We have been shooting weddings now for 7 years and have noticed that brides forget to bring certain things at times. We completely understand why it’s so easy to forget these things! After all, I(Amanda) have been there! It is stressful, you have a million things to think about and remembering which bridal details to bring is the last thing on your mind! I remember the morning of my wedding day! It was crazy!! So, this is for all of you brides to be out there and also for photographers to share when prepping for the wedding day!

We are going to share with you the checklist we use for taking photos for the bridal prep! When we arrive the first thing we ask for are the bridal details! These details help tell the story of your day! As a bride, the day was so crazy that I did not remember what everything looked like and I was so happy that our photographers captured every detail!  Of course, we also take photos of the getting ready for about an hour and a half before the first look! We always show up a little early to give us time to photograph all of your details and still capture you getting ready as well! After we finish shooting the details, we will get finishing touches of everyone getting ready and the bride getting into her dress! One thing we have also noticed is that brides want to cut the getting ready time short because they are worried about the timeline but this time is important! It allows us to tell the full story of your day! No need to feel rushed! An hour and a half is what we suggest for bridal prep time! Most brides want to get just the finishing touches!

Here are the items we look for when we arrive! We do realize that every bride is not going to have all of these things but these are the most common items that we photograph!

 

Bridal Detail Checklist:

1. Dresses with Custom Hangers

The dresses are what we photograph first! Even if you do not have a custom hanger there is no need to worry! Just make sure that you have a decent hanger for your gown and the bridesmaids dresses! So, a wooden hanger looks amazing! After all, those beautiful dresses deserve something better than a plastic hanger!

 

         2. Shoes

A common thing we have run into is that some brides will have heels they will wear for portraits but then they switch into something more comfortable! We definitely suggest doing this because we want our brides to be comfortable!

 

 

         3. Invitations and Other Stationary

This is probably the most common thing that is forgotten. We love photographing your invitation because more than likely you splurged on this! However, if you did not splurge, we still want to photograph it! Our goal here is to not just photograph it because we want to capture what it looked like, but because it plays such a huge role! It is a connection point throughout the details and will help tell the story of your day!

 

         4. Rings

Your wedding bands and your engagement ring! One thing we love is to get all of your rings with other detail photos! After we are done we always take the rings back to where they belong!

 

 

         5. Jewelry & Clutches

Your earrings, necklace, clutch purses, and other jewelry! It is best for the brides to wait to put all of this on  once they have their dress on! It allows us to get more beautiful getting ready photos!

         6. Veil or Headpiece

These are important because it helps tie all of your detail photos together!

         7. Bouquets

We always encourage our couples to do a First Look because they are absolutely amazing! So, you need to have your bouquets (the bridal and bridesmaids) delivered while you are getting ready so that it will be ready for bridal detail photos and for portraits as well! for portraits! )

         8. Perfume

Something else that is often forgotten but important is the perfume that you wear on your wedding day! It helps to tie all of your details together! We love these small details that helps to complete the story!

 

         9. Sentimental Items

The keepsake items such as gifts(shared between the bride and groom or for the bridal party for instance), your something blue, something old, something borrowed, something new, letters, handkerchiefs, heirloom pins, etc

          

 

Here is a list of the items together so you can save! 🙂  We hope this post was helpful! If you have any questions please feel free to message us any time!

Dresses (Wedding dress and bridesmaids dresses)

Shoes

Invitations and other stationary

Rings

Jewelry and clutch purses

Veils and Headpieces

Bouquets

Perfume

Sentimental Items