Summer is fast approaching and that means so is your wedding. First off grab your towel and don’t panic (yes, I am a Douglas Adams nerd, but that guy had a good point.) This is my list of things that are almost always forgotten that will not only help with your wedding photos, but also make your day WAY more comfortable.
1. Sunscreen. This is such a simple thing, but not having it can put a real damper on your day. Ladies, that makeup will not protect you from the sun, I recommend making sure to use a concealer with SPF in it, as well as bringing a lightweight spray sunscreen you can mist yourself with. Don’t forget the top of your head. Gentlemen, same goes for you, but you don’t need to be as picky about choosing what kind of sunscreen. Also, if you are doing an outdoors wedding, and you decide to sunscreen up for the ceremony, dab your face with some kleenex after applying your sunscreen. It’ll take the shine off of your face for your photos. This technique should also be applied before the formal photos.
2. STAY HYDRATED! I did a wedding last summer that was all day outdoors until the reception. The whole bridal party forgot step one, and then didn’t juice up. By the time we got to the reception the bridal party were all feeling sick from heat exhaustion. Luckily for them, my mom taught me her Mary Poppins ways and I am prepared for basically everything with the help of my purse. I was able to give everyone some painkillers to help with the head aches, lotion up everyone’s sun burns (Aveeno lotion with oatmeal and aloe for the win,) and get everyone hydrated before they needed to dance the night away. Unfortunately they were all still sunburned in the photos, which did take a little extra time on my end to clean up while processing the images.
Save yourself a literal headache and drink up. You are running around all day. Yes, you may need to use the bathroom a bit more, but trust me, you would rather need to pee a little more than listen to your DJ with a headache all night.
3. Snacks. This goes hand in hand with the water and the sunscreen. Bring some salty snack to fight off dehydration from the sun. I know you may have meals and dinners and lunches through the whole day, but again, you are running around all day. You are walking way more than you are use too, and that takes its toll. The salty snack will help you absorb the water which will help you stay hydrated.
4. Comfy back up shoes. As I have mentioned, you will be walking pretty much all day. Ladies, those heels suck to be walking to your photo location in, and chances are they are going to hurt you, but you’ll still want to wear them for the start of your reception. Bring some comfy shoes for walking around during your photos. Change into your fancy shoes when it’s time to pose. It’ll help avoid sore feet and blisters.
5. Umbrella. I know we always hope for the best weather, but sometimes the weather gods have a different plan. I say bring an umbrella and embrace the rain. It poured on my wedding day and I was told by my bridesmaid the most beautiful thing when it happened. She lived in Africa for a short time helping build some dams. On the day of her arrival it rained, and it rained hard. Everyone was performing a welcome dance for her when it started to rain, and when it did they all started crying. When my friend asked why it was explained to her that it was a sign that “God blesses this day.” That really stuck with me and helped me not to worry about the weather. We went and got a bunch of photos in the rain and they turned out amazing.
The drawback though. I didn’t have an umbrella and my dress looked like it had been in the rain. If you are not willing to come up with a backup indoors photo locations, you need to come prepared for the weather. Bring a jacket you can wear while walking to your different locations, and bring an umbrella to protect your dress. Also make sure your bridal party does the same thing.The umbrella can also be used as a prop in your photos. You can do so many cute things with it. The image above was a wedding I shot this past fall. I brought an umbrella just in case, and it turned out we needed it. This is one of my favorite photo session at the Alberta Legislature and it is all because of the killer reflections in the ground and the umbrella. They are just so cute playing in the rain together.
6. Tide to Go. This thing is amazing!! It cleans up everything and you will definitely find yourself in many situations where you may wish you had this. First off, you’re in a white dress all day eating food, drinking wine, and running around outside. Your going to want this tool, should the worst happen. Secondly you are responsible for your bridal party (who are also in fancy clothes all day), maybe a flower girl and ring bearer (kids are not known for staying clean,) and family (parents will definitely be in lots of your photos.) All these people are also going to be eating, drinking, and being merry, which means more chances for them to get their clothes dirty. Give your best man and maid of honor a pen and make them responsible for keeping people looking their best.
These are my top things that I have found most people don’t think about. I hope that reading my list has helped you think of how you can plan for the unexpected on your big day. Also try and remember, we cannot plan for everything. I know some brides feel like if they missed something, or if anything goes wrong they have let their guests down. That is not the case at all. Plan for what you can, let everything else just happen, and try not to let it bother you when thing don’t go according to plan. Like any party, something can go wrong, but the party keeps rocking, so keep on rocking and enjoy the night.
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