How many bridal boutiques did you visit before finding the perfect wedding dress? How many invitation suite options did you consider before deciding what stationary to send to your guests? How much time did you spend working with your florist to design your bouquet? How many hours have you spent looking for wedding inspiration on Pinterest or working with a wedding stylist or coordinator to bring your dream wedding to life?
If you’re like most brides, the answer to these questions is the same. A LOT!
While the little details of your wedding may not seem like a big deal to you, you have/will put a ton of time into planning your wedding and thinking about these details. Because you’ve worked hard, your detail items (no matter how small) deserve to be captured! After all, these little details are part of your wedding story!
To help ensure that you love your wedding detail photos and that every memento is captured, here’s a checklist for wedding detail photos!
A Checklist for Wedding Detail Photos
Bridal Details
- Dress
- Veil and/or other hair accessories
- Shoes
- Jewelry
- Earrings
- Necklace
- Bracelet
- Any other jewelry
- Perfume
- Clutch or purse
- Keepsakes (Maybe your grandmother’s handkerchief is your something blue or you’re incorporating other sentimental items in your big day. You’ll definitely want to capture these special details!)
Groom Details
Now, I’ll be honest with you. Your big day is every bit as much your groom’s big day, but capturing his details can be considered optional.
While a lot of effort and likely several shopping trips go into choosing the perfect wedding dress and other bridal details, the groom’s details and attire are typically rented from a tux shop and aren’t quite as sentimental as bridal details.
My brides rarely opt to have groom details photographed unless the details are of some kind of significance (e.g. a watch the bride gives the groom as a wedding gift, cufflinks that the groom’s father also wore at his wedding, etc.), but if you like, here are a few groom details to consider having photographed!
- Shoes
- Cufflinks
- Tie
- Cologne
- Watch
- Keepsakes
Stationary
- Invitation suite (Include your invitation, RSVP cards, envelopes, and all other pieces you mailed to your guests.)
- Program
- Vows (If you write your own vows in special books or on special stationary, you’ll definitely want to make sure this detail is captured!)
Rings
- Engagement ring
- Bride’s wedding ring
- Groom’s wedding ring
Flowers
- Bride’s bouquet
- Groom’s boutonnière
- Flower clippings (Ask your florist to include leftover flowers, petals, and greenery in a separate bag. Your photographer can use these pieces that would’ve simply been thrown away to add interest to your detail photos.)
Decorative Items
Don’t get too caught up on this one, because your photographer will likely have ribbon and other styling items that he/she can use to bring the aesthetic of your wedding details together.
But, if you have coordinating ribbon, leftover pieces from centerpieces or other decor, or any other items you think your photographer might find useful, go ahead and give these things to your photographer.
Your photographer can absolutely use the decorative items he/she already has, but if you have styling details you can share, share them. This will help make sure the style of your entire day is consistent.
Any Other Details that Are Important to You
While the checklist for wedding detail photos listed above will help you get started, remember that this is YOUR wedding day!
If there are any other details that are important to you, simply let your photographer know, and he/she can be sure to capture them.
Your details will fade, but your photos can help you forever remember these special mementos.
Again, I know that the details from your big day may not seem particularly important to you now, but I hope you’ll make wedding detail photos a priority for a few reasons:
- You’ve put hours into carefully choosing and/or creating these details, and your hard work deserves to be captured.
- Your little details are what will bring the overall feeling of your big day together.
- Most of your details will eventually fade, but your wedding photos can preserve these details!
While you can absolutely have your wedding dress and bouquet preserved, many of your details—like your invitations—will eventually fade and yellow.
This is unfortunate, but you can forever remember these special details by having your wedding photographer capture these details on camera!
So, my friend, I hope you find this checklist for wedding detail photos helpful and will make details photos a priority on your big day!
In case this helps, here are some examples of wedding detail photos!
