Tips for your bridal preparation

After months of planning the morning of your wedding day has finally arrived. You’ll be filled with excitement, anticipation and at times a few nerves, but trust me that’s all to be expected. It’s an incredible experience and something you’ll remember for years to come. Its a morning like no other, it’s unique to you, one surrounded by family and friends, filled with smiles and laughter

So whether you’ll be getting ready in the hotel’s bridal suite, or in the comfort of your own home, the following tips will help to make your bridal preparation as stress free as possible and help in capturing some truly special moments.

Let there be light

Bridal prep forms an important part of your wedding day. You’ll be spending a significant portion of your day getting ready there, surrounded by your closet friends and family.

A spacious room is always most suited for this, as it allows me to move freely without getting in the way of your make-up artist or hairdresser and limits bridesmaids, or flower girls being in the background.

When capturing bridal preparations it is really important for the bride to be positioned in soft natural light. The make-up artist will normally position you close to the natural light from the window. This light is extremely flattering and can make all the difference in your photos.

Just remember to choose a spacious room, with ample natural light.

A tidy room

This will be the furthest thing from your mind on the morning of your wedding day. However, in doing so will ensure that you get the very best out of your bridal preparation photos. The idea is to remove distractions from the room which will be captured in your photographs. A simple tip, is to get your bridesmaids to quickly tidy up before you all start getting ready.

Bright rooms with the least amount of clutter and blank clean walls work best, but that’s not always achievable. Just try to make sure you’ve removed items from the windows, piles of clothes, boxes, carrier bags, luggage, or food wrappers which maybe on the floor.

Less is more

When capturing bridal preparations, I always recommend trying to keep the amount of people in your room to a minimum. This is especially important if space is limited, as small rooms soon become cramped when filled with bridesmaids, flower girls, mother of the bride, hairdressers, make-up artists and now me moving around the room documenting you getting ready.

Think about the size of your bridal party and the rooms in which are available for you to use, in the hotel, or at home. Look to use these rooms to free up space and clutter. You’ll be able to allocate these for your bridesmaids, play areas for the flower girls, or even to use them for storing bags and freeing up space for you.

Although it should go without saying, when utilising more than one room, always make sure you keep the best room to yourself. This is obviously the bridal suite in the hotel, but can be often overlooked when getting ready at home. The master bedroom is most likely the best location, but just make sure you keep the most spacious room with the best natural light, with the biggest windows.

The detail shots

It’s always useful to keep all the detail and sentimental pieces together, such as your dress, shoes, flowers, perfume, notes or gifts from your groom. This will allow me to quickly position these and document them without interrupting you, or your bridesmaids.

Often hanging the dress in the bridal room whilst getting ready, helps to capture the scene and tell your story. There are times though where I will look to move the dress and shoes to different locations.

Time

Even though you’ll be familiar with your timeline, it’s always worth sharing this with your bridesmaids or mum, so they can keep an eye on the days running order. Time can soon disappear in Bridal prep, so having someone there to keep an eye on the time is always a good thing.

Always try and be ready at least thirty minutes before you leave for the ceremony. Not only will you feel more relaxed, but it will allow time for more creative bridal photos, along with portraits of you and the bridal party.