So, you have booked a great wedding photographer (perhaps, even Filip Welna Photography, you lucky people with fabulous taste ;-)).

To ensure great wedding photos this is half the battle, but if you really want to maximize the great shots, there are a few things you can do to help. Choosing great locations for your photography is a big plus. In this blog I will look at how to get the best out of your bride or groom prep shots.

Most couples put a lot of thought into their prime wedding locations i.e. the ceremony, the on-location bridal party pics and, of course, the reception, but often forget about their preparation location. You might be wondering why it matters, but during your prep we take a lot of pics of the hustle and bustle of the build up to your wedding; photo’s that are often fun and quirky. We also take shots of any details; your shoes, veil, flowers, rings, jewellery. Finally, in the bride’s case, we take portrait photos before you take a step outside top meet the elements. You will really look your most perfect at this moment – your makeup will be fresh, your dress will be (relatively) crease free and your hair will be perfect. Often it is at this stage that we get some the nicest photos of our brides, so it really helps if the place you are getting ready in has the following features:

1. Good natural lighting
   Natural lighting will always produce the nicest photos, so it is always great to find a preparation location that has plenty of it – think a room with large windows that allows lots of light in. You don’t want the light to be too harsh, so preferable no direct sunlight streaming into the room, but you do want the room to be reasonably bright (See examples below).  Your makeup artist will always go for the spot with the best natural lighting, which means at least some of your prep photos will be in this location. While often we are lucky and this is in a living room, we have watched some poor makeup artists squeeze into a small kitchen because it was the only place with reasonable lighting. Let me tell you, no matter what we do, literally having the kitchen sink in your photos is not a good look.
   

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2. No clutter
   So you have found the room, now its time to de-clutter it. Take away anything that doesn’t need to be in the room – random papers, odd magazines, trinkets etc. In a photo the little things can often prove distracting. Also consider if the room can have less furniture in it, you want to make it spacious. Once your makeup artist and hairdresser arrive they will bring a lot of stuff with them, so they need the space (not to mention the photographer).
3. Mirrors
   Generally speaking having a nice upright moveable mirror is really a plus, but if your room has a nice big mirror that is also good. We can take lots of nice photos of you checking your makeup, putting on perfume, looking at your dress in the mirror, below are few examples of mirror shots.
   

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4. Consider getting ready at a friends/ family members place
   If you have looked at your home and feel like there is no good place for your prep, consider asking a friend or family member to use their house or apartment. We usually all have that one friend or family member who has a gorgeous well lit house, see if they would be willing to let you use it for your bridal prep.
5. If all else fails, consider staying at a b&b or hotel
   If all else fails, there are plenty of beautiful places in Perth for getting ready, particularly in the valley if you are getting married there.  Just a cautionary note – do check it out before you book and consider realistically if it works as a prep location – hotel rooms can be small and if you think you need to get 6-9 people ready they may just prove to crowded to be useful, unless you hire more than one room.

Lastly, as a side note, it’s always worth considering travel times in your prep location. When you hire Filip Welna Photography you get us for the day. But if you position your prep location 1hr away from your ceremony, we loose that hour to travel, which means you loose an hour of photography. So if you position your self 15mins away instead, you just gave yourself an extra 45min of photography!

Happy Location hunting!