Table of Contents:
- What Are Wedding Getting Ready Photos?
- Different Ways to Get Ready for Your Wedding
- Why Are Getting Ready Photos So Important?
When you think of getting photos taken on your elopement day, you probably envision the big moments of the day—your first kiss as a married couple, champagne glasses clinking during toasts, portraits of the two of you running hand-in-hand into the golden glow of the sunset. These are some of the moments you’ll remember most from your elopement day, but what about the other ones? The small moments in the morning when you’re stepping into the attire you’ve been excited about for months now, with your grandma helping you zip up the back or fasten your jewelry; the ones where you and your best friends are downing beers or mimosas in celebration of the big day finally arriving. These are just as special as the bigger, more “exciting” moments of the day, which is why I always, always recommend taking plenty of getting ready photos on your elopement or wedding day.
They may not initially be the images you saved on your Pinterest board when you were a teenager, or the ones you think about when you plan out the photos you’ll frame—but they absolutely, absolutely should be. In this blog post, I’ll be doing my best to convince you of just how important getting ready photos are for your elopement, as well as helping ensure that you’re set up for success and for a seamless, stress-free wedding morning!
What Are Wedding Getting Ready Photos?
Before I dive into all the reasons I absolutely love and cherish getting ready photos, I wanted to answer a few questions about the getting ready process itself—what it looks like, how long it takes, and who all is involved.
How long do getting ready photos take?
It depends on a few factors, including how many people you have with you, what special activities you’d like to include (if any), what time your ceremony is at, and how many hair/makeup artists you have. Typically, getting ready photos take anywhere from an hour to 2.5 hours depending on how much you want documented. If it’s just the two of you without anything extra planned, an hour is probably good enough, whereas if you both have loved ones present and are getting ready separately, or are doing any activities, I’d aim for 2-2.5 hours.
Where should I get ready for my adventure elopement?
This also depends! If you’re eloping out in the middle of nowhere, at a location that involves a decent hike, then you probably won’t want to get into your elopement attire until after you’ve completed your hike. If you’re staying at an Airbnb, you can get about 90% ready there (have your hair and makeup done), then put on your elopement outfits and any final touches once you reach your final destination. I’ve had lots of couples pack up their elopement attire in their backpacks and then change once they reach their ceremony spot, either in a fire lookout, a restroom (if there is one), or just behind a wide enough tree!
Here’s a great example: Oksana and Jay had a bright and early 1:30am wakeup call for their Mt. Rainier hiking elopement, committed to seeing the sunrise over the breathtaking alpine landscapes. They got up at the crack of dawn to get mostly ready, then put on their elopement attire and final touches once they’d reached their ceremony location.
If you’re not hiking, then you can simply get ready wherever you’re staying; typically at some sort of Airbnb, cabin, lodge, or hotel. Lydia and Michelle eloped in Olympic National Park and were staying at Lake Quinault Lodge, so they got ready together in the bathroom before heading out for the day. See their gorgeous gallery here!
Who should I get ready with on my elopement day?
Who you get ready with on your elopement day isn’t a question of “should;” but rather, who do you want to get ready with. It’s a very intimate and special part of your day, so if you want to get ready with anybody, it should be people who you truly want by your side—not people who you think you’re supposed to have there with you, but may not actually be the ones you want.
I’ve seen all sorts of groups when it comes to getting ready for elopements: some couples get ready with one friend each; some invite 10 people into their respective rooms with them for a fun morning celebration. You may want just your best friend by your side, you may want a group of 5 of them, or you may want only your closest family members there to support you. When you think about who you want to get ready with, consider who will make the morning as fun, smooth, supportive, and stress-free as possible! Aunts, uncles, grandparents, parents, siblings, friends, coworkers, in-laws. . . these are YOUR people and you get to decide who you want to spend these precious moments with.
You can also absolutely get ready on your own, if that feels more authentic to you—or if you won’t be having any guests at your elopement!
What do I wear while I get ready for my elopement?
Up to you! You can wear your PJ’s, a custom t-shirt embroidered with your elopement date or a sweet message, matching robes or socks with your best friends. . . whatever you’re most comfortable in, since you’ll be in it for a while as you get your hair/makeup all ready to go. Just make sure that whatever you wear while you get ready is loose enough that when you go to remove it, it won’t snag on your hairstyle or wipe any fresh makeup off your face!
Different Ways to Get Ready for Your Wedding
Real quick, I wanted to mention that there’s more than one way to get ready for your wedding—you don’t have to follow the traditional getting-ready-in-separate-rooms thing if you don’t want to.
Getting ready separately
The first (and more traditional) option is to get ready separately, meaning you’re either on your own or with a group of your friends/family. It is SO important to have these moments captured because if you’re getting ready away from your partner, you’ll never really know what those moments looked like for them! The excitement, the nerves, the “this is really happening” of it all. . . the photos are the only peek you’ll get into that special time.
Getting ready together
Your other option is to get ready with your partner if you’d rather not be away from them for so long! This gives you the chance to spend as much time together as possible on your big day, and to really be present with each other as you anticipate the rest of the day that you’ve been planning for so long. Plus, getting ready together is just cute as hell and creates so many opportunities for connection that photograph SO well!
If you’re into the whole non-traditional vibe, be sure to check out my guide featuring Unique Elopement Ideas for Couples Who Want Something Different for more inspo + ideas you may love.
Why Are Getting Ready Photos So Important?
Time to share some of the many, many reasons I adore getting ready photos and think they should always be an important part of your elopement timeline!
They set the scene for the story of your day
The time you spend getting ready really sets the scene for how the story of your day is documented, and how you’ll relive it when you scroll through your gallery, when you thumb through your wedding album, when you share images with your family members. If you were to open up your gallery and it immediately begins with photos of your ceremony, it sort of feels like starting a book in the middle of the plot—like you’ve been randomly thrown into the thick of it without getting to know the characters, the setting, etc.
When you look through your wedding gallery, you want to feel like you’ve been brought back to the most precious moments of your day, experiencing it just how you actually did the day-of. You want to feel the build-up of the day; the moments shared with your loved ones as you zipped up your dress, as you tied your bowtie, as you toasted champagne glasses with your BFF’s in the cute matching robes you got off of Etsy. You want to get to know the characters, build a relationship with them just as you would if you were reading a novel: who are these people? How do they relate to the story? Why did you invite them to be a part of your special day?
Overall, you want to be immersed in the narrative of your elopement and, when you get to your ceremony photos, you want to remember the events leading up to it that got you to the altar. There’s obviously more to your day than just your vows—don’t you want to remember the experience as a whole?
Doris & Bill’s Coastal Elopement at Rialto Beach is the perfect example of this: instead of getting ready quickly and going straight into their ceremony, they set aside quite a bit of time in the morning to not just get ready, but to savor the time spent together. Coffee was made, cake was eaten (yes, for breakfast!), and vows were written. These are all moments that they now get to relive forever because they chose to have that portion of their elopement documented with as much care and time as the rest of the big moments.
It eases your nerves in front of the camera
Second, getting ready photos are great if you’re nervous about getting your picture taken! Meeting up before your ceremony is the best way to get those nerves out of the way about being in front of a camera, and to give you time to get comfortable with it (and with me). If I were to just show up for your ceremony, it’s like, hello, nice to meet you, now please bare your soul to your partner in your vows while a total stranger stands 10 feet away. Getting ready photos give us time to get to know each other, and to ease into the flow of what it’s like to be photographed so that for the rest of the day, you’re totally relaxed and natural, rather than trying to force yourself to pose or behave a certain way!
It’s the perfect time for sentimental photos with loved ones
The morning of your elopement is one of the BEST times to get meaningful photos with your loved ones. Having a best friend, or a sister, or a mother there to zip up your dress, to pin your boutonniere, or to fix your hair allows for such sweet photos and beautiful moments of bonding before your attention is fully focused on your partner. This time is likely going to be full of all sorts of emotions—nerves, excitement, anticipation, all the feelings that have been building up throughout the process of planning your elopement, so it ends up being easy to really capture that energy in photos throughout the morning. Especially when you’re surrounded and being supported by people you love!
It creates extra opportunities for personalized moments
Getting ready is about so much more than just getting your hair and makeup done, or putting your clothes on. This can be a time for the two of you to write your vows, snuggle up together on the couch of your Airbnb, sip coffee as you listen to the birds chirping around you, sneak a bite of your cake, laugh, dance. . . whatever is going to make you happy. It’s an amazing opportunity to take extra photos with your friends or family, to set aside time for more individual portraits, or to take shots to loosen up a little bit. “Getting ready” photos are really just about where your day begins, rather than only being focused on the actual moments you spend putting on your attire.
It allows me time to photograph your details
Having time set aside for getting ready also allows me plenty of time to photograph your details. This can seem like such a small thing, but you’ve likely put a whole lot of care into the choices you’ve made! Whether it’s the shoes you excitedly picked out as soon as you got engaged, the invitations you spent so long customizing, the heirloom accessories you’ll be wearing, or your perfume, flowers, watch, cufflinks, earrings. . . they all deserve their own little time to shine just as much as the bigger pieces of your outfit do, like your dress/suit. You didn’t pick them all thoughtlessly, so their meaning deserves to live on in photos.
It makes the morning feel like a special occasion
If you prioritize the morning of your elopement and give it more time than just the hour you actually need to “get ready,” it makes the occasion feel really special. You’re not just fixing your hair to go to a nice dinner—you’re preparing yourself for one of the most important moments of your life. This is when it really started to sink in for me on my own elopement day, and you can see that joy and wonder on my face in the photos! Treat it as the important time it is, not as just another morning on a random day in your life as a couple.
It captures the location you’ve chosen
You probably chose the place you’re staying for a reason, right? It’s incredibly special to be able to look back at your photos and think, these were the first things I saw on my last morning as an unmarried person; this is what surrounded me as I soaked in all the emotion of the day. This place will now forever hold a special place in your heart, and it deserves to be documented—whether it be a cozy cabin in the woods that reflects the quite vibe you’re going for, or a glamorous lodge on a lake that you splurged on because why not?
It makes for great candids
Finally, the time you spend getting ready makes for great photos! You’re not hiring me for nothing—you want to have the full story of your day told in a way that is artful, and to walk away with images that make you feel amazing about yourselves. This is the perfect opportunity to do that, whether you’re getting ready separately or together.
Alright, so have I convinced you that your getting ready photos deserve a little more time on your itinerary than just the hour you’d originally planned for? I hope so, because it truly is one of my favorite parts of an elopement to document with such an abundance of special moments that couples won’t ever want to forget. If you’re ready to start planning your dream day and creating your perfect timeline, reach out here and let’s make it happen!
For more elopement planning resources and real galleries to browse through, head to my Blog or sneak a peek at a few recent faves below:
