Taking Bridals/Groomals the Easy Way

We took our Bridals/Groomals at the Temple Quarry at the base of Little Cottonwood canyon.  It was the perfect place to catch the mountain scene without stomping around the mountains in a white dress!  We loved how they turned out and again Jenn did an amazing job!

After taking these and looking back on what worked and what didn't I thought I'd share some tips to make it as easy as possible for everyone involved.

 

Taking Bridals/Groomals the Easy Way

 

-Scope out locations a couple months before to see what kind of feel you want to go for.  Remember some (MOST) venues charge for you to take pictures on their property, some photographers cover the fee but some do not so keep that in mind while planning and budgeting. 

 

-Make SURE you have your dress ordered and that it will arrive with plenty of time to spare if possible!  Remember to consider that alterations take time and rush orders can have additional fees. 

So plan ahead!

 

-Coordinate schedules well before expected date.  Contact everyone from the suit vendor, wedding dress shop, photographer, videographer, hair and makeup help (if using).  Make sure you're all on the same page and the timeline is mapped out.

 

-A few weeks before the Bridal date make sure you have all accessories for both the bride and groom.  Order your flowers for that day, remember the bouquet AND the boutonniere. Double check jewelry, tie, shoes, everything! Do a test run if possible and try on everything before so you can make sure it works! If you decide to have the groom wear his ring remember that too.

 

-Think about time.  Your photographer and videographer will know all about this, but there are two specific times that are perfect and golden for pictures and videos.  And that magic time is usually around sunrise or sunset-it's called the golden hour! It's when the lighting hits just right and the results make your pictures pop.

 

-While considering the golden hour make sure to schedule your photographer and videographer at the same time.  We couldn't because schedules didn't work out as we'd hoped but man it would have been easier if we could've done them both at the same time.  My hair wouldn't have fallen flat, we could have got the same footage.  BUT I did love the variety of two locations so that is a bonus!

 

-Take a family member or a friend.  Even though this is kind of a boring time for them it helps a ton when you need them to hold the bouquet or other necessities. My mom came with us and she was a total angel, she made sure everything always looked right and we had everything we needed.

 

-Bring an emergency kit full of makeup for touch ups, baby wipes in case you get something on your dress, safety pins to pin back any loose clothing, snacks and water.  This sounds nuts but I wish I would have brought insect repellant.  When I was in the big field in the pictures below I got a pretty stellar mosquito bite and I wished I planned ahead.

 

-Protect the dress!! The last thing you want to do is get a hole in your dress or get it dirty before the big day.  I've heard horror stories of people washing their dress before the wedding and they had to get it altered AGAIN because it shrunk.  So try to avoid that.  We were at a location with a lot of dirt, rocks, twigs and so on.  We brought a white sheet with us and someone would lay out the sheet, while I would hike up my dress and slowly get in place on the sheet, then we'd tuck in all the edges of the sheet so it looked like nothing was out of the norm.  I've also heard you can use a shower curtain, whatever you have on hand works.

 

SO in recap just plan ahead and have fun.  Don't sweat the small stuff and try to keep on schedule. And finally wait for the pretty pictures to come...