Woohoo! You’re engaged! Let the planning begin! 🤗Wedding planning is SUCH an exciting time, but it can also be overwhelming! I want to make this process as FUN and stress-free as possible, so we put together a little wedding photography to help you plan your wedding with your photography in mind! Of all the things we plan for in our wedding, our photos are the only thing that we get to take home with us (besides our handsome groom!) after the wedding is over! So I love helping our brides make the most of their wedding photo experience!

These are some of our best wedding photography planning tips.

Engagement Photos:

Save the dates usually go out 6 months before the wedding date, so scheduling your engagement session 9-10 months before the wedding ensures you have time to have your engagement photos taken and design your save the dates, gather addresses (this always takes longer than planned! ), and mail out your Save the Dates with your gorgeous engagement photos that everyone will be SO excited to hang on their fridge! BONUS, you can use your Engagement photos for your first Christmas Card as an engaged couple! 

The Dress:

Choosing your dress is SUCH a big part of the day. It’s one of the most fun parts when your wedding day. Something brides don’t think about is how their dress will photograph. Bright white dresses are beautiful, but they often photograph with a hint of blue tones. We highly recommend the look of an ivory or off-white dress because the color translates SO well on camera. 

Your Venue:

The venue is a HUGE part of your wedding photographs! The venues that photograph best are venues that have getting ready rooms with windows and natural light, reception areas that have lighter colored walls or floors to reflect light, and outdoor areas that have access to shade for the sunnier parts of the day. BONUS if there’s an epic field or landscape for Golden Hour husband and wife portraits!

Your Details:

We love capturing our brides’ details first thing at a wedding, and it’s important to think about what those details are ahead of time so you can have them all ready to go! Necklaces, earrings, sentimental items, garters, perfume, your something old, something new, borrowed and blue. The veil. The shoes! Your invitations. All the pretty things! We recommend checking out a Mrs. Box for your ring shots! You can have them customized with a monogram and choose a color that fits your wedding color scheme! Click here to check out the Mrs. Box! You’ll LOVE it! Vintage ring boxes and jewelry cases or trays are also a great option for stunning ring shots!

Your ceremony time:

Planning your ceremony around your photography is essential! If you want those stunning Golden Hour shots, you have to plan your ceremony strategically so that there’s time for sunset photos after. Having a first look allows for more portrait time in your day! Planning for your ceremony to end an hour to an hour and a half before the sun sets gives plenty of time to wrap up any final family photos and get a few husband and wife portraits during the glow-iest time of day! These will be your FAVORITE photos so definitely prioritize them in your timeline! 

There you have it! We hope these wedding photography planning tips help take some of the stress out of planning and give you lots of ideas to implement for your big day!

Xoxo,

Jade