You’ve booked the venue and the photographer, you’ve tasted the cake, tirelessly worked on the seating chart, and have chosen the most beautiful wedding dress and complimentary bridesmaid’s dresses. Now it’s time to make sure all of your hard work is documented. This starts with gathering your wedding day details.

The first thing I tell my clients is to assign someone to keep track of these details on the wedding day. Whether this means placing everything together in a box or a bag, or by storing it all in the corner of the hotel room you’re getting ready in, this simple step will make it easier for us to begin styling and photographing! It’s a great “warm-up” for us, too.

Speaking of which, here are the items you should plan to set aside.

Wedding bands, including your engagement ring:

We ask our couples to set aside all three rings at the beginning of the day. If you have a personalized ring box, feel free to include that. If not, I have a variety of Mrs. Boxes in fun colors that you can choose from.

After we’ve finished taking photos of the bands, we’ll have a bridesmaid carry them to the Best Man prior to the wedding ceremony.

Any other jewelry you’ll be wearing:

Fabulous earrings? An heirloom ring from your grandmother? Be sure to include these items for photos!

Invitation suite:

We love using our clients’ invitations as a simple background for photos of jewelry and other trinkets. Especially if they’re as pretty as these.

Veil and garter:

If you’re opting to wear a veil and garter, be sure to include these, too. A veil and lacy garter can add extra drama to your wedding day details.

Flowers:

A tip I tell my couples is to have the florist deliver the florals to where you’ll be doing the majority of your wedding day prep. This will allow Brandon photograph the boutonnières (including the special moment of having the parents put them on!) while I’m photographing the bouquets. You can also ask your florist to set aside some loose flowers for the detail photographs. These loose flowers will look great with your invitation suite and jewelry!

Neutral hanger for your wedding dress:

Although the plastic hanger your wedding dress boutique has included does the job, these hangers don’t look great in photos. Instead, opt for a custom hanger with your new last name, or a simple wooden, fabric, or metal one.

Some of our favorites are from Etsy and BHLDN.

Shoes:

Some brides choose not to have their shoes documented, others go all out and want everything in the pictures. It’s up to you!

Little Extras:

I’ve had couples include stamps, wax seals, the bride’s perfume, the groom’s pocket watch–something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue. Anything that’s personal to you and will make your photos meaningful and fun to look back on is alright with us.

No matter what you decide to include on your wedding day, you can be sure that your photos will be unique and carefully styled by us.