5 Wedding Photo Tips for Brides | Navarre Beach Wedding Photography

5 Wedding Photo Tips for Brides

Your wedding day is one of those days when you want to look beautiful, feel confident, and actually enjoy everything you've spent so much time planning.

As a Navarre Beach wedding photographer, I've learned that a little preparation before the wedding can make a big difference—not only in your photographs but also in how relaxed you feel on your wedding day.

Your photographer can help with lighting, posing, your photography timeline, and capturing all the little moments, but there are also a few things you can do before the wedding to help yourself feel prepared.

If you're wondering how to prepare for your wedding photos, here are five tips I recommend for brides.

 1. Be Careful With Tanning Before Your Wedding

If you're planning to tan before your wedding, think about your wedding dress first.

Strapless, off-the-shoulder, low-back, or sleeveless dresses can reveal tan lines you may not normally notice.

This is particularly something to think about if you're planning a Navarre Beach wedding or spending time at the beach before your wedding day.

Be careful about getting too much sun in the days immediately before your wedding. In addition to tan lines, a sunburn can leave your skin red and uncomfortable.

If you're considering a spray tan, don't experiment with a completely new product immediately before the wedding. A trial well ahead of your wedding can help you determine whether you like the color and how it looks with your skin tone and wedding dress.

Your goal should be to look like yourself and feel comfortable and confident.

2. Plan Your Wedding Hair and Makeup Ahead of Time

Hair and makeup can have a significant impact on how you feel in your wedding photographs.

If you're using professional hair and makeup artists, consider scheduling a trial before your wedding.

Bring inspiration pictures, but also listen to your stylist's recommendations for your hair, skin, dress, wedding location, and overall style.

If you're planning an outdoor or Navarre Beach wedding, tell your stylist. Florida humidity, heat, and Gulf Coast wind may affect how you choose to wear your hair and which products your stylist recommends.

You may also want to keep a few touch-up items nearby throughout the day.

Most importantly, choose a look that makes you feel beautiful without making you feel like someone else.

3. Choose Your Wedding Accessories Before the Wedding Day

Don't wait until you're getting dressed to decide which earrings, necklace, veil, shoes, or other accessories you're going to wear.

Try everything on with your wedding dress ahead of time.

This allows you to see how all the pieces work together and prevents unnecessary decisions on your wedding morning.

It also helps your photographer.

Wedding accessories can be beautiful storytelling details. Your photographer may photograph your rings, earrings, shoes, perfume, invitation suite, bouquet, veil, Bible, heirloom jewelry, or other meaningful items while you're getting ready.

Gathering these items together before your photographer arrives can make getting-ready wedding photos much easier.

4. Think About Your Wedding Shoes—and Bring a Backup

Break in your wedding shoes before the wedding instead of wearing them for the first time that day.

You want to know that you can comfortably walk, stand, and dance in them.

If you're having an outdoor wedding, think about the surface you'll be walking on.

For a Navarre Beach wedding, heels aren't always practical in the sand. You may want to be barefoot for some beach portraits or have another pair of shoes available for walking between locations.

For grassy venues, heel protectors may help prevent narrow heels from sinking into the ground.

And there's nothing wrong with having a comfortable backup pair for later in the reception!

5. Eat, Hydrate and Take Care of Yourself

This may sound simple, but it's incredibly important.

Eat on your wedding day.

Wedding mornings can become busy very quickly. Between hair, makeup, getting dressed, bridesmaids, family, vendors, and photographs, it's easy to realize you've barely eaten anything.

Drink plenty of water and have something to eat before the ceremony.

This becomes even more important for Florida beach weddings, particularly during warmer months.

If you're drinking alcohol while getting ready, don't overdo it before your ceremony and portraits. You want to feel good and be fully present for the moments you've spent months planning.

BONUS: Give Yourself Enough Time for Getting-Ready Photos

I'm adding this one to your original five because it's something brides frequently don't think about until they're building their wedding-day timeline.

Don't schedule your getting-ready time too tightly.

Hair and makeup can run late. Someone may misplace an earring. A bridesmaid may need help. Flowers may arrive later than expected.

If your photography timeline has no breathing room, one small delay can affect everything that follows.

Talk with your wedding photographer before finalizing your timeline.

I like having enough time to photograph important details, the bride getting ready, interactions with bridesmaids and family, putting on the dress, finishing touches, and bridal portraits without making everyone feel rushed.

What Should I Have Ready for My Wedding Photographer?

Before your photographer arrives, consider putting your important details together in one location.

That might include your wedding dress, shoes, rings, invitation suite, jewelry, perfume, veil, bouquet, vow book, Bible, and meaningful family heirlooms.

Not every bride will have all of these things, and you certainly don't need to buy items just for photographs.

The goal is simply to have the details that already matter to you easily accessible.

That allows your photographer to spend less time searching for things and more time photographing your wedding story.

How Can I Look Natural in My Wedding Photos?

You don't need to know how to pose like a model.

That's part of your photographer's job.

Your wedding photographer should guide you when necessary while also allowing genuine moments to happen naturally.

Some of the photographs you treasure most may not be perfectly posed. They may be your mom helping you into your dress, your dad seeing you for the first time, your bridesmaids laughing with you, or the expression on your spouse's face when they see you.

Those moments can't always be planned.

That's why I believe beautiful wedding photography should include both beautiful portraits and genuine emotion.

Planning a Navarre Beach Wedding?

If you're planning a wedding in Navarre, Navarre Beach, Pensacola Beach, Gulf Breeze, or along Florida's Gulf Coast, your photography timeline should account for the things that make our area beautiful—and occasionally unpredictable.

Sunset time, heat, humidity, wind, beach access, travel time, and changing Florida weather can all affect your wedding photography plans.

Working with a photographer experienced with Navarre Beach wedding photography can help you plan around those conditions while still leaving room to enjoy your wedding.

Navarre Beach Wedding Photographer

At Inspired By You Photography, my goal is to capture both the beautiful portraits you've been dreaming about and the unexpected moments that make your wedding uniquely yours.

Your wedding photographs should tell the story of the entire day—the details, getting ready, family, ceremony, portraits, laughter, emotions, and all the little moments happening in between.

If you're looking for a Navarre Beach wedding photographer, I'd love to hear about your wedding plans and what photographs are most important to you.

I hope you find these tips helpful as you prepare for your special day. Planning for things ahead of time can cut down on bridal stress and ensure you have a great wedding memory. Let me know if you’d like me to capture those beautiful memories by filling out the Contact form.