Hey friends! Something that can often be a challenge is to capture bridal details efficiently and quickly. I want to share today a 4 quick tips I’ve learned that has helped this part of the wedding day go really smoothly! So let’s get started!!

1. Ask the bride to have the details ready for when you arrive. During the planning process, I remind my brides a few different times to ensure all their details are gathered (I even have it listed on their timeline for when I arrive). This includes their shoes, jewelry, invitation suite, dress, bouquet, ALL three rings, veil, perfume, their something blue, something borrowed, and anything else they want photographed during this time! I recommend they put everything into one bag or box for easy transporting and to ensure everything stays together. Sometimes, it doesn’t quite work out well, and a few things might be missing because they HAVE to be somewhere else (this often happens with the rings or bouquet!), but I try to do as much as I can at the beginning. If I arrive and don’t have everything, I always assure my brides it’s totally fine, and it can be captured later (because it does work!!). If her bouquet isn’t ready, I normally will grab it in between portraits for a few shots of it outside. If I don’t have all 3 rings, I’ll normally ask for them during the reception and grab some shots.

2. Educate your bride beforehand on how long details will take! For myself, details normally take between 30-45 minutes to fully photograph, depending on how many there are. Letting your bride know how much time it will take to get details like they see on your blog is so helpful for them and you! When putting together a timeline, I have a guideline that lets my brides know much time I need for each part of the day in order to photograph it well. Letting them know ahead of time, and even putting together a tentative timeline for them helps a LOT! :)

3. Bring a “wedding details bag”. I go more in depth about this HERE. But for some venues, it’s so easy to find pretty backdrops for details- but for some, it can be really difficult to find a place to photograph these! For this reason, I almost always have my wedding details bag with me, just in case I need a solid piece of fabric. Sometimes, I’ll even bring a poster board with me for a nice white backdrop! My details bag also has things to add to details, such as a variety of ribbon, lace, and stamps. If a bride doesn’t have a lot of details to work with, I definitely try to incorporate one of these things to give it a little something extra! I also throw in a couple of wooden hangers for dress shots, just in case the bride didn’t order a special one for her dress.

4. As far as technically making your images look great, I definitely suggest looking at the back of your camera pretty often! I do this anyway throughout a wedding day, but I think it’s especially crucial during this part! It’s important to nail your exposure, but not only that, it helps me make sure everything looks right in the image. When I’m setting up an invitation suite, I will make sure everything is aligned straight… but often, once I take a photo and look at it, I can immediately see one piece that isn’t aligned with everything else. But it takes a photograph for me to spot it. So if you don’t look at the back of your camera often, make it a priority for this part of the day to make sure everything looks right! :)

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