Congratulations, you’re marrying your best friend! Your big day is coming up and we couldn’t be more excited for you! As a wedding photography team, one thing we always like to go over with our couples is what to prepare and have ready for wedding detail photos. To help you out, we have compiled this checklist of what to prepare for your wedding photographer for flat lay detail shots. This will help you know what to put together and cross one more thing off of your wedding to-do-list.

Wedding flat lay detail photo checklist:

Bridal detail checklist:

1. Bride’s engagement ring
2. Bridal wedding band
3. Ring box
4. Bridal Jewelry (necklace, bracelets, earrings, and anything else that she may be wearing)
5. Veil
6. Hairpieces
7. Shoes
8. Bride’s vow book
9. Bride’s personal letter written to the groom
10. Perfume bottle
11. Bride’s bouquet
12. A custom or cute bridal hanger for the dress
13. An extra invite and envelope set
14. For the dress – Have a decorative hanger (not the plastic or wire generic ones)

Pro tip: Ask the Florist to bring a few extra flowers and greenery pieces that can be used for detail shots. This is a great way to make flat lay photos look more exciting and add to the details.

Groom’s detail checklist:

1. Groom’s wedding band
2. Formal shoes and socks
3. Cologne Bottle
4. Groom’s tie or bow tie
5. Grooms Handkerchief
6. Boutonnière
7. Watch
8. Cufflinks
9. Grooms vow books
10. Grooms personal letter written to the bride

Pro tip: Have the brides and grooms stuff all in one place together. This will make it easier for your photographer. They will have access to all the wedding details that you have prepared for photos all in one place. Staying organized and communicating with your florist and other vendors to make sure everything is ready to go at the right time will be key. Having all your wedding details prepared ahead of time will save time and stress on your wedding day. It will help the timeline move along on time without setbacks.

How to pack for your wedding detail photos

We truly believe that having everything planned and put together in one place will help you feel at ease going into your wedding day. To start, I usually recommend a shoe box or bag to store everything in one place. If the bride and groom are getting ready in separate venues, have both the bride’s detail box and groom’s detail box in the bridal suite or at the venue where your photographer will be taking the majority of the getting ready photos.

In our early days of photographing weddings, we learned quickly that not everyone is organized. We have had to track down the rings, track down the flowers, or find a guest with an invite to make sure we were able to get all the wedding details photographed. When the bride and groom are getting ready in two different locations, this is especially crucial to make sure they are all organized and together in one place. You won’t want to run out of time for these photos and so planning ahead will help ensure that happens.

When your photographer arrives during the getting ready portion of the day, physically having them all organized will allow them to quickly grab them and get those photos. Typically, the photographer will take these photos while the bride finishes getting hair and makeup done or eats a quick lunch before putting on the dress. Depending on the timeline, detail photos can take anywhere from 30 or more minutes. To get the most out of that time you won’t want your photographer spending it trying to track down all those items.

Other important items to prepare for your wedding photographer

Detail photos are just one piece of the wedding day. There are loads of other items to plan and prepare. To make things easier for our couples, we have a number of pre-wedding questionnaires to ensure we know what matters to them. We do our absolute best to capture every shot that matters to our couples – and then some. A few things that we recommend having prepared are:

1. Prepare a detailed timeline – If you hire a professional photographer they will be able to help you with this. We actually prefer to write them for our clients to ensure there’s enough time for everything!
2. Let your photographer know of any sentimental details or items you’d like photographed. Ex: a locket passed down from your great grandmother, or a bracelet that was gifted to you from a loved one.
3. Create a detailed list of desired family photo shots (organize by side of the family and include names so it’s easy to call out)
4. Have someone to help round up family for photos – especially if it’s a larger amount of people. A coordinator or personal attendant is a perfect person to do this. Even having someone on each side of the family to help with this is always good.
5. Share a mood board with your photographer. If there are photos that inspire you, we want to see them!
6. Have a list of all your wedding vendors so that your photographer can connect with them and make sure that they have coordinated any other necessary details.

About us

If you’re looking for a fun, adventurous, husband and wife photography team look no further! We absolutely love capturing weddings and elopements. Because we offer both photography and videography, we make it easy for our couples to plan out their day and details to ensure they don’t miss a thing. If you have questions or would like to set up a time to get coffee or hop on a zoom call, fill out our contact form on our website! 

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