Today we’re sharing our absolute best wedding week photo tips for keeping these photo related things on schedule on your big day! These steps make all the difference in keeping your wedding day running smoothly, so please make note of them! Your planner or coordinator will likely be handling a lot of these things, but if you don’t have a planner, designate a family member or member of the wedding party to help with these tasks.

Remember the Extra Flowers

We begin every wedding day by photographing your detail items such as shoes, rings and invitations. So it’s important to remind your florist to drop your flowers off before we arrive! This is important so that we have small, loose florals for your detail photos while we are actually photographing the details.

Gather Your Details

If you want gorgeous detail photos, it’s important to plan ahead! We will bring backdrops and ring boxes, but we recommend gathering your detail items in a large tote so that they are ready for when we arrive! Place the tote next to your wedding dress and we will get to work as soon as we arrive. Here’s what to include in the tote:

– All three rings
– Addressed and stamped invitation suite (two copies)
– Extra loose florals
– Earrings
– Necklace
– Hair pieces / veil
– Heirloom jewelry
– Shoes 
– Perfume
– Vows
– Clutch
–  Favors
– Groom details (cufflinks, shoes, bowtie, cologne)
– Anything important to you!

Confirm Timing with Hair and Makeup Artists

One of the biggest hiccups on the wedding day timeline is hair and makeup running over. It happens so often but can easily be avoided by keeping your hair and makeup team in the loop on your timeline. It’s important to communicate to your hair and makeup team a hard stop time. If you don’t have a planner or coordinator, assign a bridesmaid to keep an eye on this to make sure that all makeup brushes are down no later than ten minutes before it’s time for you to put on your dress.

Check in with Your Family Members

If you haven’t already, reach out to the family members included in your family formal list this week and let them know that are included on your list! You’d be amazed at how many family members don’t realize they need to be present for family formals and head off to the restroom or cocktail hour. (And trust me, it is NOT easy to get them back once they go to cocktail hour!)

Let them know exactly where and when we will be doing family formals (check with your planner or your photo timeline) and to return to the ceremony space following any recessionals. 

For an additional step, ask a family member on each side to assist us with family formals so that we can quickly identify who is who!

Click here to read more tips for family formals.

The Final Details

If you’ll be getting ready in a hotel, please be sure your room number is communicated to any vendors who will need this information, including your photo team. For security reasons, most hotels will not share this information so it’s important to make sure this info is shared ahead of time. If not we may lose precious photo time trying to locate your hotel room!

Do your best to keep your getting ready space neat and tidy so that the backgrounds of your photos are clear of clutter!

Have bridesmaids steam dresses the night before so that they are able to relax and have fun with you during hair and makeup!

If you are still looking for a chic robe to wear during hair and makeup, it isn’t too late! Grab this one this week!

Wedding Week Photo Tips