.
Great tips for Brides, I especially like plan/assign/delegate!!
Great idea for a post!! I’ve been thinking of doing a similar post!
Wonderful post! This is great. Sometimes people forget that its a first time the bride is getting married and she doesn’t already know these things! haha
Excellent post! This is definetely great advice for brides!
Absolutely essential information to share. I love the advice on cleaning the room/home- I recently added this info as well and it really makes such a difference! Great advice.
What valuable information! I’ll link back to it from my blog. Thank you so much!
thanks, gretchen! it’s great to always get this point across before 101 million things arent working on the wedding day hey! 🙂
Great tips that all brides should know.
Agreed…great advice!! Loved this.
This is great list of advice for brides! Get stuff figured out in advance so that she can enjoy the morning of! 🙂
Great advice! Let there be light!
Something I’m learning slowly is that if I want to make my job easier and create images I’m always proud of is to not always be so accomodating. Instead of just rolling with a situation that isn’t ideal, be more assertive and turn it into something ideal. This is great info for brides, thanks for sharing!
Great images and so true! – Let there be light…LOL
I sure wish I had access to this information when I got married 18+ years ago. These tips can be invaluable.
Fabulous post Jenn! All this info is SO helpful for brides. I think it would be such a great idea to actually give your clients a similar document upon booking so they can refer to it when planning out the finer details of the day! 🙂
[…] of the bride series we are writing to prepare our brides planning their weddings. Here is one on the insights on getting ready/the morning of. Contact Jenn and Kev | View more of Hello|Inspira Toronto Wedding Photographer online […]