Have you ever arrive at a wedding venue, walked into the bridal suite space and thought how the heck can I make photographs in here beautiful? If your answer is yes, then continue to read this blog for tips on making small bridal suites work for you.
Let me map out how it normally goes on a wedding day. You arrive at the wedding venue, pack your gear in and go say hello to the bride. As you round the corner to the bridal suite your heart drops to your feet as you realize the “bridal suite” is actually the preschool room at the church. Not only is it small, but it’s not to beautiful either. Maybe it isn’t a classroom, but just a super tiny room that is made for a few people but you have a large group of bridesmaids.
You try to not let the look of sheer panic come across your face as you think about how you’re going to still shoot this bride and all her bridesmaids getting ready in a beautiful way. You’re thinking how do I not get the life size Jesus painting in the background, toys peek out or even fit all 7 bridesmaids, the brides mom, the bride plus you, your assistant and your gear in this tiny room.
Making small bridal suites work is possible, but its going to take some manpower. My team could possibly be hired as professional movers during the week as a second job! We are not affairs to move furniture and take photos off the walls if needed to create a beautiful portrait for the bridal. We of course are careful when we move things and respectful of venues property.
The below photos were shot in a 10×10 room or smaller. It had a ton of furniture, windows, about 6 bridesmaids, 2 photographers, bride, her mom, a few random people, a sink, but it had this beautiful blue wall. The wall was perfect for Emily’s bridal portraits, but there was all this stuff and people, so what did we do? We moved things.
I snapped the first photo below to show you what the bridal suite looked like as we were shooting and then what the actual images looked like once we shot them. I’m in love with the outcome of the bridal portraits and so happy we took the extra time to move the extra things in the room to the other side of it.
Tip of the day, breath, move things to get that perfect shot. Get it right in camera and stop saying I’ll just edit it out later, you’ll thank yourself later!
