Wedding dress shopping can feel like a fairy tale to some but can also be a little overwhelming. Oftern bridal dress shops have a sea of (generally) white dresses laid out before the lucky bride to be which can leave some feeling a little daunted.
Susie Grist Couture | Dale Stephens Photography | Silver Pear Weddings at Friars Court | Emma Goodwin Hair & Makeup | Yurga Makeup Artist
Here are some top tips from Susie Grist Couture on having a bespoke wedding dress made for your special day:
a wedding dress made just for you
By having your wedding dress made you can create the perfect gown with all the elements that you love. You are part of the design process, so you get to choose the style of it, the fabric, the colour, the type of lace, and any adornments. This means that the dress becomes part of you and will reflect your personality as this will influence the choices that you make. It will be a unique dress and no-one else will have exactly the same one, unlike if you bought one from a high street shop.
Another advantage of a bespoke wedding dress is that it will be tailor made to fit you, no matter what size or shape you are, so that you will feel confident on the day. When you buy a dress from a high street shop they come in standard dress sizes. As most people are not a standard size you will most likely have to pay a seamstress to have some alterations made for it to fit you properly.
Inspiration can come from many different sources such as bridal magazines, Pinterest, royal weddings, red carpet events, television and films. Or perhaps you have a favourite dress or top that you like the neckline or sleeves, or a favourite style of skirt. Or maybe you’ve tried on some wedding dresses and like certain elements about them but not the overall look.
To start the design process, it is helpful to collate your ideas and take them to an initial design consultation. By talking things through with your wedding dress designer you can pinpoint the best ideas and amalgamate them into the perfect design. Through asking the right questions, the designer will guide you through the design process even if you are a bride who is not quite sure what you want.
Susie Grist Couture | Dale Stephens Photography | Silver Pear Weddings at Friars Court | Emma Goodwin Hair & Makeup | Yurga Makeup Artist
wedding dress designer
The relationship between the wedding dress designer and the bride is a collaboration and it is important that you get along as you will be spending quite a bit of time together.
As you go through the various stages of making your bespoke gown ,the design will evolve and may even change as ideas progress. If at any stage throughout the process something is not how you envisioned, or you have a new idea it is important to tell your designer as soon as you can. They will help talk through the ideas and changes with you to see if they would work. After all, they are there to bring your dream dress to life and want you to love it.
You will have to make quite a few decisions along the way, but the designer is there to help point you in the right direction so don’t be afraid. It is a very exciting, satisfying and worthwhile experience.
One of the first things everyone thinks about is the cost of a bespoke wedding dress. It may not be the cheapest wedding dress option, however it doesn’t have to be wildly expensive either. And it will be made to fit you exactly.
It is a good idea to research bespoke dress makers in your area and talk to them. You will need to know how much they charge, what is included in the charge and what is extra, when each instalment will be due for payment and how long it will take to make your bespoke dress.
Susie Grist Couture | Dale Stephens Photography | Silver Pear Weddings at Friars Court | Emma Goodwin Hair & Makeup | Yurga Makeup Artist | All About Flowers
fitting of a made to measure wedding dress
Just as with any wedding dress fitting, it is a good idea to buy the shoes and underwear you will be wearing as early as possible to wear to your fittings as this can influence the fit and length of the dress.
It is also nice to bring along accessories to your fittings so that you can try them on to see if they are working with your dress design.
If your size changes in the build up to the wedding, then having a bespoke dress is ideal as you will have several fittings throughout the making process and at each stage the dress will be altered to reflect your size.
About Susie Grist Couture
Susie Grist Couture specialise in designing and making individual bespoke wedding gowns. Based in Abingdon-On-Thames working from a home studio.
She has over 18 years of professional sewing experience and has been designing wedding dresses for nearly 6 years. She makes bridal gowns, bridesmaids and flower girl dresses and even outfits for mothers.
With World Gin Day this weekend, my thoughts go to wedding drinks.
Keeping your wedding guests well fed, watered and entertained is key to a really happy wedding day. Get this right and you’re on to a winner.
Remember everyone loves free things! If you can’t afford to pay for the bar all night then perhaps welcome drinks and some with the meal will be a nice gesture.
Here’s a quick guide to getting the drinks right for your wedding day.
1. Drink seasonally – if the weather is hot then you’ll need to make sure you’ve got plenty of cool drinks including non alcoholic beverages and possibly extra ice too. And vice versa, if it’s cold then consider offering a hot toddy, mulled wine or a hot chocolate to warm up your guests.
2. Service – if your guests are serving themselves then they may pour more than a bar tender. However they may drink less depending on the time of your wedding or on a weekday. So allow more or less accordingly.
3. Bar – the main alcohols to stock a basic wedding bar include: gin, vodka, rum, tequila, whisky, beer, wine, and champagne. And make sure you have a good selection of soft drinks, mixers and non alcoholic options too.
4. Drinks with the meal – roughly you can get 4 servings per bottle of wine (and 18 servings per bottle of liquor). Consider placing bottles of wine (and water) on the table for people to serve themselves during the meal.
5. Drinks with the toasts – allow 1 bottle for every 8 guests for the champagne toast and only pour half glasses (as most guests will just take sip and go back to their original drink).
6. Quick calculations – Here’s a quick sum to give you a rough number of drinks needed for your wedding = number of guests x 1.5 x number of hours of serving.
Cheers!
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There will probably be some tough decisions to make with your guest list. Ultimately, it all boils down to who you want in the room with you and how well do you want to know the people that are there.
After the guest list headaches, chasing RSVPs and endlessly revising the seating plan, there may be some issues to consider so you can avoid any dramas with tricky wedding attendees.
Here are my top 6 tips for dealing with difficult wedding guests.
1. Think about your guest list from the start. Be specific on the invitation to avoid unexpected plus ones. Have a plan if an unexpected guest arrives.
2. Brief your attendants. Perhaps give them on stand by with a secret code word to intervene with difficult guests. Think about any guests that may need to be kept a part (or away from the free bar!)
3. Seat difficult guests near the back or side at the reception. Consider seating divorced couples apart. Think about having a sweetheart table if your parents are not able to sit together on a traditional top table.
4. Ensure guests are kept well fed (it helps soaks up alcohol) to avoid drunken antics. Happy guests are less likely to be tetchy or bored.
5. Ask for any dietary requirements in advance. Make sure there’s no surprises on the day.
6. Keep the children entertained to stave off boredom. Consider outside or an additional room for them to play.
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The gin renaissance is still going strong and continues to be the on trend drink of the moment with flavoured gins being on the rise.
Here are some ways to include the nation’s favourite drink in to your wedding day courtesy of Liz Beswick, Co Founder of Collagin. She married on World Gin Day in June 2017 and had her business partner Cam Brown running the Collagin bar on the day. This, paired with insider tips and feedback from other brides she has helped, means Liz knows a lot about making a wedding a gin filled event!
Whether you are looking for ‘ginspired’ wedding décor, table pieces, wedding favours or a stand out bar, Liz shares her top tips from her personal and business experience below.
Make it personal
Everyone loves the personal touch at weddings and this is often what people remember about the big day. Put gins on the tables or behind the bar or even as wedding favours that you know your guests love. For example, place a mini bottle of Salcombe gin for Jack on table 9 to remind him of his childhood holidays but put a Cotswolds Gin for Julie on table 4 to remind her of THAT drunken hen do. The guests will be so touched by your gesture and the effort gone into knowing and thinking about your guests.
If you don’t have budget for personalised wedding favours, place gin bottles behind the bar with note tags on them explaining why you chose the gin. Or even better, create cocktail lists based on names of your guests or on your favourite places or memories as the bride and groom.
Use gins that compliment your colour scheme
Do you have an obvious colour scheme? If so, let the gin add to it! Bridesmaids in pink? Then only include pink gins at your wedding. Pretty pinks include Pinkster Gin, Collagin Rose or Malfy Rosa. Violet flowers? Make the centre pieces even more spectacular by including violet gins in the display. Good ones include Whitley Neill Parma Violet or Violetta. Continue your colour scheme through to the smallest touches and it will make a huge impact.
Make it unique
Everyone has seen all the major gin brands at weddings, so to get people talking, and to make your wedding décor or bar look different and to stand out, feature gins that people don’t see every day. This will grab attention and intrigue. Plus it will be very funny to get photos of Auntie Carol doing shots of Collagin with bridesmaid Beth after discovering the new tipple at your wedding. It might then become her favourite gin and will always remind her of your special day.
Make it different
Make the gin theme different – I am not talking about just the gin brands you use, but also how you display the gin bottles. Put fairy lights in empty bottles or use them as reed diffusers – get creative! Also, choose different tonic water brands to create a distinctive gin bar. We love Lixir tonic water as they are made by two lovely British lads. Again, the tonic water doesn’t need to be your everyday tonics so choose something unique or with a story.
Make it worth an Instagram post
Stack them into pyramids, decorate them with glitter, relabel them with your initials or wedding logo. Whatever you do to your gin, make them Instagrammable! If you are getting your invites designed, the same designer could create labels to stick on to gin bottles featuring your wedding design and initials or your wedding date and use them as table numbers.
Email the gin or tonic water brands about your big day
Collagin LOVE getting emails from brides. If they know you are using Collagin for décor or behind the bar at your big day, they will offer trade prices or save up their empty bottles and send them to you. Tonic waters might do the same (the smaller the brand the more likely they are to help or be less rigid with prices!) Just explain you are a bride to be and see if they can offer reduced prices for a larger order or in exchange for lots of pictures from your wedding album. There is no harm in trying! This also works for hen do orders.
Most importantly, make sure YOU the bride and groom get a drink. It is amazing how everyone assumes you are catered for but are often the last to get their food and drink at their own wedding. So, if you are looking to drink on the big day, ask your Maid of Honour to make sure you are saved a glass of your favourite G&T.
About Collagin
Young In Spirit is the world’s first alcoholic drinks company to combine spirits with collagen, with the first drink being Collagin – gin with added collagen. The people behind the idea are gin and beauty lovers and Oxford based ‘Gintrepreneurs’ Camilla Brown and Liz Beswick who recently snared two Dragons’ in the Den.
Happy New Year! And huge congratulations if you’ve got engaged over the festive period.
Telling people your big news and flashing your new piece of jewellery is such an exciting time and it won’t be long until you’ll be asked (again and again) when is your big day.
So here’s a little help with picking a date for your special day (and take a look at this useful guide to setting the date too).
Before you rush to send out your save the date cards, here are some things to bear in mind when setting your wedding date:
Date
Superstition often forces couples to avoid the 13th of the month (especially if it falls on a Friday and there’s two in 2019), your birthday, the day of a full moon, April Fool’s Day and it used to be forbidden to get married in Lent and Advent by the church. Some people think that 7 is supposed to be a lucky number whilst 4 is deemed unlucky in Japanese and Chinese traditions, so dates with these numbers may be sought after or avoided by couples. Instead perhaps you want to pick a meaningful date to you such as the anniversary of the date you first met, a memorable date that you’ll remember like 12/12/12 or a nod to your heritage such as your grandparents’ wedding anniversary date.
Year
Which year are you thinking? This may seem like a basic question but if you want to do something soon then suppliers and venues may already be booked up. So, think about how long you have /want to plan the wedding. The more notice you give then the more likely you are able to have your first choice of date.
Time of year / season
This could affect what the weather is likely to be like which could influence your themes, colours, venue, attire, transportation, food choice etc. Also, different seasons can have an impact on the price and availability of food and flowers. Venues may have different prices depending on the time of the year and will your key guests or wedding party be available in school holidays?
Month
Old superstitions state your fate as a couple depending on the month you choose to wed. Some say it was unlucky for a couple to get married in May. Whilst June and other summer months are very popular and even December is gaining in popularity, presumably so that people can use holiday time around the big day. It is worth considering different months as popular ones are in demand so prices may increase and availability will decrease.
Day of the week
Ironically in another old poem, it states that getting married on a Saturday is unlucky which nowadays is the most common day for people to tie the knot. However, it is also one of the most expensive days too. More people are now considering other weekdays as options and Sundays too (although this used to be deemed as a mark of disrespect).
Day or night
A wedding after dark used to be considered unlucky but you could split your guests up to have some come for the whole day and others just join you for the evening part of the day so you don’t have to pay for all of them to have a sit-down meal.
Rest of the world
Make sure you think about what else is going on in the world such as national, local and annual events including:
Public holidays
Sporting events
Other people’s occasions (like birthdays, wedding anniversaries and religious festivals)
Here’s a list of some events (in England) in 2019 that could influence your choice of dates:
New Year’s Day 1 January
Epiphany 6 January
Orthodox Christmas Day 7 January
Orthodox New Year 14 January
Burns Night 25 January
Chinese New Year 5 February – year of the pig
Valentine’s Day 14 February
St David’s Day 1 March
Mardi Gras 5 March
Shrove Tuesday 5 March
Mother’s Day 31 March
St Patrick’s Day 17 March
First Day of Spring 20 March
Clocks go forward 31 March
April Fool’s Day 1 April
Grand National 6 April
Boat Race 7 April
Good Friday 19 April
Passover 19 – 27 April
Easter Monday 22 April
Earth Day 22 April
St George’s Day 23 April
London marathon 28 April
Cinco de Mayo 5 May
Ramadan begins 5 May – 4 June
May Day Bank Holiday 6 May
Eurovision Song Contest 14-18 May
FA Cup Final 18 May
Chelsea Flower Show 21 – 29 May
Monaco Grand Prix 23 – 26 May
Spring Bank Holiday 27 May
Cricket World Cup (England) 30 May – 9 June
Women’s World Cup (France) 7 June – 7 July
Trooping the Colour 8 June
Father’s Day 16 June
First Day of Summer 21 June
Royal Ascot 22-23 June
Glastonbury 26-30 June
Wimbledon 1 – 14 July
Henley Regatta 3 – 7 July
Independence Day 4 July
British Grand Prix 12-14 July
Eid 11-15 August
Summer Bank Holiday 26 August
Friday 13th September 2019
Rugby World Cup (Japan) 20 September – November
First Day of Autumn 23 September
Diwali 27 October
Clocks go back 27 October
Halloween 31 October
Guy Fawkes 5 November
Remembrance Day 11 November
Thanksgiving 28 November
St Andrew’s Day 30 November
Friday 13th December 2019
Hanukkah 22-30 December
First Day of Winter 22 December
Christmas Day 25 December
Boxing Day 26 December
New Year’s Eve 31 December
Plus other upcoming ‘unlucky’ dates of :
Saturday 29th February 2020
Friday 13th March 2020
Friday 13th November 2020
And not forgetting the Olympic Games in 2020 in Tokyo 24 July – 9 August.
Enjoy celebrating in 2019 and I wish you a very Happy New Year.
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For many, picking a wedding dress may be the most exciting purchase that you make and, some may say, one of the best (and hardest) decisions in the wedding planning process.
wedding dress trends
Finding the perfect wedding dress is no mean feat and wedding dresses over the years are an example of fashion trends of their day (material, styles, length & colours). Pick a dress that you love rather than one that happens to be on trend now. Take a look at wedding dresses wedding through the years.
style of wedding dress
Think about the venue, theme and mood of your wedding and fit your dress not only to you but the style of your big day too. Also think about when you’re getting married – both the time of day and time of year will affect your wedding dress buying decision. Make sure you feel not only glamourous and gorgeous in your wedding dress but comfortable too (did someone say dress pockets?!)
Here are some top tips from Heart Accomplice on picking the perfect wedding dress:
THE wedding dress
Many dream their whole life of this one special day with the man or woman they love. This one moment when you walk down the aisle, your heart is beating and all eyes are on you. You just want to look perfect for the love of your life.
To find the perfect bridal dress, you not only need time but also to understand what kind of bridal dress you want. Do you opt for a new or a preloved one? A long or a short dress? White, ivory or a colourful dress? Do you want to look around in a classic bridal dress store or do you want to order online?
budget
Before you start to search for your dream bridal dress give yourself a price range and stick to it. If you don’t or can’t spend too much money, have a look at second hand bridal dresses. You can find a beautiful bridal dress, a designer trend or the newest collection for a fraction of the price.
research
Do some research and collect pictures from bridal magazines of the styles and colours you like. Visit wedding fairs to get inspired where you can see and feel dresses. Look online for styles that suit your silhouette.
shopping
Make an appointment with a bridal dress shop as soon as possible because sometimes it takes 4 to 6 months to produce a dress, plus once it arrives you might need some time for alterations. If you don´t have much time, you can order online and a few days later your bridal dress will arrive.
support
Make wedding dress shopping an interactive and inclusive part of the wedding planning process and involve your mother, maid of honour, bridesmaids or friends with you to enjoy this important day and get their valued opinions, in a shop or at home.
alterations
When you have found THE bridal dress, a bridal dress store can order your dress in the right size and you may need some small alterations (don´t forget to plan the costs in your budget).
If you decide to buy a preloved bridal dress I recommend to buy it in 1 or 2 sizes bigger and allow for alterations to fit it perfectly to you. Too big is better than too small.
final fitting
On your last fitting wear the lingerie and take the shoes that you will be wearing on your big day. Then you can make sure that the length and fit of the bridal dress is just right.
accessories
Often less is more. Too much detail and too many wedding accessories can detract from the wedding dress. Make sure that you match your accessories to your bridal dress in colour and material and don’t forget your ‘Something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue’ nor the silver sixpence in your shoe.
About Heart Accomplice
Heart Accomplice is a second hand online bridal dress shop offering new and good as new preloved bridal dresses, ready to make a bride happy for her big day. They stock a range of different sizes, brands and styles, so there should be something gorgeous for everyone.
It is also possible to sell your bridal dress (on a commission basis) to Heart Accomplice when you have finished with your bridal dress (in good condition).
The wedding guest list is often cited as being one of the top stresses for couples during wedding planning (whether you plan to invite children or not to your big day).
Who to invite is personal to each couple, as every family has different circumstances and it depends who is ‘hosting’ the wedding (and often who is paying for it). There may be some tough decisions to make with your guest list. Perhaps the reality of your budget means you have to rein in a few of your plans, or other people’s involvement means compromising on who you want to invite, including whether to have children at all/some/none of your wedding.
There’s no right or wrong answer on who to invite to your wedding. Nor is there sadly a magical formula that will work it out for you. Ultimately, you should invite guests that you want to share your special day with.
who to invite
It is said that the enjoyment of most gatherings can be made or broken depending on who is there. People do really make the party! So the all important guest list can dictate what kind of a day you (and your guests) might have.
To avoid confusion from the outset, it is often better to be really specific about who you are inviting, to which parts of the day they are invited to, and whether you are inviting their children (or not) so that they are not left in any doubt.
Meanwhile, here is a checklist to consider if you are inviting children to your wedding:
clear communication – set expectations early on about who is invited and give guests with children an idea of the running order for the day so they can plan naps, meals and their schedule accordingly around your day
consistency – make sure you say the same thing to everyone and be clear why there may be exceptions
contribution – get children involved with little tasks like confetti throwing, part of the speeches, ring bearer etc
crèche – consider childcare or a chaperone in a side room for lots of children
changing facilities – make sure there’s somewhere for little ones to ‘freshen up’
crafts, cinema, competitions, cartoons, colouring or just somewhere to run around outside – anything to help keep them entertained (how about a silent disco for them during the meal?)
catering – have food specifically with children in mind
chairs – make sure they’re comfortable, suitable for their age and close to their parents
entertaining children at weddings
One of the key things to keeping your wedding guests happy (whatever their age) is to keep them fed, watered and entertained! When it comes to children at weddings they may need a little more entertainment.
With the right planning, involving children in the celebrations can be fantastic fun without compromising on a stylish and stress-free day. Here are some top tips for entertaining children at your wedding, courtesy of Hedgerow Circus, to ensure a stress free day for all generations to enjoy.
1. Think about the flow of the day
Providing toys and games for your youngest guests can make a huge difference to the flow of the reception, as having the children happily entertained has the added bonus that the parents are free to fully enjoy the celebrations too.
2. Keep a space free in your venue for children guests
Every venue is different, but almost all have an area which is suitable to dedicate to some toys and games. This may be anything from an entire room which can become a fully stocked playroom if you have lots of children attending, to a quiet corner of a marquee where a simple white tipi with toys inside could be set up. Allocating a dedicated play area, however large or small, will prevent toys from taking over.
3. Involve children guests in parts of the wedding day
Consider any times that you can involve children in the proceedings, not only as flower girls or page boys but with responsibilities such as handing out programmes, confetti or gifts. If you have any older or more confident children attending, perhaps reading a short poem or announce cutting of the cake. It’s always a good idea to provide some quiet entertainment for the times you don’t want the children to be involved, such as during speeches. A speeches survival kit of puzzles, colouring or Lego usually goes down a treat (for parents too – who can relax and listen to the speeches).
4. Bring the generations together
Enjoy the chance to bring all the generations of your friends and family together in one place, to celebrate this new chapter in your lives together. You will be giving special memories to everyone to look back on.
About Hedgerow Circus
There is no need to compromise on style when including toys and games at your wedding venue; take a look at Hedgerow Circus, a local company based in the Cotswolds who provide a great range of attractive play areas to cater for groups of all sizes, delivered and set up at your wedding or event venue.
Top tips on getting your wedding photographs picture perfect
After choosing a venue, the next important supplier to pick is the wedding photographer (and often the second most expensive element too). After all, this is the supplier who will be immortalising your special day and creating the keep sake to look back on in years to come. So it is vital you get this part right if you want to have amazing wedding photographs on your mantel piece.
Hire a professional photographer
Don’t dismiss the need for a professional photographer or think that you can just rely on people’s iPhone snaps. Nothing beats professional photographs!
When you’re looking around, please bear in mind that just because someone has a decent camera, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they can take good photos. However, advancement in technology does at least mean that there is more chance of getting it right.
Digital photography makes such a difference to capturing special days like weddings. There are so many advantages of having digital photography, no more so than having instant results. There’s no waiting around to get the photos developed, so the photographer can see what they are capturing straight away and make any adjustments as they go along. Hopefully this means more reliability and less surprises, plus more shots can be taken (as you’re not limited to a certain number of rolls of film) and you could change between colour and black/white images more easily. It also means that photos can be edited, backed up, stored, and shared with others online afterwards.
Photography style
Photographers may offer different styles of shots in their wedding photography repertoire. Think about the style of photos you want and pick a photographer who has this style in their portfolio whether that be formal, candid or reportage:
Formal shots = this is the more posed stuff, perhaps with groups of people in scenes and is likely to be staged, with everyone looking at the camera
Candid shots = these are a bit more relaxed and are more about catching a moment in time
Reportage = this style tells a story and follows the main events throughout day in an informal manner
Practice makes perfect
Consider having an engagement shoot so that you can get comfortable in front of the camera with your photographer before the big day. Plus this will give you a chance to recce some good photo locations at your venue too.
Think about contingency plans – what happens if the photographer can’t do your wedding at the last minute? Do they have a stand in? Check what your insurance covers and ask your venue if they have a designated space for group shots in case it rains. It’s always best to plan for the worst, hope for the best.
Checklist for selecting the right photographer for you
Here are some other things that it is worth checking when you are considering the photographer to hire for your wedding day:
Portfolio – take a look at their previous work and any weddings they’ve shot before
Style – does their style of shots suit how you’d like to have your photos taken?
Ability – are they able to do the style that you’d like?
Qualifications – are they a member of the Association of Photographers, British Institute of Professional Photography, Society of Wedding & Portrait Photographers?
Testimonials – what have previous couples had to say about them?
Award – have they won anything for their work?
Experience – how long have they been shooting weddings?
Familiarity with venue – have they done any weddings at your chosen venue before?
Availability – can they do your chosen date?
Turn around time – how quickly will you get your photos back after the wedding?
Insurance / contingency – what happens if they can’t do your wedding at the last minute?
Presentation – does how they dress and carry themselves fit with the style of your day?
Personality – do you gel with them? Would you want them to be at your wedding with you?
Cost – how much do they charge, for how long and what is included in the price?
Is an album included in cost? How many photographs are in the album?
What other expenses are included/additional? Travel? Food?
Help your wedding photographer get the best results
Share the schedule or running order of the day with your photographer so they don’t miss key moments. Look after your photographer and don’t forget to feed them – it’s a long day for them too!
A good photographer will already know the shots that they would capture for a wedding day. However, it’s good to put together a shot list for your more obscure requests. Think about the shots you’d like to sum up the day (formal, candid and details).
You may well go for a mixture of colour and black/white, plus a combination of formal and informal shots to give you a good representation of the day, as well as some group shots to keep the older relatives happy too!
It’s a good idea to nominate a couple of your most reliable attendants in charge of rounding people up for the big group shots. Have the giant group photo of all the guests taken from up high. That way you’ll be able to see everyone’s faces and fit them all in.
Suggested wedding photography shot list:
Shots to sum up the day
getting dressed
getting ready to walk down the aisle
close ups of couple individually just before the big entrance
exchanging vows and rings
the first kiss
walking up the aisle after the ceremony together
getting showered in confetti
in the wedding car leaving the ceremony
chatting to guests
the toasts
couple sharing a private moment
the first dance
cutting of the cake
tossing of bouquet / lantern release
The formal shots
couple individually
couple signing the marriage certificate
couple outside the service venue
couple with each set of parents
couple with both sets of parents
couple with each of their immediate families (grandparents, siblings etc)
with the bridesmaids
with the best man and ushers
couple with any special friends
the entire wedding party
reception shots per table
The candid shots
wedding party getting ready with hair and make up
big reveal to rest of wedding party
couple’s first glimpse of each other
wedding party making their way to, and arriving at, the ceremony
guests arriving/with drinks before the reception
the couple chatting to friends and family
receiving line
entrance of newlyweds to the reception
guests signing the guestbook
guests dancing
entertainers/musicians
The detail shots
clothes hanging on the wardrobe or bedpost
close ups of dress, shoes, accessories
wedding rings resting on an invitation
close up of the couple holding hands (focus on the rings)
close ups of wedding details (stationery, favours, place cards, table settings, table plan)
the guestbook
the cake before being cut
bouquet and floral arrangements
close up of the wedding car/transport
room all set up
Wedding guests taking photographs
You may want to remind your guests politely to make sure that they don’t block the photographer on the day. And also consider having a unplugged wedding so you can see their faces (not their phones) when you look back on your photographs. Perhaps, chose a moment in the ceremony when guests can take their own photos.
Strike a pose
Above all, you want to look good in these momentous photos so here are some final tips for being picture perfect:
Hold your flowers by your belly buttons to make a nice shape with your arms
Keep your arms slightly away from your sides to give you biceps room to breath for a flattering look
Take phones and keys out of trouser pockets to give a better line
Get plenty of full length shots of the dress
Avoid the midday sun (and squinty eyes!)
Use the best ‘golden hour’ light 1 hour before sunset for some amazing shots!
Smile with your eyes!
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About Susie Grist Couture
wedding guest list
Checklist for selecting the right photographer for you
Help your wedding photographer get the best results
