The first photos you take on your wedding day are likely going to be the “getting ready photos.” You’ll be with a group of family and/or friends, and the moment the photographer arrives is when the day really begins. So how do you ensure your getting ready photos are the best they can possibly be? Luckily, we know all the right tips and tricks to make sure you get the most out of your wedding morning.

Remain present

It’s easier said than done, but try to stay in the moment as much as possible on your wedding day. Focus on getting yourself ready and enjoying your time with whoever is keeping you company during the prep process. If you are feeling stressed or overwhelmed, it is likely you may not want a ton of getting ready photos, and may regret it later when browsing through your album.

Have a point person

Don’t try to take on too many tasks on your wedding day. If you have a maid of honor or best man, pass the torch to them for a few things. If you don’t have a designated wedding party, just assign tasks to someone you trust! We won’t be able to photograph you if you’re running around trying to do xyz, and we don’t want that to happen. Let someone else do the work, trust us.

Set aside important details

This is one of the most crucial parts of the getting ready photos. If you have important details you want photographed, it’s imperative that they’re all together and set aside ready to go for when your photographer arrives. While you’re finishing up any hair or makeup touch-ups, we’ll be working on detail shots for about 10-15 minutes. That time shouldn’t be wasted trying to find the details. Put everything in a tote bag or a shoe box and hand it off to your point person.

Schedule extra time

If getting ready runs late, everything runs late. And if things start to run late, time for photos gets sacrificed. No one wants that! In order to ensure your time to take photos is maximized, schedule some extra time in the morning or afternoon during prep. Instead of your photographer arriving at 12, have them come at 11 or 11:30. There’s lots of opportunities to get creative during getting ready photos, and we’d hate for it to be rushed.

Keep your space clean

I wish I could put this in big, flashing letters. This is the most important thing you can do for your getting ready photos. Something I’ve personally spent a lot of time doing once I’ve arrived to wedding prep is CLEANING and ORGANIZING before I’m able to even start shooting. Have a spot in the room dedicated to any bags, luggage, and/or trash and make sure it’s out of sight. I know no one loves cleaning, especially early on a wedding day, but trust me when I say you’ll thank me when you view the photos. It saves me (or your photographer) a lot of time and frustration photoshopping after the fact.

Lighting & decor

We’ll take care of this on our end, but it helps to be aware of it anyway. Natural light is ideal of course, but when that’s not available we have our own artificial light resources like flashes and lights. It might seem weird, but when the photographers arrive, most of the time we turn off all the lights in the room. Why do we do this? Well, usually the bulbs are a different color temperature than the light coming in from outside. This makes editing getting ready photos very difficult and causes skin tones to be uneven. It’s best to use all natural light or all on/off-camera light of the same temperature. Another thing you’ll thank us later for.