This one is for YOU. The bride to-be that’s hustling to make sure everything is perfect for your wedding day. The one that hasn’t stopped searching through Pinterest for tips and tricks to help this special day be everything you’ve been dreaming of. You’ve been putting so much love, care and effort into making sure your plans are perfect because you can’t afford for anything to go wrong. I see you and I know how much of a wedding planning whirlwind you’re in.

Because we all hear those horror stories, right? The ones about something happening on a wedding day and suddenly nothing goes the way it was planned. Or the ones about someone or something running late and suddenly it’s sunset and you still haven’t captured the pictures you’ve been dying to have. You’re worried your wedding day may be like this and are doing everything you can to prevent it from happening. Trust me, these horror stories may scare us, BUT I’m going to tell you three tips you can do to make sure everything goes smoothly and absolutely stress-free once your wedding day arrives!

1) Create a Timeline with your Photographer

Timelines are SO, SO, SO, SO, SO, SO (can I please add 100 more so’s?) important! Not only does it provide the flow of the wedding day, but it can also determine whether you’ll have great light at the most important times!

During my initial consultation, I will always ask the couple if they have already picked a time for their ceremony to start. If they’ve picked out a time and have decided to book me, I will immediately send them a sample timeline that outlines what time certain events should start and end in order to make sure we stay on track to capture beautiful portraits from the beginning of the day, all the way to the end!

If the couple hasn’t chosen a time, I will send two preferred timelines: one that includes a first look and another that does not! I encourage them to choose from these two so there’s no stress! We know our timeline AND we know that our timeline will make it so we won’t run out of perfect lighting the entire day! 🙂

2) Plan on Having a First Look

I plan on writing an entire post dedicated to having a first look, but let’s start with what exactly it is! A first look is a special planned event that allows the bride and groom to see one another alone before the ceremony! Typically the only other people present for this moment are your photographer & videographer because this is going to be one of your favorite memories from the entire day!

“Isn’t that breaking the biggest wedding rule ever? I thought the groom wasn’t supposed to see the bride before the ceremony?”

The thing is, a lot of these “wedding rules” are really traditional. However, more recently, people have been opting to include first looks in their wedding day timeline because it has SO many benefits to it! One of the benefits is that it helps create a stress-free wedding day!

Since the couple is having a first look earlier in the day, there’s more time to capture portraits of the two of them! They won’t have to worry whether there will be enough sunlight AFTER the ceremony is finished to capture the wedding day portraits they’ve been dreaming of! Additionally, since they’re choosing to see one another before the ceremony, their family & bridal party portraits can also be done before the ceremony! It takes an immense amount of stress off of worrying about whether there will be enough time to capture these important photographs because it will already be done by the time you’re getting married!

3) Plan WAY Ahead

Seriously, this is the best thing you can do to guarantee a smooth wedding day. When I tell people I have had couples book my services two years in advance, they usually respond with, “Whoa, isn’t that overkill?”

But, it actually isn’t! The moment you know you’re getting married, you should dive into figuring out who your vendors are going to be. You don’t want to be the bride who is worried about finding vendors at the last minute because that creates a hectic tension throughout your wedding.

When you’re choosing your vendors, you should be excited! You should be able to take your time, look at work/portfolios you like and meet with people you genuinely are interested in hiring because you trust them with your day. Sometimes when we make really last minute decisions, we don’t end up being 100% satisfied with the final results and your wedding day is no exception. The sooner you can find a great team, the sooner you’ll be ready for the smoothest wedding day because they’ll be prepared to make it that way!

Overview:

I know you see stressful events happen at weddings all the time and you’re worried about that being you. I know you don’t want to be the bride that is frantically putting together last minute details days before the wedding. But, girl, just because it happens all the time doesn’t mean it has to happen to YOU. It’s the simple things you do at the beginning of your engagement that will guarantee 0 stress by the time your special day comes. If you take the extra steps of immediately planning an effective timeline, scheduling a first look and creating an efficient wedding team early in your engagement, you’ll be able to easily stay on top of your wedding day to-do’s and create a day that’s completely stress free!