Wedding Planning Tips for Brides (Photography and Beyond)

It’s been awhile since I have written wedding planning tips for brides. Sometimes I think there isn’t anything new to add. Then, I meet a bride and I realize that she only just got engaged and hasn’t done this before.

Just because I’m been in the industry for a long time doesn’t mean everyone knows what I know, it fact it means that I should share what I know.

In fact, part of the reason I became a wedding photographer is because of my experience with my own wedding photos. I felt other brides should have better wedding photos.

So I’ve put together some wedding planning tips for brides. I’ve written a lot of specific tips for certain conditions so be sure to check out the relevant post which I will be sure to link. If you’re a wedding photographer, check out this post on tips for beginners or our wedding settings guide.

wedding planning tips for brides

I’ve written these tips in regards to wedding photography but simply substitute whatever vendor you’re looking at hiring and apply the same priciples.

1. hire the right photographer

The first tip is obviously to hire the right photographer. Specifically, the right photographer for you. Make sure you hire someone whom you feel comfortable with. They are going to be around on the wedding day so their energy matters.

You should also like their style of photography and how they edit their photos. Do they use a filter you’ll hate in ten years or is their style a fit for yours?

The photographer you hire will act as a guide for your wedding photography so you’ll want to bear that in mind with the remaining tips. All photographers work a little differently so it will be helpful to know what applies to you.

Check out this guide on understanding wedding photography styles. Arguably this is the only wedding photography tip for brides that really matters. Choose the right photographer and everything else will fall into place.

Some other resources to help you hire the right wedding photographer:

2. communicate with your wedding photographer

Do tell your photographer what is most important to you about your wedding day. Is your grandma the most influential woman in your life, do you love a good dance party more than anything, have you been taking dance lessons for six months. Telling your photographer your priorities for marriage, life, and the wedding day will help them decide how to frame the story they are going to tell.

Do not give your photographer a shot list of every photo you want. Hire a professional that you trust and then leave them to do their job. Check out this post on wedding photography shot lists to help you understand that further if it seems harsh

3. don’t worry about the camera

As photographers we take a lot of photos. Don’t worry about smiling when you see the camera. Just enjoy your day, stay present, and allow us to capture the moments that are happening.

A lot of photographers are photojournalists, like us, and trying to tell a story. If you overschedule, overplan, or overthink what you’re doing it will impact the experience and thus your photos.

Don’t make any decisions about what you want to do for the sake of the photos. If you don’t want to cut the cake, don’t. That time could be spent doing something you do want to do and result in photos of moments that are more important to you anyway.

4. do plan time for portraits, preferably in good light

Your wedding day is first and foremost about your experience. So while I just said that you should skip any portion of the traditional wedding day you want, I highly recommend portraits of just the two of you. Our couples really appreciate those photos.

It’s also an awesome chance to be along and together appreciating the magnitude of the day. Focus on that rather than feeling like it’s a photo shoot and you’ll end up with photos you like much more anyway. We want to capture those real smiles and loving looks.

Ideally, portraits at sunset or when there is nice light will make a big difference to your photos. There are ways to schedule it that will work with your timeline so reach out. We definitely don’t want you to miss your whole party.

For more on this check out our 9 best outdoor wedding photography tips or this simple sample wedding photography timeline.

5. be careful when searching for inspiration

It’s easy to get carried away wedding planning. You’ll see blog post of stunning centerpieces and elaborate themes. Often, these are not real weddings and thus they set unreasonable expectation. This is one of my favorite wedding photography tips for brides as it will help keep your expectations reasonable and your excitement high.

I have never heard a guest complain about the centerpieces but I have heard many talk about how fun the wedding is. It’s my belief that weddings are about the experience and the stuff is just there to help set the mood. Don’t stress yourself out over things being perfect.

It can help you limit your time on Instagram or Pinterest if it starts to make you feel like there’s a lot of pressure to make your wedding perfect. Better yet, try to only look at real weddings and even then know that they’re being presented in a highly curated way.

6. engagement pictures are both fun and helpful

Taking engagement photos adds extra fun to the engagement process and allow you to get to know your photographer. Now, when your photographer shows up on the wedding day you are already comfortable with them.

Additionally, you’ll have an idea of how it feels to have your photo taken as well as what the resulting images look like. I find most couples fear goes away once they see those photos.

Check out our engagement shoot planning tips to help you get ready!

conclusion: wedding planning tips for brides

I hope you enjoyed these wedding planning tips for brides. We try to keep things real, simple, useful, and practical. Your wedding is about you and it’s about your relationship. It’s about the marriage ahead.

Check out more of our wedding photography advice for brides here.

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Based in Evergreen, CO we travel throughout the state as Colorado adventure wedding photographers and videographers. Let us help you make your wedding an adventure! It would be an honor to capture your love.

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