The more experience I gain as a photographer the more my brides trust me. I am so incredibly grateful for this. When I was first starting out, I would constantly get bombarded to replicate images from Pinterest. Pinterest is an AMAZING resources for brides today. However, when it comes to tattoos, makeup, and photos it should be used for INSPIRATION. Not REPLICATION.

Quality images that mean something to you ten years from now, will be the ones captured as the result of an actual experience. We can set the scene. Absolutely. But if you can’t settle into a moment as your own unique people, the photo and the memory will fall flat.

A popular image includes the bridesmaids on a bed toasting champagne. If that is an image you love, do not plan to “Sit on the bed for a photo with mimosas”. Instead, plan to gather all your ladies for a snuggle as you take a moment to toast to them! Plan to pop “The Good Champagne” and say some special words as you take a moment to soak it all in. That is the difference between being inspired and making it your own vs. staging a semi-meaningless image. Plan to create memories. Plan to create iconic moments and be present in them. Your photographers job will be to uniquely capture the memory as your girls react to the sentiment. Then, when looking back on your album you will remember, “That is the moment we all realized how grateful we were to be together on the most special day” rather than, “That is the moment we all sat together with champagne on my wedding day for a picture”. See the difference?!

A place brides are doing so well: Write a letter to each other to read the morning of. You all loved the idea from Pinterest. Writing your own letter forces you to make it your own! Another favorite?! First Looks! This moment was often inspired by Pinterest and impossible not to make your own. Just be sure to take a moment to truly soak it in. Don’t feel like you have to have a big reaction if it’s not you or your significant others personality. Take the moment to be just you two. The best first looks include my couple having a moment to themselves to cuddle on a bench, say a prayer, or share lunch before the ceremony.

Take images you are inspired by, think of WHY you are inspired by them. Aim to create a memory that will evoke similar emotion in your own way. (Below are some of my FAVORITE true-to-them moments. ♥) I challenge you to fill your day with heartfelt memories. This will result in THE BEST photography.

(The groomsmen pretended to have lost the ring. It was terrible. And Hilarious. And so “something they would do”)

They will laugh at these images for years to come as they remember the emotions felt.

Plan Experiences Before Photos

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