All About the Details | Resources
All about the details | Advice from Northern Virginia Wedding Photographers
Before you walk down the aisle, a lot of prep work happens. The bride and her maids are getting their hair and makeup done; the groom and his men and getting dressed and learning to tie bowties. These moments are so important to capture the authenticity of the day from start to end. So, we're going to review all of the aspects of the wedding day photography timeline before the groom sees his bride for the first time.
Bridal Detail Photos
The Flat Lay - We wrote a full blog on bridal flat lays, which you can find here. This will be the first thing that your photographer starts with during the wedding day. It allows them to warm up their creativity and get comfortable in the space. We typically complete these in the bridal suite, so we get to feel the energy in the room and prepare for the getting ready photos.
To be ready for your photographer, please have all of the items for your flat lay set aside in a separate box ready to go. If you have two photographers, all of the groom’s details should be with him, except his wedding ring. If not, all the details can stay with the bride.
Consider incorporating these items in your flat lay:
Complete Invitation Suite: Invitation Card, Detail Card, RSVP Card, Envelope, Save the Date
Bridal Accessories: Earrings, Necklaces, Bracelets, Garter, Veil, etc.
Wedding Ring Set: Engagement Ring, Bride’s Wedding Ring, Groom’s Wedding Ring
Wedding Vow Book
Loose flowers from the florist
Wedding program
Perfume
Special Keepsakes
Cake Topper
Flower Girl Basket
Additional Bridal Details - If we aren’t asked to design and construct a traditional flat lay, we will still pull some of your special items together to capture them as they are. For example, your shoes, veil, flowers, and dress.
Getting Ready Photos - The last part of your “getting ready” time is spent capturing photos of the bride and those who she is getting ready with! This is a great opportunity to break out the mimosas and matching PJs for some coordinated photos.
Dress Prep
At Bakerture, we call the next portion of the day “Dress Prep.” This is the opportunity for us to capture the bride getting fully ready.
Getting Dressed - We step out of the room to allow the bride to step into her dress, and then we come back in to capture those getting ready moments. We encourage brides to have their mom or a special person in their life there to help them step into the dress and zip up the back. We also capture the maid of honor helping with shoes and jewelry as needed.
Bridal Portraits - This is our opportunity to capture some bridal portraits with natural light coming through a window. It allows you to take a couple moments to soak in the morning before moving onto either your first look or your ceremony.
First Look with Dad - Always a tear jerker for us! We love capturing those precious moments where your dad sees you for the first time.
Groom Detail Photos
We are only able to cover groom’s details if you have hired two photographers, but we love when we are able to! We’ll break down this coverage just as we did for the bride.
Groom’s Details - We pull together the details of the groom together into a flat lay. If you have a second photographer, please include the details in a separate box for easy access.
Some ideas to include are:
Cufflinks
Socks
Shoes
Tie/Bowtie
Watch
Tie Pin
Sentimental Items
Getting Ready Photos - Just as the gals do pajama photos, we also capture photos of the guys candidly getting ready in the morning. We encourage you to incorporate your personality into these photos and interact with your guys as you normally would!
Getting Dressed - Once again, we’ll step out of the room to allow you to put on your suit. We’ll rejoin you and your party to capture them helping you get ready and putting on the final touches.
Groom’s Portraits - The final portion of getting ready will be some solo portraits for the groom. If you don’t have a second photographer, we can squeeze these in later, but this is a great opportunity to do them with all of the clothes freshly pressed!
