Weddingbee Blog

Things didn’t really go as planned… at all. When I booked our photographer for the session, I thought I had plenty of time to prepare and somehow it snuck up on us (even though I had months to plan). I spent the day before the shoot scrambling to find outfits I liked. I was a mess the day of, deciding whether or not to curl my hair, I didn’t have time for a manicure, I never made an appointment to get my makeup done, and I never put together a real schedule. Sure, I had lots of ideas over the past few months and I made tentative schedules, but when it came down to it, we kind of just went with the flow.

The day before, my mom and I went to Salve and kind of scouted out areas that could possibly make for good shots. I’m really happy we did this. I didn’t want to regret missing any amazing areas, so it was good to walk around and get a feel for what we would really want to use for the shoot. Then, on the day of the shoot, Mr. Starfish and I took another trip to campus, also to look at different areas to shoot. I’m glad we did this too, because we cut down on a lot of options.

I love the rose garden and thought we could get some awesome shots, but Mr. Starfish didn’t understand the meaning behind the location. We didn’t pick Newport because of its beauty (beautiful as it is), we picked it so we could have our photos taken in places that are meaningful to us. We ended up taking photos where we first met, the place we went on an informal date/get to know you, the place we had our actual first date, outside the building we had our first dance and where Mr. Starfish proposed. There was lots of meaning behind every shot!

What I learned:

1. Relax beforehand. I spent the entire day before and morning of the shoot running around looking for outfits and shot locations—I ended up getting blisters and couldn’t wear the cute shoes I planned on for our pictures. The sad thing is that I pretty much wore all clothes I already had, with the exception of a T-shirt bought from my alma mater the day before.

2. Plan ahead. See #1. If I had really planned my outfits ahead of time, I wouldn’t have been spending so much time at the last minute running around.

3. Coordinate. Make sure outfits look good together, if you are wearing heels, it’s probably not a good idea for him to wear sneakers. I had originally planned on wearing heels, but because of my sore feet and Mr. Starfish’s footwear choice, it made more sense for me to wear flip flops.

4. Choose a location with meaning. That was our main goal and when I veered off, Mr. Starfish gave me some perspective. Sure, you can get awesome spots at a place that isn’t meaningful, but to me, it makes the shots more personal.

5. Get creative: we brought in a couple props (more on this later).

6. Vary the shots. To make your photos more unique, try different outfits and more than one location; it will give you more options to choose from in the end. We ended up with three outfits each and three locations.

7. Trust your photographer and be flexible. I had so many ideas in mind, but at the last minute went with the flow, and I am so glad I did. Our photographer was super creative and had so many great ideas. We had ideas, but when we threw something out there, he knew how to make it work, which enhanced all of the ideas we put out there.

8. Be yourself. I originally wanted a dressier outfit and heels, but they so aren’t me. I do wear dresses almost every day, I dislike jeans and heels. I felt so comfortable during the shoot, except for the portion we wore jeans, and they happen to be our least favorite shots. I didn’t even own a pair of jeans, so I bought a pair, since I saw so many other pictures of other couples in jeans. I thought it looked natural, but it just didn’t work for me, because it isn’t who I am.

9. Don’t always follow tips you hear, if it doesn’t work for you. I was told to wear solid colors, but I love one of my patterned flowy dresses, so I chose to wear it anyways!

10. Have fun! We just kind of walked around and reminisced about our dating days. We were completely relaxed and didn’t take it too seriously. We listened when our photographer gave suggestions. We also made sure we both gave each other reasons to smile throughout the shoot. It made it fun and more natural.

If you had your e-shoot already, what kind of tips do you have? Or, What tips from others did you find the most helpful?

All photos credited to: David Bibeault