Wedding Planning 101 | Photographing the Details

Hey friends! Kat here. Today’s post is all about those wedding details.

For us, wedding days begin with them. It’s actually become one of my favorite parts of the day because it allows us to get creative with how to tie the whole ‘big picture’ of the wedding together using the smaller elements of the day. We try to give ourselves ample time to photograph them as soon as we arrive- which is why we now ask all of our brides to have a ‘detail kit’ ready for us! This way, we can walk in, hug and be giddy (because, HELLO, it’s your WEDDING DAY!! and I also must state that only I will be giddy, as giddy does not describe Mark as a person at all), and then we can get straight to work making all of your hard work look gorgeous.

So what’s inside a detail kit? It’s not really a kit because you’d need a very large bag or box to fit:

• the dress: Please tell your mommas that we handle all wedding dresses with the utmost care- we handle everything with the utmost care, but people can freak out about the dress.
• the veil / hair pieces
• shoes
• the rings: all three of them! The rings are most often missing from a details kit, since everyone on earth will tell you to give them to the best man for the ceremony. However, we have to break that tradition, because your photographers need them first! Many a time I’ve had to go hunt the best man down or ask a distracted groomsman for them. (it’s amazing how they can just watch Star Wars until 30 minutes before the wedding and then still be put together- the girls take hours)
• bouquet and boutonniere: this requires coordination with the florist to make sure they arrive on time! Have them delivered to the room that the bride is getting ready in, if possible.
• jewelry: the vintage bracelet, the pearl necklace, the teardrop earrings- you know.
• perfume: I love perfume bottles. I have never worn perfume, but the bottles are so cute! And, I hear that if you a pick a scent you like, and have never worn before, to wear on your wedding day, y’alls brains will forever associate that scent with that day. Brains are cool!
• the invitation suite: The whole thing- envelopes, invitation, RSVP card, details card, all of it! It is so important to your details!  If you don’t have one lying around, ask your stationary company to send an extra or two for your photographers to photograph. They’ll most likely be very happy to accommodate, especially knowing they will get some good pictures of their product out of it!
• your borrowed and blue items: I borrowed jewelry from my mahm and wore a garter with a blue ribbon, soooo… this stuff is optional! Some borrowed and blue things are very meaningful (like my mom’s jewelry, but that falls under the category of jewelry already).

If all of these things are in one place for us to grab and start photographing, the day starts very smoothly- and insures that we spend less time gathering all of these things, and more time photographing. With a kit ready, we can breeze through details and then have more time for the “getting ready” shots!

Aside from those essential items, we’ve learned to suggest a few other things to make your details shine!

1. Bring a nice hanger for the dress! Most dresses come with perfectly useful but very ugly plastic hangers. It seems like a tiny little thing- but it makes a world of difference when it comes to photographing the wedding dress. It needs to be displayed beautifully, and a plastic hanger just doesn’t cut it. And don’t worry if you don’t have one or forget it on the day of – we have some wooden hangers that we bring to every wedding- but personalized hangers can be a fun detail!

2. Consider bringing accent items– we’ll use these all throughout styling the details. Don’t stress, because we DO have our own accent items to use in our styling kit (along with our hangers) but if you have some things more specific to your theme and wedding, then please bring them! This can be anything from ribbons in your wedding colors, floral stamps, lace, driftwood, a ring box or ring dish, to anything that will tie your details into your over all wedding design.

3. Family heirlooms. If there’s something very special that’s been passed down in the family or used in previous family weddings, like a broach, an antique jewelry box, your grandmothers gold watch, or even an antique silver tray, set those things aside too, and we’ll make sure we photograph those prized possessions.

4. The guys get detail shots too! Their shoes, tie/bowtie, cuff-links, watch, boutonniere, cigar, sunglasses, socks, flasks, cologne… anything like that can and will be used to tie the grooms details together. If he wants to put a ‘kit’ together too, he’s more than welcome to!

And that’s that! Details may be small, but they are mighty in bringing everything together.

– K

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