The bride getting ready is where the magic starts, and as a wedding photographer, it’s your chance to capture all the excitement, anticipation, and gorgeous moments before all of the formal portraits and emotional moments begin! Let’s dive into how to photograph the bride getting ready on a wedding day.

1. Finishing Touches of Hair and Makeup

After completing bridal details, it is time to focus on your BRIDE! The first thing I do after details is capture the finishing touches of the bride’s hair and makeup. Typically the hair and makeup artist are still there so you can capture them finalizing hair spray or lipstick! I like to capture just a few of these photos for the bride to have to look back on.

Pro tip: Include the vendors in these photos and share the gallery with them after the wedding. This allows them to share your images and circulate your name around on social media!

How to capture finishing touches:

• Close-ups of hair and makeup : You want to make sure you get closeups of the bride having lipstick or blush applied. I also like to get the hair artist spraying or pinning the brides hair. A lot of times these can be done creatively with a mirror. These are the final few moments before the day starts rolling so be sure to snap just a few!
• Capture the overall feel of the room: Don’t just focus on the bride. Look for the interactions between the bride and her stylist or bridesmaids. Think candid moments. The way she laughs, her drinking mimosas, and her girls dancing to their music. Those are the shots that will bring back all the feels for your bride in her gallery!
• Natural light is your best friend: Do not forget that natural light is going to give you that soft even light. When and if possible try to get your bride near a window. If you cannot, be sure to use your on camera flash. If you need more tips about on camera flash, read the blog here.

2. Fun Getting Ready Photos

Typically brides have their girls in matching pajamas or robes and want to snap a few fun photos! These photos are candid moments like popping champagne or hugging and laughing at the camera. These are just to capture the bride soaking in the excitement and joy before she steps into her dress. This part of the day is all about having fun with the people closest to the bride.

How to capture fun getting ready photos:

• Have fun with it: Don’t be afraid to tell the bride and her girls to just be themselves and enjoy the moment. Tell them to laugh, joke around, or even do a little dance if that’s their thing. When people are relaxed and having fun, that’s when you get the best photos.
• Focus on the interactions: If your bride wants to pop champagne make sure to snap her opening the bottle and pouring into cups. Capture any moment between the bride and her girls.
• Sentimental moments: Sometimes the bridesmaids want to give the bride a gift. This is the perfect opportunity to capture something like that before portraits begin. I also like to capture the bride reading the letter or vows from her groom during this time if they decide to exchange these.

3. The Bride Gets Dressed

Now the FUN part! The bride finally gets dressed. For this portion of the day we step out of the room and allow her to get into her dress. I tell them to get in the dress and get comfortable, and then we will come in and capture the zipping or buttoning process.

There are a few things to focus on capturing here:

• Buttoning or zipping up: Once the bride is in her dress, you want to capture full length and close up photos of the bride’s mom or bridesmaids helping her in her dress. I like to get photos of the bride looking at me and looking back down her shoulder as she is being zipped into her dress.
• The Veil: These are some of my favorite moments to capture. I recommend taking photos of the mom or bridesmaids putting in the veil. I also like to capture them fluffing/adjusting the veil around the bride. You can shoot multiple angles for these photos.
• Jewelry and Shoes: Once your bride has her dress and veil on, I then capture her putting on all the pieces of jewelry she will be wearing. I like to get photos of her putting them on and closeups of the actual pieces themselves. For shoes, I ask someone to kneel down and help her get into her shoes. These always capture the sweetest moments!

What about the Groom?

It is easy to get carried away with getting the bride ready that we forget about the groom! However, it is important to capture a few photos of the groom getting dressed too! If you have a second shooter with you, this is a perfect time to split up and capture the groom and groomsmen during the getting ready process!!

What to capture of the groom getting ready:

• Groomsmen fun: You or your second shooter should capture some candid moments with the groomsmen in the grooms suite. Whether they’re sharing a laugh, tying their ties, or doing a fun toast, these are the shots that balance out the day and show off the personalities of the groom and his guys.
• Groom gets dressed: Make sure to get photos of the groom getting dressed, the buttoning of the suit, tying his tie, cufflinks going on, pinning the boutonniere, and any other special details. I like to include the best man or the grooms dad in helping the groom get ready.
• Sentimental moments: If your couple decides to exchange gifts or letters, this is a great time to capture the groom reading that. Sometimes parents like to exchange gifts with the groom and I like to do that during this time too!

That’s a Wrap!

Getting ready photos are such an important part of the full wedding day. It allows you to capture the candid and emotional moments for your couple before all the formal portraits begin. I hope you will be able to use the tips from this blog as you are capturing your next wedding day! 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!

If you have any questions, or thought this blog was helpful would you leave me a comment below!? You can also email me or DM me on Instagram anytime!

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