You spend days, weeks, months mulling over the little details for your wedding day and now that it’s finally here, you see it all coming together! Photographers have various parts of the wedding day that they absolutely LOVE and that for me are the DETAILS. I make sure to carve out some time at every wedding to find, and beautifully arrange your carefully picked out details. From the invitation suite you sent out all over to guests, to the incredibly gorgeous shoes, your rings and more!

When you get your wedding timeline and you see detail photos, you might wonder what goes into the detail photos. What makes the list, what does or doesn’t get photographed and what in the world should you really have?!

Don’t worry bride, I’m breaking down my must haves for your bridal detail flatlay photos, the nice to have but not necessary and the little things that add an extra oomph!

MUST HAVE DETAILS:

These are my must haves for your detail photos! Your RINGS! I prefer to have both rings so I can style them together but no worries if you don’t have your groom’s ring! If possible, I’ll run down to grab all three rings and I promise to guard them with my life as if they were my own wedding rings.

The invitiation suite is a must have for me! Just the main invitation will do but EVEN BETTER is having the whole entire suite: the outer envelope, the inner envelope, the invitation, RSVP card, details/accomodations card, the belt that pulls it all together, the wax seal you put on it, EVERYTHING. If you have the whole suite, FABULOUS! If not, no worries, I can work with just your invitation! 🙂

Some brides wear a bracelet, some wear a necklace, some wear a brooch or haircomb and some wear a combination of multiple pieces, just one piece or a few pieces of jewelry. Whatever the amount, I want it all! 🙂 If you’re wearing a necklace and earrings on your wedding day, I love to include those into your detail photos to add a little sparkle. And when it’s an heirloom piece, I especially want to make sure I include that item for you. It’s a part of your story and your wedding day.

Your veil and shoes! Sometimes the veil has a beautiful delicate lace or beaded trim that I love to incorporate into the background of your detail flatlays or I use the veil to drape over items to add a touch of romance. If you bought a pair of shoes especially for your wedding day, I definitely want to make sure to grab those! It’s hard for me to resist a pair of pretty shoes or anything with sparkle!

NICE TO HAVE:

Your perfume! Did you know that scent brings back memoires? Like when you smell your mom’s apple pie and it instantly brings you back to holidays during your childhood. I’d catch a faint smell of Polo Black and I’m reminded immediately of my husband because that’s the cologne he wore when we started dating (it’s my favorite cologne to this day!) So having your perfume photographed may not be the same as smelling it but you’ll always remember the perfume you wore on your wedding day and the smell will bring you right back to your wedding day. Plus it always helps that perfume bottles are pretty 😉

Your Something Old, New, Borrowed & Blue. Some brides love this tradition (six pence in their shoe included!) and I have fun incorporating this tradition into your detail photos!

A ring box: if you bought a ring box just for your wedding detail photos, FOR SURE I’m going to use it! It gives your rings such a classy home to hang out in for photos and of course for safe keeping before they end up on your fingers! If you don’t have one, no worries sweet Bride! I bring a styling kit with me to every wedding which includes ring boxes in different colors!

THE LITTLE EXTRAS:

I love adding in little extras to tell the story of your wedding day. My absolute favorite extra to have with your details are FLOWERS! I always try to ask your florist to save a couple extra blooms or greenery for me to use in your detail flatlay photos. There’s just something about those beautiful florals to add some color or romance to your images. Showcase the star flower in your bouquet like a peony or rose, or just add some simple greenery for that extra touch. If your wedding is full of details like bright citrus-y colors, guess what we can add? Some cut fruits or berries or something to add that detail!

I also add in some texture by using silk ribbons in different colors to match your color palette, a styling tray to rest your details on for some levels of depth and other little extras! Vintage stamps are a fun addition if you have an invitation suite that just looks like it could use a little more oomph and wax seals do the same!

Adding some little details that go along with your theme or remind you of your venue are great to add into your detail flatlays! And don’t worry bride, I can find those little details that sometimes you might not even think about. If your wedding is at a vineyard, I may add some of the corks from your getting ready with the girls wine bottles to your photos! Or if your wedding is at the beach, a seashell can be added in the photos too. There’s so many things you can add to really make your detail photos YOURS and as a photographer, I’m always down to be creative with your flatlay photos!

So Bride to Be, while you’re picking out those details from shoes to jewelry to vow books and more, don’t worry about having enough or not enough details! I promise, we’ll grab your most treasured detail photos for you to remember years after the wedding day. It’s anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour of time spent on details depending on your timeline but it’s the little details that help make up part of the big picture you’ll enjoy looking on fondly down the road.