If you’re anything like me, you thrive on writing things down to keep yourself (and your brain!) organized, so this proves even MORE important on your wedding day! Brides have a million things running through their heads, so the last thing she’s going to remember is to grab ALL the things. I was a bride once (okay… twice, lol!) and I remember how CRAZY that morning can be. Having a Bridal Prep checklist on hand and ready to go when your photographer arrives at the bridal suite will help you sooo much.
Some of the items on this list are no-brainers: your dress, flowers, and shoes, right? Yes! But what about adding some other things that would really enhance those detail shots taken before the wedding that would add to your story of images from the day? A custom/fancy dress hanger. Pretty perfume bottle. A copy of your invitation. Jewelry, keepsakes, gifts… the list of ideas is as unique and endless as your imagination, so use this to help boost your creativity, and to give you some ideas in case you’ve never even thought about these things.
To give you an overall view of the day…I typically start the day photographing the bride and her bridesmaids getting ready about an hour and a half before the First Look or walking down the aisle. After giving you some big wedding day hugs, I’ll settle in and start looking for ways to photograph all these details from the checklist. This extra time allows me to shoot all of the bridal details creatively, and still have time to take pictures of everyone getting ready together. This built in extra time is when I’m getting warmed up AND for the bridesmaids to get used to me being around (remember – not everyone is used to feeling like they have paparazzi following their every move, haha!) It can be VERY tempting for brides to cut this time short when they only have a limited number of hours but trust me… this time is SUPER IMPORTANT. Not only is this time important for me to get warmed up, it’s also important for the sake of your images and the story I’m telling through them for you to NOT feel rushed. Trust me, you NEVER want to start a wedding day feeling rushed…because once these shots are completed, we’re about 30 minutes away from the First Look. This is when I’ll take pictures of the bride getting into her dress, then off we go!
I know that not EVERY bride is going to have ALL of these details, so the suggestions below will give you an idea of some of the most common items I shoot:
– DRESS, SHOES AND SPECIALITY HANGERS: Your wedding dress deserves more than a plastic/metal hanger and believe me, even having a classic wooden hanger will make a HUGE difference in your images. If you don’t have a custom hanger, make sure you at least have a nice looking one. If you forget this, most hotels and venues have extra “nice” hangers in coat closets that we can find to “borrow” for your dress shots. (I LOVE this one here from Etsy!)
– RINGS: (Plural… as in all THREE of them, if we can!) The best man will typically be the guardian of the bride and groom’s bands at the start of the wedding day. I LOVE getting the ring shots with all of the other detail shots, so I try to remind my brides to keep all of the rings with her until the bridal party is together after the First Look. Once the ring shots are done, we can hand the bands back to the best man for safekeeping until the ceremony.
– EARRINGS, NECKLACE, FANCY PERFUME BOTTLES, AND OTHER JEWELRY: I ask my brides to wait and put on ALL jewelry once the dress is on. Why? Because it gives me another opportunity to take additional beautiful bridal shots!
– KEEPSAKES: Passed down handkerchiefs, heirloom picture charms, your something blue, etc.
– INVITATIONS, SAVE THE DATES, AND OTHER STATIONARY:
– BOUQUETS & BOUTTONIERES: Many couples decide to have a First Look – that special time when the two of you are able to see each other for the first time, before the ceremony. (If you’re on the fence, think about it…they truly are amazing!) If you decide to go for it, then you’ll want to make sure your Florist delivers your bouquets to your bridal suite. This way, they will be on hand when we’re ready to leave for your First Look!
– GIFTS AND SPECIAL WRITTEN NOTES FROM YOUR BELOVED: These gifts can be between the Bride and Groom (some couples decide to share gifts with each other just before the ceremony while they’re still waiting to see each other) or even the special things that were gifted to your besties in the bridal party! I looooove to photograph the emotions on display when a Bride and Groom are reading handwritten letters that they may have exchanged. Such a special moment!
Hope this helps all of you brides out there as you prep for your big day!! Here are the items listed together:
-DRESS
– SHOES
– SPECIALTY HANGERS
– RINGS
– EARRINGS
-NECKLACES
-PERFUME BOTTLES
– OTHER JEWELRY
– KEEPSAKES
– INVITATIONS & OTHER STATIONARY
– BOUQUETS & BOUTS
– GIFTS AND WRITTEN NOTES
Now that you’ve read through my Bridal Prep Checklist, I’d love to hear what you would add to it! Thanks for visiting and hope to meet you soon!
XO, Nicole