There’s just something about those pre-wedding jitters, the little moments of “this is it,” the (sometimes alcohol induced) laughs with your best friends. The last minute details being worked on in the corner. The behind-the-scenes of Tik-Toks being put together.

We don’t typically do a ton of getting ready photos, and this part is mostly candids – because you probably don’t want a ton of photos where you have half a face full of makeup. We generally buffer in around 30 minutes for candids at each wedding.

What to wear

While I know most of us like to get ready in an old t-shirt and some sweatpants (or maybe that’s just me), but these days it’s pretty common practice to wear something cute. 

Unpopular opinion, but hear me out.

I highly recommend that if you do matching PJs or robes, that you enjoy the candid photos of you and your bridal party together — but for the sake of keeping things stress free, I actually recommend AGAINST doing a formal photo of everyone in their outfits.

Typically at the beginning of the day, any little hiccups in the timeline can feel monumental. And I’ve found that the time it takes to get everyone ready, find a spot big enough for everyone to fit that isn’t cluttered, and then wait on the stragglers to finish up their touch-ups, simply isn’t worth the headache. 

The space

The location really defines the look and mood of every photo, and this is also true for the getting ready location. Hotel rooms are notorious for terrible yellow lighting. Consider renting a cute Air BNB to get ready in! Instead of being cramped in a tiny bathroom where the toilet will be in the background of your photos, try to find a big, open room with lots of windows.

Windows are the most important part – soft, natural light will make all the difference. It’ll make you look radiant, rather than washed out and yellow.

There’s not too many times in the day when we’ll go out of our way to change the way a room looks, but one thing that we do at every wedding is turn off the overhead lights and do some dramatic shots using window light.