So you’ve combed through Pinterest and you have likely pinned some adorable wedding day getting ready photos. It’s the perfect time of the wedding day for sweet, soft, authentic moments but the shots you see on Pinterest don’t just happen by accident. They are the result of careful planning, smart scheduling, and the individual style of your wedding day. For gorgeous getting ready photos, there are a few tips to follow. 

Pick a spacious, clean room. You want the room you pick to be open, airy, and comfortable. You are going to be spending a lot of time in this room on your wedding day and you don’t want to feel suffocated by a small space. Also, your photographer needs space to get back far enough to ensure that everything important is in the shot. The getting ready room should also match the aesthetic of your wedding. If it’s a formal downtown affair, consider getting ready in a nice hotel room and if you’re having a simple and sweet backyard wedding, your childhood room would be perfect. 

It’s all about the light. Even more important than the aesthetic of the room is the light. Your getting ready room must have natural light for optimal photos. The soft light that comes in through a window will look gorgeous as your mom puts on your dress. I almost always turn off the artificial lights in the room during that time because the mixed lighting is disastrous for photos. Trust your photographer if she does this. 

Allow for enough time. Your photographer can’t get all the detail shots and the photos of you getting ready and putting your dress on done in 30 minutes. If you’re on a budget, you might have to forgo some of these moments but if your budget allows for it, you will get the best getting ready and detail shots if your photographer has a roomy amount of time. You will also feel less rushed if you know you have a few hours to have all of this done. The best getting ready and detail photos that I have been able to capture were when I had at least 2 hours before the bride put on her dress. 

Keep the room clean. I’m always amazed at how much stuff a few bridesmaids can bring to a wedding day (but maybe that’s because I’m a minimalist!). Try to limit what everyone brings so the room can remain as tidy and spacious as possible. If all else fails, shove everything into a closet when it’s time to put on your dress. 

Keep your details kept together so you aren’t scrambling for them. The first thing I do when I arrive to a wedding scene is take detail shots: the rings, dress, shoes, bouquet, veil, jewelry, garter, earrings, invitation, etc. If there is anything you want photos of, keep it all together in a shoebox, for example. That way the photographer can quickly find everything, get the detail shots, and move on to getting photos of you getting ready. 

Let your photographer do their thing. Getting ready photos are a great time for candid, authentic moments of the bride and her girls. It’s a time for you to feel relaxed and pampered. If you hired a good photographer, you should be able to trust that they are capturing everything beautifully. The last thing you want is to be micromanaging someone on your wedding day. 

Make sure your photographer is aware of any must have shots. If you have special, unique details that may not exist at every other wedding, be sure to let the photographer know. For example, are you giving your mom a special gift? Or do you have a “something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue?” Maybe your bouquet contains your grandmother’s broach. Of course your photographer will know to get photos of your dress, you getting your makeup done, your bridesmaids and you in your robes, etc. But be sure to alert your photographer of any lesser known details before your wedding day so you will definitely have photos of them.