As a new wedding photographer, you now have learned that a wedding day has many parts that need to be photographed. The portion of the day that I recommend starting with is bridal details. These photos may seem small, but they contribute to the storytelling of the day, and help set the tone for the rest of the wedding day. In this blog, we’ll dive deep into what bridal details are, why you should photograph them, and when to capture them on the wedding day. Plus, we’ll cover how much time I recommend spending on details.

What Are Bridal Details?

Bridal details refer to all the personal, sentimental, and stylistic items that are part of your bride’s look and overall wedding day. To ensure that you have items to capture for details, I recommend asking your bride to gather all of her items into a box or bag. This will ensure that you can easily locate the details upon arrival to the venue. This will help your bride have everything organized, and not have her searching for them the morning of. Having these items gathered beforehand keeps you from having to wait for these items to be found when you arrive. This is a list of items I ask my brides to include in her bridal detail box or bag for me:

• The Wedding Dress: The dress itself along with any accessories or special hanger your bride has. This will not go inside the box, but I do encourage them to have the dress hanging outside of the bag when I arrive
• The Bride’s Veil and Hair Accessories: These can be included in the photo of the dress or used in another way for details
• Shoes: You can photograph these with the dress or separately
• All Jewelry: Engagement ring, bride’s wedding band, groom’s wedding band, earrings, necklaces, bracelets, any other jewelry the bride may wear
• Invitation Suite: The full wedding invitation, detail card, RSVP card, program, save the date, addressed envelopes
• Perfume: You can photograph this with rings or earrings, or you can photograph with the bride holding it while getting ready
• Family Heirlooms: Any special items passed down to your bride
• Styling items: Any items your bride wants to include. For example, a ring box or fabric that matches the day. I keep a detail kit with me on a wedding day that has multiple color ring boxes and styling items in case the bride doesn’t have one. I also recommend bringing a styling mat for details.
• Loose florals: Ask your bride if she will have any extra loose florals from her florist that you could get to use in detail photos. This helps elevate the look of the detail shots.

Why Should You Photograph Bridal Details?

1. Telling the Story of the Day:
   Bridal details tell the story of the day. Your bride has planned this day for months. Highlighting these items helps your couple relive their day from start to finish. From the dress to the rings, each piece has a story to tell and provides context for the rest of the wedding.
2. Setting the Tone:
   The way you photograph bridal details can set the mood for the entire wedding. Typically, the details highlight the overall theme and color scheme of the day. I use this time to really get creative and get in the mindset of the overall feel of the day.
3. Capturing Meaningful keepsakes
   Bridal details often hold sentimental value. A grandmother’s ring or a piece of jewelry with significant meaning add emotion to your bride’s wedding day. In capturing a wedding, we want our bride’s to be able to look back and see and feel her emotions from the day from start to finish. Highlighting these details preserve the significance of her cherished keepsakes.

When to Photograph Bridal Details

Timing is everything when it comes to capturing bridal details. Ideally, you want to photograph these items upon arrival at the venue, before the bride gets into her dress. This gives you the chance to take your time and focus on each item without feeling rushed. It also allows to you to get the overall theme/ color scheme of the wedding before diving into the day.

How Much Time do Details take?

I recommend creating a photo timeline for each couple and discussing it with them prior to the wedding day. While discussing the timeline, I would tell your bride that you start each wedding with bridal details. Explain that you will be allowing a set amount of time to capture these details as soon as you arrive.

I recommend allowing a minimum of 30 minutes. It is ideal if you can get 45 minutes to an hour. I have found that this is the sweet spot for giving yourself enough time to capture everything and be creative. If the day just doesn’t allow for that, I would consider arriving a little early to give yourself some extra time. This ensures you have the time you need to capture all of the details, and also plays into giving an excellent client experience.

If you do not already send your bride’s a photo timeline, I have created a timeline template that walks you through the entire process of creating a timeline. This timeline template includes multiple customizable templates that you can use to create timelines for your brides. If you want first access to this template when it launches, join the waitlist here!

Tips for Capturing Stunning Bridal Detail Shots

• Pay attention to lighting: Natural light is your friend for soft, even light. When shooting details you are usually going to be inside the venue. Look for a large window to shoot beside for details. I also recommend bringing a reflector, or finding a white table cloth, bed, or pillow that you can use to bounce the light from the opposite direction of the window. This will help evenly light your detail photos and cut down on harsh shadows.
• Incorporate styling items: Bridal detail images should be primarily photos of your bride’s items. However, sometimes adding in styling mats, styling trays, or a ring box really helps elevate the look of the image. I recommend bringing items that you can incorporate into the detail photos in case your bride doesn’t have any. Just be mindful that the images should primarily reflect your couple’s wedding day and the brides items.
• Consider textures and color scheme: If you notice any specific colors or textures that are included or set up around the venue, try to incorporate these into your photos. If my bride has chosen some wicker fans to pass out to guests, you can incorporate a wicker fan in the image to help tell the story of the day.
• Be creative: This is a portion of the wedding day that you can make each wedding day unique. I recommend taking multiple shots with different set ups of the items. Set up different positioning for the rings, invitation suite, and shoes, etc.

Final Thoughts

Bridal details are a vital part of the wedding day. These smaller details often tell the story of our couples in a subtle but important way. This sets the tone for the day and allows you to get creative and make each wedding day unique. Be sure to plan ahead to give yourself time to capture these images.

Please know that as you gain experience in shooting weddings, you will find a routine that works for you with details. Capturing details can be overwhelming for some, but it doesn’t have to be. Try out some of these tips for your next wedding and let me know it was helpful. If you want to make sure you are planning for enough time to capture this part of the day well, be sure to grab my Wedding Photography Timeline Template HERE. This template will help you level up your client experience and be sure you have time to capture every part of the day well!

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