5 TIPS FOR A STRESS-FREE WALK DOWN THE AISLE | PLAQUEMINE WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER

As a photographer, I spend more time with the bride and her bridesmaids on the wedding day. On the wedding day, I arrive extra early and notice many things which can be avoided with proper planning.  Here are five (5) tips to help you have a stress-free wedding day and help your “walk down the aisle” one you can truly enjoy! 

1- Hire a Wedding Planner:  In my opinion, some couples underestimate the number of puzzle pieces that must come together for a flawless wedding day. And it’s hard to estimate how many little delays can lead to BIG delays.  Your wedding planner can handle family members and wedding vendors professionally if necessary to eliminate stress and prevent unnecessary disagreements.

2- Ask Wedding Party Members to Arrive Early:  Let’s face it, while some people plan for unexpected circumstances some don’t.  As the bride, it’s okay to automatically build in buffer time into your day to allow for traffic, accidents, weather, or forgotten items to be retrieved. 

3- Allow More Time for Hair and Make-Up:  Often times, this is an area where the bridal party can tend to run late. (Not bashing MUA or hair stylist) Even though artists have done a great job, bridesmaids may decide to change or want a retouch, taking away time from the next person in line.  What wedding professional wants to send out less than their best work?  So if the make-up artist tells you it usually takes 45 minutes per face, please allow an additional 30 minutes.  It may require you to move your wedding day activities to an earlier start time, but I’ve never seen a bride stress out about being ready 30 minutes before the wedding started.  In fact, that gave her more photo opportunities with her bridesmaids before the celebration gets underway.

In addition to hair and make-up timing, often times the bride thinks she should go last when getting her make-up done.  It’s the bride and groom’s day, so when the schedule gets behind, everyone begins to speed up naturally, which means the time spent on the first bridesmaid is not the same timing spent on the bride. It’s disheartening to see a bride panicking because she’s worried about being late for her own wedding.  My recommendation is for the bride to have her make-up applied earlier on and have retouches applied later if time permits.

4- Have You Wedding Attire Prepared.  As a photographer, it’s my job to capture all of your beautiful details of your day- the dress before you put it on, your jewelry, the rings, your shoes and any special heirlooms.  It’s best to have these items already in the bridal suite so that no one has to spend time gathering them.  Also, just as important as it is to have the items gathered, it’s a great idea to already have the dresses steamed.  If we are waiting for the dresses to be steamed, that’s time away from photographing those details and depending upon the length of time it takes to get the wrinkles out, those details may miss being photographed.  Also, keep in mind that steaming many dresses at one time may cause the smoke detector to think there is a fire and the alarm could start sounding, loudly!

5- Get Dressed Early:  If you’re doing a First Look, it will be necessary to be dressed about 2 hours before the start of the ceremony in order to see your groom, take photos and be hidden away before guests start arriving. If you have decided against a First Look, please consider the timing it will take to get into your dress.  This is such a beautiful moment when the mother, maid or matron of honor or other special persons are helping you and it’s sometimes difficult to capture these precious moments when the bride is rushing and fussing.  This is the time that I see the most mistakes happen as well (i.e. make-up getting on the dress, forgetting or leaving items, etc.).  It is in your best interest to plan ahead to allow yourself time to enjoy this moment.

I Know that many of the things that can cause stress on the wedding day can be eliminated with the proper planning.  Cheers to a stress-free walk down the aisle and a flawless wedding day!