Wedding Getting Ready Photos | 4 Tips For Choosing An Incredible Getting Ready Location | Wedding Venue

Wedding Getting Ready Photos | 4 Tips For Choosing An Incredible Getting Ready Location |

“Choosing and incredible getting ready location will make for incredible images…”

We get it, you have a million decisions to make right now and where you are taking your wedding getting ready photos may not be high on your priority list yet! You just got engaged but everyone under the sun is asking every question you didn’t realize you needed to think about yet! Brides make hundreds of decisions to plan the perfect wedding, we want to help make some of those decisions easier (hopefully). In this post, we’re breaking down one of our favorite parts of the getting ready time and uncovering some of the best decisions every bride can make before the wedding to help ensure the day is everything the couple envisions! Planning for a smooth, relaxing wedding day morning will lead to a much more relaxing day!

A venue that matches the vision of your wedding day style will help tell a more cohesive story. Walking into a getting ready room on a wedding day is like walking into a time capsule. Your high school best friend. Your college roommate. Your sister. Your mom. Everyone you love is there. Choosing a space to reflect on a lifetime of memories with them while soaking up the new moments as you go can make the difference between a good experience and an unforgettable one. Through our years of experience, we’ve identified these four common factors for helping you select the perfect place for your Wedding Getting Ready Photos  & how to make sure you enjoy your time.

1. Wedding Venue?…. Hotel?….Air BnB?

It depends! When it comes to gorgeous photographs, the most important factor to consider when selecting a getting ready venue is the amount of beautiful natural light that flows into the room! We know we might sound silly, but since we are natural light photographers, we are big advocates anytime it’s available! We have a flash if it’s needed, but we promise natural night is what creates our bright and airy images! Most wedding venues offer a bridal dressing room as part of their wedding day package, however you may not be on property with enough time for more than simply putting ON your dress. Some of these rooms are spacious, well-lit by large windows, and completely enhance the story of the day. Those wedding venues typically understand light and the need for clean spaces and what wedding photographers are typically looking for in getting ready photos.  While others are dark, lit only by lamps or overhead lights and cramped which can lead to darker images. If this is the case, don’t worry! Let’s chat about how we will create the perfect getting ready photos!

When you’re touring your venue, make sure to ask to see the dressing area so that you can decide if it’s a good fit for you. You’ll also want to talk to your venue to ensure you’ll be able to arrive on the property with plenty of time to get ready if you aren’t planning on arriving dressed. If they don’t allow you on property until a certain time that doesn’t happen until early afternoon, you won’t have enough time to for a smooth, stress-free morning of hair/ makeup, getting dressed and, of course, your photos. *If you love the dressing area at your wedding venue, it’s always a great idea to request more time on the property, even if it costs a little more, to avoid the stress of cramming everything into a packed time frame.

In a many cases, brides choose an alternate getting ready venue, since it can be less expensive to rent a hotel room for a few hours than to add hours at your wedding venue! There are so many beautiful hotel rooms that will provide a gorgeous backdrop for your getting ready photos. Every makeup artists and hair stylists we have worked with will come directly to you, so a hotel room can really be a great way to go for a peaceful, stress-free start to your wedding day.

Another great option is renting an Airbnb that way you have the entire house for getting ready! Some of our couples have created an entire wedding weekend at their AirBnb and it makes for a longer celebration! A home tends to create more of a relaxed environment than a hotel and if you have the flexibility, this is a great option to consider.

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2. If you choose a hotel, upgrade to a suite…. It’s worth it!

A lot of wedding venue bridal suites (and even one-bedroom hotel rooms) can often be too small for more than a few people at a time. Most of the time the bathrooms on a standard room have a standard sized sink with only one mirror. Hotel suites offer large bathrooms with multiple vanities, so your bridesmaids can get ready at the same time (instead of waiting for a sink, dorm room style). Look for hotel suites that have spacious living rooms, which can help enhance everyone’s experience. The extra chairs and tables give makeup artists and hair stylists space to style multiple ladies at a time, and your bridal party will have plenty of room to get dressed. There is extra closet and floor space to keep the room looking clean and clutter-free for photographs. If you can find a suite with a kitchen/dining area, it will give you an opportunity eat a stress-free breakfast together, have cold beverages available the entire time, and make sure everyone is well-fueled for the day. An added bonus is that there is an extra room for storing everyone’s things, leaving the rest of the suit in clean and amazing picture-taking shape! 😉

wedding getting ready photos

3. Be on the lookout for BIG windows….The bigger the better!

Whether you’re at your wedding venue or in a hotel suite, floor to ceiling windows light and bright interiors are the key ingredient to beautiful images. So, the bigger the windows, the better! Large windows create soft, natural, flattering light for makeup application, which will help ensure your makeup looks fresh and natural in the photos. To us, they are like GOLD at the end of a rainbow! 😉 Dark walls don’t reflect as well as white or warm, pale interiors do. Sometimes an accent wall can be fun but some colors tend to reflect strange colors onto your skin and that’s not something you want for your getting ready photos!

Another suggestions for the getting ready photos space is to have one bed/sitting area left open and free of clutter! We know getting ready rooms can get a bit chaotic, but the last thing you want in your images to have water bottles and trash in the background! By keeping one area clean, you avoid having to scramble to move everything at the last second! We’re all about keeping those stress levels DOWN!  Groom’s this counts for you as well! 😉

4. Consider the interior and exterior aesthetics –

Getting ready venues with appealing visual aesthetics like unique doors, textured walls, bold furniture or sleek architecture is added bonus. A venue that matches the vision of your wedding day style will help tell a more cohesive story. If your wedding is full of antique details, look for a vintage venue to start your day. If your wedding day is elegant and classic, use those same words as you hunt for a place to get ready. The more it feels like “you” the more you will love your photos!

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Getting ready photos are one of our favorite parts of the day and we love how every couple seems to have their own twist that makes it uniquely them! From champagne toasts to yoga in the morning, no matter what how you want to begin your day, it’s going to be incredible.

Fun activity ideas for your wedding getting ready photos:

  • Champagne toast

  • Confetti Pop!

  • Matching Bridesmaid Robes / Outfits

wedding getting ready photos wedding getting ready photos

See the full getting ready experience on the blog : Hannah + Brent  |  Bethany + Trevor  |    Monet + Kyle

Other fun links:

Matching Bridesmaid Robes 

Bridesmaids Gifts

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We are published Phoenix wedding photographers and wedding videographers, engagement photographers & elopement photographers specializing in joyful, genuine and romantic story-telling images and films. We service all of Arizona including Phoenix, Scottsdale, Gilbert, Chandler, Tempe, Tucson, Sedona, Flagstaff, & beyond! 

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