Its that moment when you’ve finished your makeup, you hair is perfection and you are looking at your dress thinking “I’m getting married today”. You may or may not squeal like I did but the anticipation, the joy that is just overflowing cannot be contained the morning of your wedding. These are the moments that I absolutely love capturing. Truly some of my favorite shots to get because emotions are so genuine at that moment. I also love all the chatter from the bridesmaids, moms telling stories of the bride growing up, funny memories of the couple dating… its just a sweet time. I always laugh because everyone claims their wedding party is going to be the best and sometimes they are! There was one time that the couple claimed their wedding party was going to be the best, their wedding was a sophisticated kind of fun and everyone is going to cry and they were right. From the moment we walked through the hotel door there were tears, happy tears of course! This group genuinely was excited about Kelly & Chris to get married, it was too sweet. So the reason I blog about this today is because I want YOU to have the best “getting ready photos”. I know there is only so much we can control but I have found that we get the best getting ready shots when our brides take note on the things I’m going to list today!

1. Lighting. Oh people, I cannot stress this enough. Lighting is everything. When you scroll through gorgeous photos of brides getting ready, and you notice how well lit the room is by natural light, chances are the girls aren’t getting ready in a church basement. That is not say you can’t achieve great photos in those rooms but when you can choose between the two, I’d choose a well lit room. Its always so much easier to capture those great photos when there is a ton of natural light coming in the room.

2. Tidy Up! Lets be honest ladies, when we’re all getting ready and things are exciting, keeping a clean room is the last thing on our minds! Well for photos, a clean room is a happy photo! When I’m taking a photo of a bride and there are bras and lunch on the table, it just tends to be distracting. So before I arrive, I love it when the room is a little more cleaned up!

3. Say no to plastic hangers! This tiny detail can make a world of difference in a photo. Sometimes I can find a nice wood hanger in the hotel room but sometimes we’re not at hotels! I have found some great places to get those adorable hangers so I’m going to list them here! For those custom wood hangers, go to this fabulous girl! For the gold sequin hanger like in Natalie’s photo, go here!

4. Bring the details! Sometimes while the bride is getting ready, this is a great time for me to get some detail photos! I love it when they package it all up and its ready for me to photograph. Everything from your perfume, shoes, invitation, jewelry, your something old, new, borrowed & blue!

5. The Grooms are important too! I love that Coty is with the guys getting those moments with the groom. Although they can get ready quicker than all get out, he can still get some very sweet moments with him!

I absolutely love these set of photographs before the wedding. The anticipation, emotion and all those beautiful details! By following some of these tips, you’ll guarantee getting some beautiful photos of your details and your moments before the wedding! One final tip… enjoy the day! A stressed bride isn’t always the most attractive bride! So relax, have fun, sip a mimosa, get your hair & makeup done so you’re not worrying about a thing and just soak in this amazing day!