Bridal Preparation Space - 4 Tips to keep neat and tidy on your wedding day

I often wonder, as a professional wedding photographer, did your married friends ever share any tips with you on how to keep your bridal preparation space organised? Do you want to be organised as much as possible on your wedding day? Of course your do!  No doubt you are quickly learning that good organisation is key for every wedding day. You’ve probably read, and heard from previous brides, about wedding day nerves, timelines and how good planning will help enormously to ease any stressful moments on the day. I will work with you to ensure your day runs smoothly but here is some advice on how you can help.

What is Bridal Preparation Space?

Bridal Preparation Space is the immediate space or room the bride and her bridal party are occupying. 

Wedding venues have bridal suites, or “getting ready” rooms, where a bride and bridesmaids (or groom and groomsmen) can be with all their personal items. Hair styling time and getting makeup done, in between sips of champagne, always leads to great times and laughs and wedding photographers want to share the bridal preparation space. Due to the number of people, space can get limited quickly and the room can soon resemble the aftermath of a hurricane. This leads to piles of clothes, hairbrushes, champagne glasses, underwear, handbags, shoes, and anything else ladies bring with them to get ready for special occasions. The last thing you want to look back on are the beautiful images of you, and the piles of stuff around you!

Top Tips

Here are 4 tips for a tidy Bridal Preparation Space which will go a long way to ensuring your photographer will deliver those special images you will treasure forever:

• Storage Space. Ask your venue about storage space for belongings. Some will provide a room with extra wardrobe space with plenty hangers and shelves. Should your venue have a beautiful bridal preparation space but is limited on storage, then inform your bridal party in advance so they can limit what they need to bring.

• Garment Bags.  If you know you will only have hanging space at your venue for personal belongings, consider buying personalised garment bags for you and your bridesmaids. They could double up for bridal party gifts too! This will help eliminate excess items if everyone were to bring only what will fit in their garment bag.

• Plastic Storage Boxes. If you are well prepared for your special day and know bridal preparation space won’t be huge, inform the bridal party that all belongings they bring must fit into a plastic storage box. You may have some around the house already. They are easy to load into a car, are stackable and discreet. All the bridal party’s phones, wallets, jewellery they will want to wear later in the day, can be stored securely during the marriage ceremony.

• Delegate. Tactfully ask the bridal party to tidy your bridal preparation space. You’re the bride; you shouldn’t be lifting a finger on your wedding day. Your photographer, hair and makeup stylists, will move what they need to, but really they shouldn’t have to tidy either. They are focusing on getting the glam on and capturing those candid moments. Appoint a Mother of Honour to make sure your bridal preparation space is “photo ready”. This will help calm any jitters nervous brides may have.

These may be ideas you haven’t thought about before. Wedding Days are exciting, memorable and can be hectic leading up to the ceremony. Hopefully, these tips help you to prepare you, your bridal party and your Bridal Preparation Space!

Want to find out more about how your photographer will be capturing your wedding day? Take a look at my blog on Wedding Morning Photography.