Often an overlooked detail in wedding planning, your getting ready space aesthetics and lighting contribute to the overall feel of your final wedding gallery. If you think about a full 8-10 hour wedding day, a quarter of that is often getting ready time, which means 2-3 hours and about 1/4 to 1/3 of your final wedding gallery. In this post, I’m reviewing a few of my top tips to guarantee the best image quality possible.
Step 1: Look for Natural Light
My first tip for beautiful getting ready images? Lots of natural light and neutral walls. As you plan your getting ready location, look for spaces that have a large window, or multiple windows in the room. The more natural light, the better your photographer is able to really highlight that fresh wedding day glow. Your makeup artist will appreciate lots of natural light, too!
Pro Tip: Turn off any indoor, overhead, lighting when your photographer arrives – this yellow-ish hued light is not as flattering when mixed with beautiful natural light streaming in through a window. If you forget, your photographer will probably do this for you.
Step 2: Clean up!
Getting ready spaces are almost guaranteed to be cluttered, no matter how large the space. Ask a few friends to clean up the areas closest to the biggest windows in the brightest rooms of where you are getting ready. This allows your photographer more time to be creative and capture the important moments of your day.
Step 3: Plenty of water and snacks!
This is less for photography and more for survival 😉 Make sure you, your wedding party, and your family are well fed and hydrated. Wedding days can be long and taking care of yourself earlier in the day is always smart.
Troubleshooting
What if your venue doesn’t offer a getting ready space with lots of windows? Don’t worry – we’ll work with what we’ve got! Most photographers bring supplemental lighting to use in cases like this – we can adapt! Alternatively, your photographer might suggest you put on your final touches outdoors in good weather, or on a nearby porch, where there is plenty of natural light to work with.
OR, you can always offer the included space to friends/family and book yourselves a separate nearby Airbnb that offers more space & windows.
Below are a few getting ready images from 2021 weddings along with venue information:
Image 1: The Mary Rockefeller Room at The Woodstock Inn
Image 2-3: Getting ready images from the bridal suite at The Barn at Smugglers’ Notch.
Image 4: A favorite candid of mine from a getting ready image at Kedron Valley Inn
Images 5-7: Lexie and Hunter getting ready in the Basin Harbor bridal suite / outdoors.
Images 8-10: Jaya getting ready near a large window at an Airbnb property in Stowe, Vermont.
Images 11-13: Lauren putting her dress on in one of the gorgeous rooms at Edson Hill.
Images 14-15: Chelsea & friends hanging poolside before her destination wedding in Jamaica.
Images 16-17: Lucy prepping for her wedding day at her childhood home in Middlebury, Vermont.
