There are so many details and pieces to remember when packing for the wedding and so often the bridal detail pieces are the ones that get forgotten the most. Especially the invitations. That and alot of brides don’t really know what to include. So to make things a bit easier for you guys, I’ve created Bridal Details Checklist full of the must includes. As well as a list of items that you could add to help in making your images a better reflection of your style and your wedding.

My biggest piece of advice to make this packing process easier, put all of these details into the same bag or box. That way when I arrive at your bridal suite, you don’t have to run around and find all the pieces that have been scattered between all of your bags. Instead, while you’re still sitting in the makeup chair or enjoying conversation with your girls drinking champagne, you can just point to the corner that the bag is sitting in and I can dig in and know that it all needs to be photographed.

Must Include Bridal Details Checklist:

• Two Full Invitation Sets
  Two sets are even more important if your set includes two sides. This way I can photograph both sides in the exact same image. One of the ways to make this even easier, is if you’re working with an invitation designer, have them mail me all the paper pieces when you mail out the invitations to your guests. 
• Escort Cards
  Having a few of these during this time ensures that these get photographed. Sometimes due to the timeline of the wedding day, your guests get to the escort cards before I do and I don’t get to document me them because they’re all gone by the time I get there. 
• Menu Cards
• Ceremony Programs

• Welcome Gift for your guests
  You spent all this time and money putting these welcome bags together, why not create an extra one for me to photograph. 
• Shoes
• Perfume

• All three rings
  Make sure that you have your wedding band, your engagement ring and your significant other’s wedding band. This way I don’t have to hunt you both down during the reception and take them to photograph them during that time. I can include them with your other bridal details and the ring image will make more sense in an album of images. 
• All pieces of jewelry (earrings, necklace, bracelet)
  If you plan to wear it, include it! If you’re on the fence about something, include it. 
• Hair Accessories
• Veil
  I absolutely love to use your veil as a background piece for your detail images.

• Wedding Dress
• Fancy hanger or just a plain wooden hanger
  Nothing ruins a picture of your wedding dress like a white or clear plastic hanger that most bridal shops include with your dress. If you do forget this, don’t stress too much, often times there’s always a nice wooden hanger in the hotel suite that I can grab. 

• Extra flower pieces
  Ask your florist and pay the little extra cost to have them include some extra floral pieces from your bouquet or centerpieces. This adds such a dimension and pulls in more of your wedding theme and colors into the bridal details. I promise, it is worth the money to have these! 
• Bouquet
• Garter 

Extra Pieces to make the photos your own:

• Stamps
  
• Hankerchief
  
  
• Brush
• Hand mirror
• Family Bible
• Wedding Color Ribbons
  Silk & Willow, Adorn
  
• Wedding Color Fabric
  Silk and Nettle
• Trays
  Gold Tray
  Grey Tin Tray 
  Acrylic Tray 
  
  
• Vintage Ring Box
  Velvet Boxes: Mrs. Box, Amonie,VoeuDuCoeur, Beloved Fine Jewels
  Glass Boxes: West Elm
  
• Ring Dish
• Wax Seal
• Vow Books

• Fancy Scissors
• Bottle of Champagne
  Sam even had a Champagne bottle initialed with the first letter of their married last name, Johnston.
• Special Champagne glasses
  These were then later used in a portrait of Sam and her maid of honor. They popped the champagne and cheered while wearing their matching shirts.

Get creative! Think of items, pieces and ways to show your style and express the overall feel of your wedding day. 

Of course, we can’t forget about your grooms’ details in the Bridal Details Checklist! Make sure that he knows when the second photographer is scheduled to arrive, that he should be wearing his suit pants and shirt. Everything else should remain in the box or bag he packed his details in. When my second shooter arrives, she’ll photograph these details in the same fashion that I’ve photographed yours. His details are just as important!

Groom’s Details:

• Shoes
• Tie
• Sleeve Button
• Boutonnieres
• Groomsman Gifts
• Watch
• Cologne
• Socks

Another fun advantage to incorporating as many detail pieces as possible, is that, we’ll increase our chances that your wedding could be featured in a wedding blog or magazine. So if that’s something that interests you or gets you excited, then the more details the better! Wedding blogs and magazines love to include lots of details to inspire other brides, so we need to show them lots of details and having a strong set of details at the front of the album – your bridal details – is a great start to the submission process.

 

If you like the advice in this Bridals Details Checklist blog post, you might also like:
Why Do Couples Need a Wedding Planner | Guest Feature | Angelica & Co. Weddings
What To Do After You Get Engaged | Wedding Advice 
How to Back up Your Images