7 Tips for the Best Getting Ready Photos on your Wedding Day

The Best Getting Ready Photos

1. Choose a spacious room with as many windows as possible. Window light is the best light. It’s what makes indoor photos look soft and bright, and the angle of the light is much more flattering than the “from above” angle of fluorescent overhead lights. If the walls are white, that’s be even better! It adds to the bright, clean look.

2. Keep the room clean. I know this is a hard one, especially with a larger wedding party, but clutter distracts from the subjects of the photos: the bride and her ladies!! It’s tempting to leave curling irons, bobby pins, and half-packed bags lying around the room, but keeping them as consolidated as possible will instantly improve your getting ready photos! The photos below would have been very different if we had left all the bridesmaids’ stuff on the couch behind the bride.

3. Keep the numbers down in the prep room. Bridal prep rooms can get over-crowded very quickly. Think through the people you want there the most, and try to minimize the number of other people stopping by.

4. Bring Music. It wouldn’t be a wedding day if there weren’t a few nerves, and no one wants to look nervous in their photos. Music is one of the best ways to help you relax and have fun with your friends before you say “I do!” There are few things more comforting than a favorite song. =)

5. Get all the details you’d like photographed together in one spot. This one is huge. Sometimes it can take 15 minutes for me to gather all of the details that my brides want photographed. Especially if the rings aren’t all with the same person! If you put all the things you want detail photos of (including all 3 rings, bridal jewelry, shoes, veil, invitations, perfume, etc.) in the same bag, it makes everything go more quickly and smoothly.

6. Have the bridesmaids ready when the bride gets into her dress. If you’re planning to have your bridesmaids help you get into your dress and put your shoes and jewelry on, make sure they are ready and in their dresses first. Their dresses are probably prettier than the tank tops or button-ups they got ready in. =)

7. Don’t forget about the guys! If their preparation room could have white walls and as many windows as the girls’ room, I’d be one happy photographer. I know that’s not always possible, but it’s something to shoot for. I usually have the guys dressed in pants and shirts only when I get there so I can photograph the finishing touches: buttoning shirts, putting on cuff links, tying ties and shoes, putting on jackets, etc. That way I’ll also have time to photograph the guys hanging out a bit once they’re fully ready.