Wohoo - you’re getting married!
I am SO excited to photograph your wedding - aka, the first day of your marriage!
I believe connection is vital for your wedding photographs, so that you feel more comfortable in front of the camera. Your connection allows me capture your genuine love and let me be creative; creating artistic imagery of you deeply in love.
I am sharing all my favorite tips and nuggets of advice after photographing over 175 weddings and elopements. This is a lot of information, so you don’t need to read it all at once, but please refer to it throughout your engagement and planning process for your wedding!
Before you start planning your wedding, I want to ask you the most important question I can think of.
If you could have the most perfect day together, what would you do?
If you could do anything you have dreamt of doing, or if you could visit any place that you want, and if money wasn’t an issue, if guests and family expectations weren’t a concern — if you could plan out the first day of your marriage (ahem, your wedding day is the first day of your marriage) how would you want to start the first day of the rest of your marriage?
The reason why I pose these questions to you prior to any practical wedding planning advice is because I want you to think about your marriage, not just your wedding. My passion is for thriving marriages, and since your wedding day is your first day of marriage, I want you to think beyond planning a 6-hour event, and think of your wedding day as an experience with your spouse.
You can absolutely still have a beautiful, grand wedding event with loads of guests and spend tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars, but you also have the freedom to wake up in a cabin on a mountaintop and make vows at sunrise at an alpine lake, or soak in hot springs, or go paddle boarding on a lake. The choice is yours!
My point is that your wedding day is literally for you two — your family and friends can be there to love and support you, but they aren’t marrying you — you two are making vows to each other. Think of each other, think of your dreams, hopes, and experiences together.
Suppose you could take away all the stress, all the planning, the pressure of making all your guests happy, the financial stress of a wedding and a honeymoon (tip: plan to have your wedding and honeymoon in conjunction to save a little extra money!), etc. — How would you want to spend your day with your spouse from the moment you wake up to the moment you go to sleep?
Here is my Colorado Vendor Recommendations! These are vendors I have worked with before, and I trust they will help you meet your wedding vision.
THE GENERAL TIMELINE UNTIL YOUR WEDDING
you’re booked! // let’s start dreaming up your wedding! review all the guides I send, book your vendors, and ask your venue/wedding planner or coordinator about how to set up your wedding + timeline.
in - between // schedule an engagement shoot about a month before sending your Save-The-Dates.
two months before // DJ consultation & optional bridal portraits
one month before // final payment is due, fill out the questionnaires I send
the week before // finalize any details with your vendors, then be done until your wedding day
six - eight weeks after // your beautiful wedding photos are here!
six- ten months later // I will send your USB drive with all the edited images to you!
Planning: To Do and Not To Do
To Do:
When it comes to planning your wedding, it’s important to remember that the whole point in having a celebration + a ceremony is that you & your spouse are sharing your lifelong commitments & promises to each other. Don't let other people’s expectations deter you from your dream wedding - stay true to who you are!
You can do whatever you want.
Have your wedding your way.
To Not Do:
Do not endlessly browse Pinterest or Tik Tok, as they are often far more expensive/unattainable than we think. My advice is to create a moodboard that summarizes the vibe you want, and pick up to 12 images total. It can be a Pinterest board or one from Canva, but either way, make the board of up to 12 images and don’t go on Pinterest again until you are already married. Ideally, go to your vendors portfolios on their websites and use that as your inspiration!
“LIGHT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTOR
FOR AMAZING PHOTOGRAPHS. ”
Light affects all your photographs.
The reason why photographers talk about lighting is that it is arguably the most important “technical” aspect to photography — it’s what sets the mood, makes you look good, creates the vibes, and enhances your experience. Basically, good light is what makes you and your photos look amazing.
To help you plan what works with your vision and/or your wedding venue, I have some basic definitions to help you understand light:
1. Golden Hour is the hour after sunrise and the hour before sunset. This is the golden light that many Pinterest photos are photographed in.
2. Blue Hour is the 30 minutes - an hour before the sunrise and the 30 minutes - hour after sunset. This is particularly good in mountain regions, because the sun will drip behind the mountains much earlier than sunset, so you will have amazing soft blue light on your skin for up to an hour.
3. Cave Lighting is when we are outside for portraits but you are standing in the shade. The sunlight highlights your skin and it’s darker behind you, like a front porch, so it makes you pop more.
4. Window Light is important for indoor photos, as it brings the outdoor light in for natural, but moodier images.
5. Ambient Light is the not natural light that sets the mood, like string lights, candle light, lamps, etc.
6. Harsh Light is the hardest to photograph, which is usually the middle of the day when the sun is out. It can bring out more vibrancy in the landscape, but also create some intense shadows on your face.
7. Flash can create an entirely different mood to your portraits. I generally stick to flash for the dance floor, or later portions of the evening. I much prefer to use ambient lighting to enhance your experience.
As a note, I am not a miracle worker — I can’t recreate golden hour if it’s in the middle of the day, or inside a home, or in a dark church. If golden hour images are important to you, let’s plan your wedding events around that to maximize your wedding portraits together during golden hour!
Let’s Start Planning Your Wedding Day Events!
Getting Ready Portraits
For the best getting-ready photos, keep it natural, clean, and minimal as possible.
I suggest a space with lots of windows - you'll look your best with natural light! In a venue, you might not have a choice in your room, but if we are eloping in the mountains, choose a rental home that has lots of windows. I can help you find one too!
A cluttered, messy, dark room takes away from the beauty of the day — an important tip: have your girls move their bags into their cars before we start taking photos in the room. Messy rooms don’t photograph well.
*Tell your h/mu artist that you need your makeup and hair completed 30 minutes before we put on your wedding dress. Same with whoever is helping you put on your dress.
As I like to say, if h/mu is late, I can do wedding portraits without your bridesmaids, but I can't take wedding portraits without my bride. Never be the last one to do your hair and makeup.
Hot tip: Don’t wear a bra on your wedding day, or wear a seamless one. Your bra will leave lines and indents in the skin, which is something I can’t edit out.
For the best getting-ready photos, keep it natural, clean, and minimal as possible.
In general, putting on the dress and finalizing your details takes longer than expected. I’d say put 20 minutes into your “putting on the dress” time for all the unexpected things, like shoes, earrings, necklaces, mom getting emotional, forgetting to use the bathroom, etc. If your dress is more complicated with lots of button hoops or a corset, let’s make it 30 minutes. It is always better to allocate more time than necessary than to not have enough.
Hot Tips:
1. Put at least 2 trusted bridesmaids in charge of making sure the room the clean of all bags, hair products, bras, etc. This includes making sure your dress is out of the bag, no tags, and shoes + veil are with the dress. No clutter and everything has a place!
2. Put one trusted bridesmaid in charge of organizing and maintaining all the details. This could include a details box for me to photograph (invites, shoes, heirlooms, rings, etc.) and knowing where all your jewelery, hair accessories, and emergency kits are located.
Things you might need or want:
+ a bride emergency kit
+ ring boxes [like this wood one or this traditional velvet one]
+ your invitations + save the dates
+ perfume
+ tissues
+ sticky-tape
+ setting spray [I am obsessed with this one]
+ cute bridal slippers and pajamas
I’m a big fan of flat-lays and detail photos. Because I photograph your wedding with a wedding album in mind, or at least trying to tell a story with exposition details, I love to photograph all the small things that make your wedding day so special. They make the biggest impact in storytelling. If able, having 30 minutes to an hour is the best way to get all the special details including photographing your reception space. If details aren’t as important, that is totally okay too!
Oftentimes, I am unable to photograph your entire completed reception space before guests arrive. This could be due to your florists still working, your planner/coordinators still setting up the table until the ceremony time, or our timeline is running behind due to unforeseen circumstances, etc. However, I love photographing receptions (and you’ve invested thousands into your reception for decor, food, tables, chairs, linens, etc.) and the best time to do it is before your ceremony starts! If you can ask your vendors during the planning process to finish setting up before I arrive or an hour before the ceremony start time, then I should be able to photograph everything you envisioned for your reception space.
Why You Should Consider Having A First Look
Want to spend more of your wedding day (your first day of marriage!) with your spouse?
Have a first look, because no one regrets seeing the love-of-their-life more on their wedding day.
The first look is a more relaxed and intimate experience of sharing time together before your ceremony. It is also a great way to finish all those portraits before the ceremony, so that you can enjoy the cocktail and reception with all your people after your ceremony. You and your love will have many more photos together before and after the ceremony. All of the bridal party photos can be done before the ceremony, as well as most/all of the family photos.
You can spend 3+ hours with them before your ceremony, and be able to relax before & after the ceremony without a rush. With a first look, photos can be as short as 30 minutes after the ceremony compared to the 2 hours we will need if you go traditional so that you can enjoy more of the wedding you've been planning for months/years!
To summarize: more time together, better timeline, it calms the nerves.
OR, go traditional! A traditional ceremony is very beautiful, and I know many people dream about walking up the aisle as the first time seeing their spouse. If that is you, go for it, and I am here to cheer you!! Just plan the timeline accordingly!
YOUR CEREMONY
For Outdoor Ceremonies:
1. Consider the weather and seasons. The info below is geared for Colorado weddings.
a. Winter is November - March/April. Higher elevations will continue to get snow through April or early May. The biggest snowfalls will likely occur Feb. through March.
b. Spring sort of exists between February and April, but not really. You can have 60 degrees days with a snowstorm the following day. The trees, bushes, and flowers don’t start growing back until early May at lower elevations, and in late May to early June in high elevations.
c. Summer is magical. The weather is much warmer (75 -90) and the wildflowers start growing in June. There are frequent afternoon thunderstorms that roll through, so consider having a flexible ceremony time or have a backup plan just in case. Summer weather will continue through early September.
d. Autumn is my favorite time of year. The fall colors begin in mid-September in the highest of elevations and continue through late October in the lowest elevations. The weather is the mildest at this point as well.
2. Consider accessibility. I have a list of locations that you can walk to with older grandparents or handicapped, and others that require more effort if you want to get off the beaten path.
3. If you booked a venue, consider where the sun will be at your ceremony time. Most ceremonies have ‘set’ ceremony locations, which means you might not be able to choose the spot you want to get married. You might want to ask your venue where the sun will be so that all your guests’ won’t be staring into the sun too long.
For photos, let’s try to have the sun completely facing you or completely behind you. If the sun is off to one side, one person will have harsh sunlight on their face (+ squinting) and the other will be completely in shadow. If you need help, I will totally advise you, facetime you, go with you to the venue, etc. Also, you can use SunCalc to find out where the sun will be on your wedding date.
4. If possible, please do your ceremony later in the day or earlier in the morning. The light is so harsh on skin in the middle of the day, and your photos will look so much better with softer morning or early evening light.
For indoor ceremonies:
It is best if there is a lot of natural light flooding in through windows. However, any window light is better than no window light. The more natural light, the better.
However, I do love some moody lighting (as you probably know by now) and I think moody ceremonies are amazing. Darker light changes the whole vibe of the wedding, and the photographs will reflect that too. Often times, I say that moody lighting will generate a more “non-traditional” style of ceremony portraits — you’ll still get all the important moments, but the filler images will be more dramatic and creative. How fun!
Here is my Pinterest board of Ceremony Inspiration!
Private Vows
We highly encourage taking the time to share your own private vows. There are so many things to vow each other without the ears of others, just like there are things to vow each other with witnesses to keep each other accountable.
Private vows can be shared in multiple ways during your traditional ceremony.
1. During the ceremony, you two step off to the side/outside while your officiant shares a personal message, a song is played, or your guests pray for you, etc.
2. During your first look, you two share a first look and when the time feels right, pull out your vow booklets and share your private vows before starting the rest of the day.
3. Sometime before your wedding day, schedule a 2 hour session to get all the beautiful portraits of your first look, private vows, and epic couples portraits together.
Bridal Party Portraits
The best time for family and bridal party portraits is before the ceremony. Everyone is ready to go and no one will miss the reception time! Truly, the complaint I hear most at weddings is how much people don’t want to do portraits after the ceremony and they just want to enjoy the cocktail hour and reception.
If you choose to do a First Look, we can finish full bridal party photos and all your immediate family before the ceremony - wohoo! After the ceremony, we can just focus on you two! That means, you can celebrate more of the wedding you've spent months planning!
If you are doing a Traditional Ceremony, we will need about 30-40 minutes to do Bridal Party Pictures and about 20 minutes for Family Portraits after the ceremony. The 40 minutes for Bridal Party would include all your bridesmaids, then full bridal party photos, then the groomsmen.
As a side note, I have been loving the bridesmaids dresses from Show Me Your Mumu, Revelry, Baltic Born, Lulus, and BHLDN!
Here is my Bridal Party inspiration board!
Family Portraits
In the ideal timeline, all portraits are done prior to the ceremony.
For immediate family portraits - your parents/step parents, siblings, siblings children, grandparents - it's best to do those right before the ceremony. If you aren’t doing a first look, all portraits will need to be after the ceremony. If everyone is at the correct spot and punctual, I can do immediate family portraits in less than 10 minutes - assuming everyone is on time where they need to be.
Extended family portraits is a whole different ballgame. Usually, your immediate family has some of their family there, and they would like to spend time with them as well, not waiting around for portraits after the ceremony. This also means your parents may have an extensive extended family portrait list for me.
I recommend keeping the family list short, and if you're neutral on extended family photos, I suggest we do them during the reception instead in a more casual setting. To let you in on a little secret, I can see who downloads what pictures from the gallery, and extended family portraits are rarely ever used but they take the most possible time from the cocktail hour. Truly, I often spend over 30 minutes waiting for extended family members to show up, not prepared, and they don’t print them anyways. Your time is better used walking around your cocktail hour and hugging them, or spending that time doing your Mr. & Mrs. Portraits during golden hour.
HOW TO MAKE A RECEPTION BEAUTIFUL
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Candles
This is such an easy way to add beautful light and cozy, ambient vibes. Whether it’s real flame or battery operated, candles are a huge bonus.
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Farm Tables
A better way for people to converse and prettier to style + photograph, farm tables feel casual yet elegant.
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Florals & Dinnerware
Add florals (lush or minimal) and pair textural or colorful plates and glassware to create a beautiful color palette.
Toasts & Speeches
Choose 1-4 people, and limit their speeches to 2-5 minutes. If you have 4 people that talk for 5 minutes, that’s 20 minutes, and assume that most people will talk twice as long as they think. As someone who has heard hundreds and hundreds of speeches, they almost always run longer than planned for, so have your coordinator plan the timeline accordingly.
We strongly discourage open mic speeches - that is a great thing for a rehearsal dinner.
RECEPTION PLANNING
Here is my Pinterest board of Reception inspiration!
Most receptions occur around golden hour, so when the sun finally sets, it sets the tone for a really warm, romantic setting. For your photographs to be the best they can be, have as much time outside with natural light as possible. Outdoor receptions with those cozy string lights, amazing taper candles with brass candle stick holders, vintage-inspired rugs are just SO dreamy to photograph. If you want that look, you can either rent these from a company, or invest in these items for your home as well. Plus, I bought solar string lights for my backyard, so they are good anywhere (even in the middle of the forest) as long as there is a few hours good light a day. Imagine mixing these fairy lights with bigger cafe lights for some depth - stunning.
Indoor receptions are important to capture mood. This is why I will try not to use flash for anything other than party/dance-floor time. If the photos are just too dark, I will use a flash - but my preference is to embrace the moody vibes!
PS - I am a HUGE fan of farm tables! They photograph SO beautifully & are better for conversations for your guests!
For the best dance photos, face my camera when I'm nearby! I want your faces belting your favorite songs while jumping up & down with all your besties! Go crazy & wild!
WEDDING DJ TIPS
A DJ can make or break your reception. Here are some tips for whoever you hire to make sure your dance party is epic, and if you book Joe as your DJ, you’ll get an entire guide on DJing!
Put the DJ booth on the dance floor, or as close to the dance floor as possible!
The bride & groom set the mood for the reception! If you want a party, be prepared to get out there on the dance floor to sing & dance!
Another way to maximize the photos & reception fun is to divide up the dancing portions of the night with cake cutting, the Shoe Game, and the bouquet/garter toss.
Hire a DJ you trust! An inappropriate song, awkward joke or equipment failure can derail the mood of the night! Hiring a professional with great reviews can save you a headache down the road - whether you hire us or someone else, please make sure that you can trust that they are going to be trustworthy.
Many venues no longer allow true confetti, so while we have an easy-to-clean confetti source, they might not believe us. If that is the case, here is a list we compiled of incredible alternatives, especially consider these no-mess streamers!
THE BEST OVERALL ADVICE
Hire a Professional Day - of - Coordinator!
That is the best advice I can give any bride! Your wedding day will be so much more relaxing and stress-free, and it is better for all of the vendors who are working at your wedding. You will not regret the investment!
Day - of - Coordinators will do everything from rehearsal dinner, vendor management, decor set-up, cake cutting, dress fanning, bridal party & family portrait organizing, and so much more. They are the glue to every wedding!
If there is no coordinator to bring your wedding day vision to life, that responsibility of organizing everything will fall upon either a parent (who would rather enjoy your wedding too!) or one of the vendors who already has their own job to do, like the photographer or DJ. I would also not recommend asking a relative to coordinate, because there is little/no experience or understanding of the flow of the day, ceremony situations, potential problems & solutions to them, etc.
If you have questions on this, I would love to explain more of the benefits! If you need recommendations for coordinators, I have coordinators that can fit every budget!
“Don’t seek perfection. Love the imperfection. That’s what makes your wedding perfect.”
EXTRA —
MORE ADVICE + TIPS TO GET YOUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS INVOLVED:
If you have a bridesmaid who is creative, maybe they can help with styling your invitation suite and rings for photos? Maybe they can paint something as a backdrop? Perhaps they can create all the table signs, or even make your invitation suite?
If you have someone who love to help, put them in charge of being your buffer. All questions come to you first
If someone likes to bake, maybe they can make an additional dish to accompany your wedding cake or general wedding dessert. Maybe they can put flowers on your cake?
If you are trying to save some money, one way is through flowers. Make sure you hire a florist for your bouquet, but you can do a DIY bouquet table for your bridesmaids. You can buy flowers from Blooms By The Box or Fifty Flowers, then your flower bouquet holder, and have them create a bouquet from scratch. Don’t forget to finish it off with some pretty ribbon.
If someone is like a teacher or has a loud voice, have them stick by me for the family and friend portraits — because they already know everyone by name, they can use their skills and help keep things organized and efficient!
ANY QUESTIONS?
1. I don't give away my files in RAW form. If you have no clue what that means, just don't even worry about it! You're solid.
2. Alongside number 1, I won't ever give you back unedited images. Another photographer said it perfectly: 'The best reason I can give you is this - an author would never hand you their book unfinished with chapters and major story plots missing. Neither will I hand you back my work unfinished. It's a masterpiece, so let me finish it.'
3. Yes, you have the rights to print and post the photos. No, you may not edit, add instagram filters, crop, or anything else to distort the images, as they are completely finished when I sent them - that is in the contract.
