Why you should have getting ready photos

We’re going to say it: the getting ready part of your wedding day is seriously underrated.

Everyone gets very excited about the dress, the aisle, the first kiss, the champagne, the dance floor. Fair enough. But before all of that happens, there’s usually a few gloriously chaotic hours where you’re surrounded by your favourite people, someone is looking for a missing earring, someone else is already drinking champagne, and you’re sitting there thinking, wait… am I actually getting married today?

That’s exactly why we love photographing it.

Getting ready photos aren’t really about taking pictures of you getting your makeup done. We’re much more interested in everything happening around it. Your mum fussing over you. Your best friend making you laugh when you’re starting to get nervous. Your dad awkwardly hovering in the doorway. Your friends seeing your dress for the first time. The flowers arriving. The half-eaten breakfast. The beautiful mess of clothes, shoes, perfume bottles and approximately 17 people trying to fit into one room.

It’s the good stuff.

And weirdly, it’s also one of the best times to get comfortable in front of a camera. At the beginning, you might feel a little awkward because, understandably, you don't spend your everyday life with a photographer following you around. But after an hour of us hanging out, chatting, taking a few photos and generally becoming part of the furniture, you’ll probably forget we’re there.

Which is kind of the point.

By the time you get to the ceremony, you’ve already warmed up. You know what to expect. You’re not suddenly being thrown into HELLO, NOW EVERYONE IS WATCHING YOU AND THERE IS A CAMERA. You’ve had a little time to settle into the day.

More importantly, getting ready photos tell the part of the story that happens before the big moment. They show what the morning actually felt like. The anticipation. The nerves. The excitement. The people who were there before everyone else arrived.

And please don’t feel like your getting ready space needs to look like a hotel campaign. We genuinely do not care if there are clothes on the floor. In fact, we kind of like it. A wedding day is not a photoshoot set, and we’d much rather photograph your actual life than recreate a perfectly styled version of it.

So yes, get the getting ready photos.

Not because you need more photos. You probably already have enough photos.

Get them because one day, you might look back and realise that the wedding didn't actually start when you walked down the aisle.

It started earlier.

With your people.
With the nerves.
With the terrible jokes.
With the champagne.
With someone saying, “Has anyone seen my shoes?”

And honestly, we want to remember that bit too.