As a wedding photographer, have you ever walked into the space that the bride and bridesmaids are getting ready and you think “how am I going to make this look pretty?”. Well have no fear, I have some tips for you on how to disguise a messy bridal suite.

Often times, I walk into the bridal suite and cringe because it’s small, there’s stuff everywhere, and sometimes it might even be a bit dark.

Scope it Out

When you arrive, go say hi to everyone and then let them know you are going to go check out the space for the best lighting. This could be in the same room, right in front of a window, in the hallway of the hotel by a window, the main bedroom, literally anywhere.

The other thing you want to scope out is a location for the bride to put her dress on. You will want some natural window light and enough space for whomever will help her get zipped or buttoned up.

Clean

Let the bride and bridesmaids know that you are going to be tidying up whichever space it is you choose and ask them to move any of their belongings so that you don’t lose anything. You will want to tidy the space as well as the background of the space depending on what angle you will be shooting.

I have moved entire couches, dining room tables, and taken artwork or family photos off of walls. No one has ever asked me not to, I just let them know that I will return everything back to it’s original location when I am done. Feel free to take a photo of the space so that you know where to put everything back.

Size

It’s easiest when you choose a small area to work within because if you had to move everything from an entire space, there wouldn’t be anywhere to put the “messy” objects. It’s really hard to do an entire space so just think about that when deciding where you will want to place your subjects. The smaller the space, the more manageable.

Color

If you are in a location like an all wood cottage, your photos are going to naturally come out a bit more yellow/orange. If you adjust them in Lightroom but they still aren’t what you envisioned, make them black and white.

When in doubt, blur it out

If the space you are dealing with is just too small, or there isn’t anywhere you can move the mess, try to zoom and focus in on smaller aspects. This way, you can blur out the background and no one will ever know there is a mess beyond the in focus portion.

I hope that this will help you during your next session, whether it be a wedding day or an in-home family session.

If you enjoyed this post, check out Tips for Removing Ugly Objects from a Photo and if you’d like to stay in the loop on when a new blog post is coming your way, sign up for my newsletter!