One of the biggest potential stressors a bride must deal with on her big day is capturing her wedding with beautiful photography! By the time the big day arrives, you’ve both surely put in hours and hours planning, yet the day will go quickly. Photography is important so you can look back on all the special moments of the big day!

Making sure you get photos of the bridal party, family, friends (and of course the bride and groom) can become a source of stress if not well planned. What happens if you miss a special shot? How can you ensure no one important gets left out? And what if your photographer doesn’t have a game plan?

Here’s where you as the mother of the bride can make some helpful suggestions so the day goes smoothly!

Prepare a Shot List 

If you’ve hired a professional photographer, they can and should certainly be the trusted resource in making sure the photos turn out beautifully. Identifying the best settings and backgrounds, controlling posing and adjusting lighting all fall into their expertise.

However, mothers of the bride can be hugely helpful in making sure the right people are where they need to be, and that the bride gets all the special shots she’s hoping for from the big day.

We’re here to help! We’ve provided a guide that includes examples of photos and a helpful checklist list to make sure the photos are captured as you go. Review the guide together with your bride to discuss what’s most important to her.

Suggest a Bridal Portrait Session

Along with helping guide the photographer, recommend your daughter enjoy a Bridal Portrait Session!

Increasingly popular, these sessions are designed for the bride to get one-on-one time with a photographer before the big day. Schedule the session once the bride’s dress is in and altered, and perhaps on the day of her hair or makeup trial! These sessions are a great test run to practice hair, makeup and pose ideas for the actual wedding.

If you’re redesigning your wedding dress into her bridal accessories like the I Do Wedding Day Robe, bring the robe and accessories to the portrait session to capture the stunning lace details in a low-key environment.

Having a portrait session will make the bride feel pampered, and will lessen the stress and time constraints during on the wedding day.

Discuss Staging a “First Look”

Will your daughter and her fiancé see each other on their wedding day before walking down the aisle? When discussing photos together, it is a good idea to see where she stands on the “first look” debate. There are pros and cons to seeing each other before the ceremony – and there’s no wrong decision as long as the couple is happy and comfortable!

The first look can provide a more intimate moment than the alternative. It allows for the bride and groom to have an entire interaction prior to the ceremony where they can freely show emotion and calm down any sort of stage fright. Depending on the schedule of the day, this may allow for more flexibility in the timeline, because the bridal party can capture some group shots before the ceremony begins. That means more time with guests at the reception!

For more traditional couples, it may be important for the bride and groom to first see each other while she’s making her walk down the aisle. This makes an amazing moment for guests as they can witness the genuine emotion from both the bride and her groom.

This is a highly personal choice, so respect the decision of your bride! In the attached guide, there are photo timeline examples both with and without the first look.

Happy snapping!

All photos courtesy of Amanda Goodin Photography!