"Dressing Room" tips from MTM Photography

MomentsThatMatter · March 1, 2010

DRESSING ROOM

We really want to stress that this is YOUR day. We want to photograph any portion of the day that you feel warrants a photographer. We do love to photograph the bride getting ready as it is one of those many moments during the day that is filled with great emotions. The bride preparing for the biggest day of her relationship, full of excitement and butterflies in her stomach... This excitement is a very important piece of your wedding story.

Normally, the bride feels most comfortable with only one photographer in her dressing room. That would be me, Lori, as the women tend to be more comfortable with another female in the room. My goal is to mostly be invisible and let the girls prepare for the big day.

Some important photos in the dressing room include 'details'. 'Details' refers to items that are a big part of the day. Things like the brides shoes, flowers, head piece, etc. These items often do not get enough attention and, in the end, are easily forgotten if not captured.

Since we are both photographers, we will also capture the grooms dressing room. I will tag along with the girls while Lincoln leaves to meet up with the guys and sticks with them until the ceremony. He captures the guests arriving at the cermony and prepares for the brides entrance.

Helpful Hints for your Dressing Room

Some of this may be difficult to plan for your destination wedding but any efforts will definitely be reflected in your photographs!

How to get good wedding photos in the dressing room:
- Have the cleaning service come to tidy your dressing room so it is made up when you return from your hair appointment.
- Have your girls clean up all the non-wedding related messes. Don't make the room look too neat; messes are ok, if they're wedding messes
- Empty shoe boxes and dress bags should be placed somewhere outside the dressing room. It looks wonderful to have all the dresses hanging and shoes lying around on the floor, but they look awful if they're still in the box, or if they have piles of plastic wrappers and cardboard boxes lying next to them.
- Cover up any ugly furniture with plain white drape cloth
Light is extremely important:
- Choose a room with lots of space and natural light. Large North facing windows is the photographers dream come true. This type of room allows for a ton of soft natural light!
- Drapes should be open. If there is something distracting or unsightly that would be visible thru the open windows, place some light gauzy curtains over them to cut back on the view while still allowing light to come in.
- If you have no window light, get creative. Use lots of candles or little white Christmas lights around the room
- Shafts of sunlight streaming in the windows may look great to the human eyes, but that extreme level of brightness in an otherwise dark room is a photographers nightmare. If you must use a room with direct sun on the windows, use some curtains to diffuse it.