Hey everyone! Today I’m going to be chatting about what I include in my Wedding Details Bag!

When I show up on a wedding day, the first thing I do is shoot the bridal details for the first 30-45 minutes. 90% of the time, I bring along my details bag that has everything I need to always shoot beautiful details! Sometimes, if the bride has a lot of details, I won’t use much, if any, at all from my bag… but other times, I’ll use several things. If I’m being honest, I could probably spend 2+ hours just on this part of the day, I love it so much! It gets my creative juices flowing and gets me so excited for the rest of the day!

Here’s an overview of what’s in my bag:

Here’s a list of everything included in my bag:

• Arrangement of fabrics (from Silk & Willow and local JoAnn’s)
• Ribbon from Silk & Willow, The Poetry of Silk, and Amazon (lace ribbon from local JoAnn’s)
• Light and Dark Wooden Hangers
• Command Hook & Refill Strips
• Clamp from Home Depot
• Mini 12″ Reflector
• Mini Antique Tray from local Hobby Lobby (online here)
• Antique Stamps
• Bag from local Hobby Lobby (online here)
• White Putty (local grocery store)

Some things that are not always in my bag, but I may throw in there: a few more styling details (depending on the wedding & shown below), a few different fabrics (white and cream), and little pouch with any emergency items (bobby pins, band-aids, deodorant, sewing kit, hairbrush, hairspray, etc). I will also often bring a poster board as a backdrop to shoot on! I have a plain white one, and one I covered with a cream, canvas fabric.

Now let’s break it down a little bit…

FABRICS

With an exception to the fabric on the far left in the above picture, all my fabrics are from Silk & Willow. Oh my goodness, they photograph SO beautifully! At this point, I haven’t had a chance to use them much yet, because I just bought them- but they will DEFINITELY be making regular appearances in my details in future weddings.

Every once in awhile, they sell “Remnant Bundles”. I highly recommend stalking their Instagram and waiting for these to come out, because they’re only $50 (which is a steal) and it gives you a nice variety of several colors to work with, as opposed to paying a lot more for only one color (and a large piece of fabric, when you only need a small piece).

The fabric on the far left is from my local JoAnn’s, and has more of a silky fabric, just incase I feel like that texture fits the wedding more. :) The other two fabrics I might throw in are also more silky, and are a darker cream and a white color.

When shooting wedding details, I mainly use my fabrics as backdrops. I do this by either laying them on the floor and “scrunching” them up to give a nice loose feel, or by draping them over a chair. Sometimes they aren’t necessary, though, because I will often try to use a bridesmaids dress the majority of the time.

RIBBONS

My fabric ribbons are from Silk & Willow, The Poetry of Silk, and Utterly Engaged.

I love using the Utterly Engaged ribbon (pile in top right of the first photo above) for ring shots- I can just pile it like shown above, and it gives a great great texture and beautiful colors for rings.

The ribbon above on the left photo is from The Poetry of Silk, and the little spools are the PERFECT size for including in detail shots, such as invitations.

The lace ribbon is from my local JoAnn’s, and works really well when you want to add a little more lace to my details… especially if I know the bride LOVES lace. :)

EXTRA LITTLE DETAILS

Sometimes, adding a few extra little details of your own can really take the bride’s details to the next level! I love doing this, but it definitely isn’t necessary. Out of the items above, I normally only bring the little try and stamps… but the other things are just ideas! I would LOVE to bring shells to weddings… buuuut, Ohio isn’t exactly known for being nautical. So just an idea if you happen to live along the coast! :) Extra tulle is nice sometimes too if the bride’s veil isn’t long or full enough. The stamps always work really well if you happen to have invitations with an envelope, so you can add a cute little stamp to the corner!

TOOLS FOR DRESS SHOTS

90% of the time, the bride doesn’t have a custom wooden hanger or there aren’t any good ones nearby. So I’m always sure to bring a couple of my own! Plus, I like being able to decide whether I want a light or dark color.

The clamp is clamped on the back of the wedding dress to make the middle look smaller. Think about it: when a bride doesn’t have her dress on, it tends to flatten out and look WIDER than she actually looks. So by using a clamp to tighten the back just a bit, it makes it look the same width as it would if she had it on! Plus, it looks way more professional. I actually stole this tip from Amy & Jordan. You should check them out, they’re pretty awesome. ;)

I also bring along a Command Hook and extra Refill Strips. You never know when there’s the perfect spot, but nowhere to hang it!

TOOLS FOR RING SHOTS

For ring shots, two of my favorite things to use is a mini reflector and white putty. I use both of these things typically for rings, but also for all my wedding details!

The reflector is nice because it’s super small (about 12″ long). You can easily hold it and get nice light! A reflector makes a HUGE difference when taking ring shots. That little pop of light from the other side helps SO much!

I use white putty to help rings (or any other detail) “stay” when it’s being a little frustrating. I just take a small piece and stick it on the back! No one will even notice.

Examples

Here’s a few examples using some of the tools mentioned above! :)

Below I used one of the fabrics as an element of the details for these two photos…

In the photo below, I used ribbon along the side to give it a soft touch. I also used one of my own fabrics for the cream backdrop.

Again, using a fabric as an element of the details…

And in these last two, I’ve used my posterboard with the cream canvas on it as the backdrop! I love how this gives more of a flat look, whereas just laying a piece of fabric gives a softer touch.

If you have ANY questions, feel free to comment below or email me at [email protected]! :)

If you loved this, check out more from my For Photographers series:

My Off Camera Flash Setup for Wedding Receptions

Wedding Day Emergency Kit

Wedding Day Gear Checklist

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