WELCOME TO THE CHELSIE RENAE PHOTOGRAPHY BRIDAL GUIDE

Bouquets + Bouts | You will need your Bouquet & Bouts for your First Look! Have them delivered to the room where the bride is getting ready.

Travel Time | Be sure to think about the travel time and TRAFFIC to and from your getting ready location and your venue.

Hair + Makeup | I encourage brides to have at least their makeup done before I start because who wants a ton of shots without their makeup on?! Nobody. Hair and makeup always seem to take the longest, which can cause delays in your timeline. I suggest you start hair and makeup early in the day to avoid delays in your schedule. 

Groomsmen Prep | My second shooter (Heidi) will photograph the guys getting ready if they are getting ready in the same location as the bride or within 10-15 min.

Getting in the dress | I’ll instruct you to get into your dress close to a window and it would be fabulous to have your bridemaids dressed when you’re getting in your gown.

Create a cushion | A 10 minute cushion every now and then is a GREAT idea! It’s amazing how fast time slips away the day of!

WHY IT’S WORTH IT

40% More Portraits |You’re investing a lot into your wedding photography. With a first look, you’ll receive 40% MORE portraits of the two of you… and those are the images you will decorate your first home with! With a first look, you make the most out of this investment and get the most for your money. 

Enjoy the surprise freely | You actually get to have intimate time on your wedding day with your man. Most brides don’t realize that when you come down the aisle and totally SHOCK him with your gorgeousness… he can’t even tell you how amazing you look. He can’t touch you, embrace you or even SPEAK to you. You have to wait until 30 minutes later when the ceremony is over for him to react and tell you how amazing you look. And after 30 minutes of the ceremony, the reaction isn’t the same as the initial first glance.

Extend your day by three hours | First Looks allow you to extend your wedding day. Normally the wedding day would start when you come down the aisle, then the ceremony would end, you would rush through portraits so that you’re not late for the introductions and then it’s reception time. With a first look, your wedding day is extended by almost 3 hours! Instead of being rushed for your bridal party portraits… you actually get to enjoy them and have fun hanging out with your BEST friends on your wedding day. The WHOLE first half of my client’s wedding albums are filled with images just from this time together before the ceremony.

Your only alone time | First Looks allow you to be TOGETHER and alone on your wedding day. Normally portraits are a little rushed after the family formals, and it can be hard to really get back into that “lovey dovey” mode…. especially with family around! When you have just shared your first look, you’re READY to love on each other, and I always capture some super sweet images during those moments! 

Diminishes Nerves | You get rid of your nerves! I’d say, literally 1/2 of my couples who have decided to do a first look, the grooms were not fans of it at first. However, because they have never experienced their wedding day before, they didn’t know how nerve racking it can be. I have testimonials from so many grooms who initially weren’t a fan of the first look… but afterwards they admitted to being SO much more relaxed and ready for the ceremony!

UNPLUGGED

Options for notifying guests that your ceremony is UNPLUGGED!

Signage | Have a simple sign that guests see as they are entering the ceremony. 

Spoken | Have your officiant politely mention that you prefer no cell phones.

Program | Include your Unplugged Ceremony request in your program design.

Imagine this with me…. you’re in my shoes…. the most important moment of the day is about to happen. You’ve checked your camera settings, you’ve taken test shots and you’re ready to capture the bride coming down the aisle to her groom. You want to capture reactions, variety of angles and every moment of joy and emotion in those few seconds. However, just as everyone stands and the music plays, not one, but three different family members and friends get so excited that they take just one step out into the aisle with their iPhones in hand trying to capture the moment. I’m scrambling. My couple is trusting me not to miss this!!! But now I’m dodging guests who are trying desperately to have a good Insta-story to share and they have no idea that the back of their heads, their arms and their phones are blocking me from capturing the bride and her dad walking down the aisle. It’s honestly one of the most terrifying things that can happen to a photographer during a ceremony …. and the hard part is, it can always be avoided. This issue is a growing one. Every wedding season we experience more and more of these issues. However, there is a solution! We highly recommend having an “Unplugged Ceremony”. This is just another way of saying that you want only your photographers to be capturing photos and you would like everyone else to enjoy the ceremony instead of trying to capture it themselves.

Order of Service | I have seen so many couples do so many AMAZING things during their ceremony. I’ve photographed couples washing each other’s feet, symbolizing that they want to serve each other for the rest of their life. Some couples share in communion while some light a unity candle. I’ve seen sand ceremonies, rope ceremonies and the signing of the family Bible. The options are limitless!! As you plan your ceremony, make sure you design it to be exactly what the two of you envision it to be. This is your day!! If you have the freedom to be creative, then by all means, be creative!! 

Programs + Details | The BEST advice I have for the program-making process is to remember that not EVERY guest needs a program! Before ordering your programs, have SEVERAL people check it for spelling and grammatical errors. Programs and the ceremony decor are things that the bride can plan in advance but then delegate the actual job of setting it up to a friend or coordinator. The last thing a bride needs to be doing the morning of her wedding is running around setting up floral arrangements! This leads me into my next topic, coordination.

Coordination | Hiring either a full event planner or just a day-of coor- dinator is SO important! Brides realize very quickly that if they do not have someone in charge of the coordination of the day, that responsibility will automatically fall on the mother of the bride, the photographer or the BRIDE herself ! When a photographer is in charge of the timeline and the coordination of the day, the images will suffer. All of my stressful wedding situations were caused by a lack of organization and coordination. It’s so important to make this a priority. If you need any recommendations on wedding coordination services I would love to share some of my favorite vendors with you.

PORTRAIT LOCATION

One of my favorite parts of my job is taking something so ordinary and making it look absolutely amazing! This happens most often when it comes to picking portrait locations! If there is one thing that I love and appreciate about my couples, it’s that they trust us! Sometimes I select portrait locations that most people wouldn’t consider attractive. For example, the image above is an open field! There was nothing special about this place. However, because my couple trusted me they now have the most amazing portraits! So my encouragement is to just trust us! You don’t have to worry about a thing! Trust our locations, and I promise you, you’ll LOVE the rest!

RECEPTION DETAILS

The party is here!! Receptions can be a blast! However, it’s important to make sure that you have your event well thought out. This is the job of your coordinator and your DJ/Band. Your caterer will also play a big role in the design and set up of your event. Every aspect of your reception affects the overall outline of the evening. For example, if you’re not having a plated meal, your reception will need to be set up in a way that allows movement. Guests will need to be able to find the food stations easily, and there will be a mixture of dinner tables and hightop cocktail tables. This will encourage guests to mix and mingle. If you are having a plated dinner, you will more than likely need escort cards, full place settings and space for all of your guests to be seated comfortably. Whatever the style of your event, make sure that you plan out all of the aspects of the evening. Your coordinator and DJ can help you set up the evening so that guests won’t leave early or experience long periods of waiting for the next thing to happen.

Much like the ceremony, you have the freedom to make your reception your own! It’s your party, it should be exactly how you want it to be! Here is a list of some key events that happen often at reception. 

Bridal Party Introductions | First Dance | Daddy-Daughter Dance | Mother-Son Dance | Anniversary Dance | Money Dance | Traditional Religious Dances | Welcome by Father of the Bride | Blessing | Cake Cutting | Toasts | Bouquet and Garter Toss | Large group portraits with friends | The exit of the Bride and Groom

RECEPTION TIPS

GUEST CONSIDERATION | Take your guests into consideration when planning your timeline. If you have a lot of elderly guests that will not be staying until the very end, make sure you schedule the cake cutting at a relatively early time so that they can be a part of it. Grandma’s love seeing this sweet tradition!

KEEP IT MOVING | Chat with your coordinator about how you can plan your reception in a way that will keep guests engaged and moving all night!

MAKE IT YOUR OWN | If you want to have a special dance with your grandparents, do it! Make your reception a reflection of who you are and don’t feel tied to traditions. Also, make sure you give your DJ or Band a “Do Not Play” list if there are some songs you really don’t want to hear during your reception!

DON’T GET CAUGHT UP | In the formalities and the details. Sure, details are pretty and fun to photograph, but they can steal the joy of the day if you get too caught up in them. (Just speaking from experience here) Plan your centerpieces, welcome table, etc. well before the wedding date, and teach your coordinator or family friend how to set them up so that you aren’t even thinking about those things the day of.

RECEPTION COVERAGE | If you haven’t purchased enough coverage time for your photography to last until the exit, that’s ok! We have several options! I recommend planning your timeline so that you can have at least one hour of dancing photographed. The guests who dance during the first hour will still be dancing in the third hour! One hour of dancing will be enough time to really capture the joy of your reception.