For anyone who is currently a bride, or may find themselves being one someday soon, this post is for you! I sometimes take for granted that information has been floating around the wedding & photography industries for enough years that I’m sure brides just “already know it” – but I’ve realized how silly that is! Most brides will hopefully only do this whole wedding-planning thing once in their life, and chances are they don’t know all the little tidbits that I assume are common knowledge since they aren’t immersed in the wedding photography world like I am. So, today I wanted to share 3 simple tips that will help ensure you get some of those super fun detail shots of all your pretty bridal things (that we all love so much) and will just add to the reasons of why your photographer will love you, because you’re making their job just a little easier. :)

1 – Collect the goods in one place!

I can’t tell you how much time it ends up saving – more than you’d realize! – when my brides have all of their stuff (including all three rings, the full invitation suite, all their jewelry, dress, shoes, flowers, etc, etc) already gathered together in one bag or area of the bridal prep suite so that I can immediately start photographing them when I arrive. It means we don’t have to bother the guys to grab the rings, or inconvenience the sister or maid of honor to go search around for the necklace you’ll be wearing that’s in that bag over there. It just saves everyone a step and ensures that I have the maximum amount of items to be creative with and don’t waste any of the time searching for them instead of capturing beautiful images. While this is something I explain in detail in the wedding guide that I offer all of my clients and also go over with them again while finalizing their Day Of timeline, it’s something that any photographer would appreciate and love you for if you took the initiative to have it all ready to go! :)

2 – Contain the clutter!

We all know how any space can look when multiple ladies are getting ready at the same time, but bridal getting-ready-suites can especially explode. This can make it hard when it comes time to photograph the bride getting into her dress, because there are bags and shoes and clutter all over in the background. So the best thing you can do is have all your girls keep their clothes and belongings in one general area (think away from any windows or sources of natural light, as those will likely be the best spots to photograph the bride getting into her dress and some of the detail shots)

3 – Have the bouquets delivered to the bridal suite!

This is one I feel like most florists already do. But sometimes the timing is off and they’re not set to arrive until after I will have already finished all of the detail shots. So, if possible, I always suggest having the flowers arrive at the bridal suite just before or at the same time as your photographer is going to arrive. This allows maximum usage of the florals along with your other beautiful details and since we photographers LOVE showing off the beautiful work of florists, this is ideal! Bonus: Ask your florist to include some extra clippings/loose greenery or florals so that they can be used for styling along with your details. Most of the time they are super happy to oblige and this is every photographers ideal!

I hope these 3 simple tips will be helpful to you and your photographer on your Big Day and will ensure that you have some stunning images to look back on of all those special details that you carefully chose to incorporate into the day you finally became a Bride.