Not only does everyone want their wedding to be perfect, but they also want their wedding to be captured perfectly. It’s incredibly exciting to receive the photos from your big day back from the photographer, and with any luck, you’ll fall in love with every picture that was taken! Here are a few tips to keep in mind. We’re not perfect and neither are you, so cut yourself some slack and have a little fun. Life is short and our expectations are often unrealistic, but these suggestions might help you stay focus on what matters to allow you to revere each moment of your wedding day. #liferevered 

Practice Self-Care Now

To ensure that you’re feeling amazing when it’s time to take your wedding photos, start implementing small positive changes in your everyday life in the months leading up to the event. Real self-care goes well beyond drinking green juice and buying yourself a new pair of Lululemon leggings— it’s about checking in with yourself, both physically and mentally, and making adjustments to your habits and behavior as needed in order to feel your best.

Take up gentle exercise, like yoga or pilates, to help keep your body and mind in tip-top shape. Find your perfect skincare routine, and stick to it. Make a conscious effort to clean up your diet, and drink tons of water. If you feel as though you could be doing better emotionally, consider speaking with a mental health professional so you’re in an ideal frame of mind when the big day arrives. The more you do for your personal well being before it’s time to get in front of the camera and walk down the aisle, the more healthy and happy you’ll look in your photos!

Prioritize Comfort

For Brides, consider movement when saying yes to your dress. Similarly, consider two shoe options, one for looks and the other for practicality, especially if you’re not able to see them. If you’re feeling adventurous, as many of our couples are, we recommend a dress the bustles well. While you certainly want the dress to look beautiful, you’ll also want to make sure you can realistically sit, stand, walk, and dance in your dress for hours on end without getting too uncomfortable. The more at ease you’re able to make yourself feel while photos are being taken, the more natural the finished product will be.

Grooms, we recommend doing the sweat test. The last thing you want is to feel like a hot mess on your wedding day. Select breathable fabric and layers the prevent you from overheating. Do you hate it when you’re constantly having to tuck in your shirt? Me too! I haven’t tried them, but consider Tucked Trunks or something similar to have worry-free dress attire.  We recommend purchasing your shoes instead of renting which allows you to break in your shoes in advance. I am a big fan of Taft shoes. Side note: We happen to really like kilts. 

Reduce Unnecessary Stress

The last thing you would want is to have wedding pictures taken where stress is visibly etched on your face, making you look miserable and less-than-enthused about your new relationship status. One of the major culprits for this stress can be your financial situation. To rid yourself of this anxiety, it’s important that you make sure you’ve given your budget sufficient attention throughout the wedding planning process. That way, you can be certain that you’ve allocated funds in a manner that ensures that your wedding day stays on budget. If you’re not sure where to allocate your funds, ask people what they remember from the last wedding they attended. What are the things people remember? Spend time and money on these things, however, in the end, it will be your day and your memories are what matter most! 

In the months leading up to the big day, keep a close eye on all of your expenses through wedding planning apps that monitor vendor payments or a mobile banking app that will provide a comprehensive overview of your finances. We personally use Mint for our personal finances. You’ll also want to be sure that you’ve prioritized the items in your budget so the components of your wedding that are most important to you— like great music or beautiful photography— have an appropriate amount of money allocated toward them. When you can be confident in the fact that your wedding money is going exactly where it should be, you’ll find it much easier to smile and relax on the day of your event.

Know Your Desired Aesthetic

When researching wedding photographers, some couples already have a clear vision in mind of what they want their photos to look like. If you belong to one of those couples, it can be helpful to seek out a professional who is capable of bringing your vision to life and whose photographic style aligns well with your wishes.

Are you and your partner more of the dark and broody type, staring into each other’s eyes with the intensity of a thousand suns? Or are you more lighthearted and silly, laughing in the sunlight with all of your friends and family? Whatever your preferred style may be, with enough research, you should be able to find a photographer who is able to fulfill your desired aesthetic and leave you with high-quality photos you’ll love for years to come. Katie and I have been capturing weddings for over 10 years (that ages us a bit), but we’re still hip… people still say that right? We shoot weddings for our clients like we would want them shot for ourselves. Our approach and aesthetic are simple and we lean towards classic and clean images that have a timeless feel from two different perspectives. We strive to capture raw emotion and focus on making our couples and their wild and fun friends feel as much like themselves as possible. 

Be Yourself

Your wedding photos are something that you and your spouse will flip through fondly for the rest of your lives, so you should try to find a photographer that will help you take pictures that showcase the true nature of the relationships you have with each other and with your loved ones— the good, the unpredictable, and the funny.

Don’t worry about looking perfect in your pictures— focus instead on having the most fun you can at your wedding and letting the joy you feel at marrying your significant other pour out of you. The professional you’ve hired will take care of the rest! Not only will the photos be artistic and well-composed, but they’ll also capture that joy, excitement, and any other range of emotions you experience over the course of your special day, making them feel all the more real and meaningful to you as your reminisce.