Wedding tips for brides

CONGRATULATIONS!
You’re engaged!!
Time to start planning your dream wedding!! Your wedding journey should be a fun and exciting time but can sometimes turn stressful! I hope these wedding tips can help you keep the joy alive through your wedding planning process and help you achieve your perfect day with the love of your life!

8 wedding tips for brides

1. Create a vision board

 There are SO many wedding ideas out there that it can be hard to find your ideal style! One second you love that boho chic wedding dress and the next second you love that traditional princess gown with the stunning train! Go to Pinterest, Instagram, or wedding blogs to start finding inspiration and see what trends, colors, and themes start repeating in your favorites list and create a vision board to bring it all together!

2. Prioritize

 Once you know your wedding budget, prioritize!!! As a photographer I am biased, but I truly believe that photography is going to be one of the most important decisions you make for your wedding day!! I can’t tell you how much it hurts my heart to hear a bride come to me and say they have booked a stunning venue, ordered an incredible ceremony floral installation, and they’ll be wearing an incredible designer wedding gown, but now their budget is gone and they are looking for a “cheap” wedding photographer! You will only spend one day at that stunning venue, that beautiful floral installation will die, and that amazing gown will rarely, if ever, be worn again, but your wedding pictures last FOREVER! Not only do they live on the walls of your home, and your family’s homes, but they are priceless heirlooms that will be passed on to your children and generations to come! Your wedding pictures will be the only way to look back on that beautiful day and remember all of those important details, those priceless emotions, and relive your dream day!

3. Create a photography friendly timeline

 Just as you want the best possible images from your wedding day your photographer wants that too! Most photographers will work with you in creating an ideal timeline so that you’re taking advantage of the best lighting. Those pictures you love so much on your photographer’s website? They will give you those same images as long as you work with them and trust their judgment! They typically know how long events take and they will also schedule some cushion time here and there for you in case things start to run behind!

4. Do a first look

Some brides decide not to do a first look, which is totally a personal preference, but there are many benefits to doing a first look that are important to consider! My favorite part of doing a first look is that it is a private and intimate moment between just the Bride and Groom instead of in front of an audience.  A first look allows both the Bride and the Groom to be captured together in the same photograph for this important moment! It gives you a moment to connect before walking down the aisle. Another benefit is the timeline! Doing a first look allows you to take the majority of your pictures before your guests even arrive, giving you more time to spend with each other, your guests, and enjoy your reception! 

5. Take Golden Hour Portraits

 Speaking of timelines, one of the most important things that I always make sure is on my couple’s timelines is a quick Husband and Wife session during golden hour! I promise that these will always be your favorite pictures, the ones that you want to blow up and frame on your walls! Most of the time you’ll have already taken some portraits before golden hour, but it is always worth sneaking back out for at least 10 minutes to grab a few shots with that perfect lighting!

6. Have fresh florals

 I know, I know, I already mentioned in a previous tip that your flowers will die and you’ll never use them again. That being said, if you have a lower budget I would always spring for at least a simple bridal bouquet and something small for your bridesmaids. A bouquet with real flowers vs fake flowers will be very obvious in your pictures! Plus you can reuse the bridal and bridesmaid bouquets as table centerpieces at your reception! It also will look amazing in your pictures when your bouquet provides a pop of color against your white wedding dress!

7. Have an unplugged ceremony

 Your wedding guests are so excited for you and love to be a part of your wedding day! Especially in our day of social media this can often equate to your guests taking pictures and filming your ceremony on their iPhones. This can mean that when you get your professional wedding pictures back from your photographer, and you see your pictures of you walking down the aisle, but your guests in the background of these pictures are staring at their phones that they’re holding up instead of staring at you!! Sometimes guests are even sticking far out of the aisles to get their phone shots, ruining the shot that your photographer is taking. I have also been at ceremonies where guest’s phones have gone off during the bride and groom’s vows so consider leaving the ceremony photography to the professional and asking your guests to turn their phones off!

8. Don’t stress it!!

The most cliche, doesn’t even feel helpful tip out there right?!! Which is why it is the most important! Go into your wedding day with a “no matter what happens I am marrying the love of my life” attitude and it really will be your best day ever!! Have fun planning all the little and big details, but don’t get too hung up on them! If anything starts to feel stressful, take a break and go on a date with your fiance to remember what is most important! If your budget allows it please get a wedding planner to take off the majority of your planning load, they are worth their weight in gold!! 

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The Olana
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