Your wedding day is one of the most important days of your life. You will want to remember every moment, from getting ready in the morning to dancing the night away. That's why it's so important to make sure that your getting-ready location is photo-ready! In this blog post, I will give you some tips and tricks for making sure your photos turn out amazing. With these simple actions you can make sure that your wedding day memories are captured beautifully!

Tip #01: How to pick the right space to get ready in

When considering locations, try to pick a location with the most natural light and a mix of open space and enough seating for the size of your group. The more open space the better, since it allows your photographer freedom to choose the best frame and lighting for each moment that happens. A location with interesting architecture or features, like a loft space where you can look down on everyone, can add a lot of interest to the images as well. Lastly, as much as I love colorful rooms, it’s not always the best for getting ready photos. With natural light, the color of the walls reflects onto everything in the room, so neutral-colored walls will brighten the space, but yellow or other colors will cast that color around instead.

Pro tip: Renting an Airbnb to get ready in gives your group plenty of space and variety to spread out in. If you’re looking at hotels, ask about their bridal suites, which are designed to make your day and your party’s as easy as possible. Where you choose to get ready can create a fun creative contrast to the rest of your day or offer unique

Tip #02: Find the Best Light in the Room

Great photos need great light, so is finding the best light in your getting ready room is key. Natural light, like next to large windows, is always superior to a room’s artificial lighting! Having space to be in the direct window light and also the area around that, where the light is soft and diffused, is awesome. You may have to move some furniture & experiment, but it's definitely worth it for the beautiful photos that will come from it.

As a photographer, this is the first step I take when I get to a getting ready space. If there’s enough natural light I’ll also turn off any overhead lights or lamps. These artificial lights are usually a different color than the sun’s natural light and you’ll notice the clashing colors in the photos.

As your photographer, I’m ready to handle any lighting situation that I encounter on a wedding day, so don’t worry if your space doesn’t check off any of these tips. Just let me know, and I’ll bring the light we need! But when you can, keep it in mind that the better the light, the better your photos will be.

Speed Tip #03: Travel Mirrors

This is a must have for any group getting ready all together. Bringing a few extra medium sized travel mirrors can allow everyone to have their own space, regardless of how many people can squeeze into the bathroom together. Plus, they can be easily moved if we need a better framing or light. This can also allow me to get creative with framing and capture unique moments.

Pro tip: Look for a tablet size mirror that can stand on it’s own. A foldable one like this works great:

Foldable Travel Mirror

Tip #04: Simple ways to handle the mess

One of the best tips I can give you is to have a tote bag for each friend. This can be a fun gift that you have screen printed for your wedding party, or just as a recommendation to your getting ready crew. Having a single bag with only what they need to get ready will make it easier for them keep track of their things, and will also help to keep the space clean. A few tote bags, especially if they’re specially printed looks so much more organized and less distracting than piles of everything everywhere in the background of your photos.

Pro Tip: Have a dropping zone. No matter what you say, people will bring extra stuff that they may not need right now. Identify an out of the way space to “hide” away those things until needed. I love using the bathtub, closets or the hidden side of the bed as this stashing spot.

The getting-ready location is actually an important part of any wedding day. It's the time when everyone can get ready together and just hang out before the big event. That’s why having your photographer there capturing the fun as it happens can lead to the best candid moments of the day! I hope this blog offered you some useful tips to make your getting ready location photo-ready so that your photos turn out amazing. If you have any other questions, don't hesitate to reach out! I’d be happy to help.