You may not realize it, but every wedding photographer has certain parts of the wedding day they favor photographing – and for me, one of my favorite parts of the day is photographing the bridal details! Having time to photograph the bridal details lets me creatively “warm up” for the day, and for me, is just plain fun!
I’m all about meticulously arranging beautiful compositions so brides can remember each and every important detail they incorporated. While it can be easy to lose some of those accessories and trinkets used on the wedding day throughout the years, a photograph (or a few) of your items in your wedding album is sure to remain!
Because I have a passion for creating beautiful imagery from bridal details, I’d love to share three pieces of advice for making your bridal details look amazing:
1. Pre-think and gather what you would like to have photographed.
The bride has a lot of accessories on the wedding day – the dress, veil, shoes, garter, jewelry, wedding rings, perfume, bouquet – just to name a few! I always love to recommend having brides pre-think and gather what they would like to have photographed so nothing is forgotten or unintentionally left out. Pre-thinking what you would like to have photographed means less scrambling on the wedding day looking for misplaced items, and leaves less of a chance that something could be forgotten in the photographs!
Here is a list of what I will typically ask for from brides:
- Dress
- Dress belt (if there is one)
- Veil (if there is one)
- Shoes
- Invitation suite (this adds so much to photographs, plus invitation suites typically cost a decent chunk of change, so getting them photographed is a great way to remember them!)
- Save the date
- Garter(s)
- Wedding rings
- Engagement ring
- Perfume
- Purse
- Headpiece
- Any jewelry (necklace, bracelet, earrings)
- Something old, new, borrowed, and blue
2. Add in personal elements and heartfelt touches.
I love when brides take this piece of advice and run with it! Last summer, I was doing a venue walk through with a bride who was having her wedding on her parent’s property. While we were walking through her parent’s house, I noticed an antique silver tray, which I later learned belonged to her grandmother. I made a point to incorporate the tray into some of the bride’s bridal detail photos, and not only did it make the perfect backdrop for her invitation suite, but was an extra personal element that she will always have photos of to remember! (See below for how the photo turned out!)
Other personal items might include: a photograph of the bride’s mother or grandmother in her wedding dress, a old photo of the bride as a flower girl, an heirloom vase, an antique picture frame or chair, a handwritten love letter from the groom, a handkerchief – but really, the possibilities are endless!
3. Ask your florist to provide some flower petals or a few extra flowers to help set the tone of the photos.
At a recent wedding, one of my brides requested extra flowers from her florist for detail photographs, and I thought it was a GENIUS idea (and can’t believe I hadn’t thought of asking the florists I work with sooner!). Sometimes florists have extra rose petals, flowers, and/or leaves leftover after creating the wedding centerpieces, bouquets, and boutonnières – asking them to bring along a few extra items for photos typically is a-okay! Especially if you offer them the opportunity to use your photographs as portfolio pieces in return :)
So there you have it! Whether you're a bride or a photographer, I hope these few little suggestions help get your wheels turning to create some beautiful (and meaningful) photos that will help commemorate bridal details for years to come!
