The Organized Bride Series

I begin every wedding day by photographing bridal details. After I arrive and greet everyone, this is the first thing I ask for. The time dedicated to bridal details is my warm up time. It’s when I’m figuring out what the light is like in the getting ready room. It’s when I’m getting a sense for how things are flowing that day. Is everything running on schedule, or do I sense that there is any stress? This “detail” time may seem insignificant, but it is SO valuable to how I approach the whole rest of the day! Beginning the wedding day without photographing the bridal details would feel like starting a tennis match without warming up. Focusing on the inanimate objects helps me to focus on what lies ahead.

But what am I photographing during this time that’s labeled “Bridal Details” on the timeline? I consider “Bridal Details” to be any small element that the bride will either wear, or carry with her as part of her wedding day. This typically includes the wedding gown, veil/hairpiece, shoes, jewelry, garter, wedding bands, engagement ring, and bouquet, as well as the bride’s something borrowed and/or something blue if it’s not covered by one of those other items. Additional items that I love to photograph along with these details are the invitation suite, wedding program, the bride’s perfume bottle, and custom ring boxes! These additional items help to fully capture the feeling of your wedding day. They also help to tell the story of your day in your wedding album!

The Benefit of Adding Extra Elements

I love when my brides bring extra elements for me to incorporate into their bridal detail photos. This helps make the detail shots even more personal and editorial. Vintage trays, ring boxes, and ring dishes are all wonderful additions. I also love when I have a few extra stems of greenery to work with. Some florists will leave these when they deliver the bouquets. Silk ribbons are a fabulous addition to bridal detail photos. They help connect all the smaller elements to the colors of the wedding. One spool is really all you need!

One tip for extra elements is to make sure they’re relatively small. Larger items will pull attention away from your small details, so select items that will compliment, not distract from your bridal details. If you gather a few items, your photographer can select what will work best for styling the detail shots.

Preparing the Bridal Details

Gather your bridal details together before wedding day. Most items besides the wedding gown and veil will fit into a tote bag or small box. Having everything grouped together (with tags removed from jewelry!) will save a lot of time. It takes quite a bit of time to style and photograph the bridal details. If you have to search for the items when the photographer arrives, you’ll eat into the time for photographing those special items.

Getting a photo of the bridesmaid dresses hanging can be particularly time consuming if the dresses aren’t already steamed, hanging on the matching hangers and in one place. It’s even better if they’re already hanging in a room with a lot of natural light as these blue dresses were! If you’re not getting matching hangers for your bridesmaid dresses, I will typically only photograph the bride’s gown hanging in order to save time for the other details.

Groom Details

Grooms can have special details too! Groom details typically include: the boutonniere, cuff links (if they are personal or custom), the tie, a watch and sometimes the shoes. If the bride and groom are getting ready at the same location, I will photograph all the details at the same time.

The Bridal Details Checklist