When you think of your wedding day, you probably envision just exactly what your ceremony space will look like, maybe even where you’ll party afterward in a reception area, but have you ever pictured what the perfect getting ready space would be for you? Probably not!

The getting ready space is usually an afterthought by most couples, but factually a lot of Brides end up spending even more of their wedding day in their getting ready space than they do at their reception! From a photographic standpoint, the getting ready space is where you will have some of the more emotionally moving moments of the day. It is where you will put on your dress, where your mom sees you for the first time in your complete wedding look, it’s where you might write your vows, it’s where you’ll be relaxing, laughing and enjoying your pre-wedding morning with your bridesmaids and often times it’s also the place where you will do a first look with your dad!

The getting ready space isn’t something that should just be an afterthought, where you are shoved into some children’s play room at your church with ABC’s and 123’s on the wall in big bubble letters.

Taking the time to consider what makes a really great getting ready area will start your wedding day out right, make it calm and comfortable and also look beautiful in your photographs.

When I work with my Kate Holt Brides and I find out that the venue that has been chosen doesn’t have an ideal getting ready space I encourage booking a hotel room close by, reserving an Air B+B or using the home of a family member or friend who lives near to the venue. In this way you can still have a perfect venue and a beautiful getting ready space - the best of both worlds!

When considering booking out or using a separate getting ready space, use the tips below to find something truly fitting of your big day!

Getting Ready Space Tip #1

Choose a Space With a Large Window!

Have you seen those photos of a bride, half-lit by soft light as she puts on her shoes or adds the perfect necklace to her neck? That soft light is 99% of the time coming from the natural light filtering in from a window which is usually just out of the frame of the photo.

Natural light is one of the most aesthetically pleasing things to us. It’s why in modern houses you have more open concept floor plans and gigantic windows. We just love the look of natural light!

Capturing natural light in images is my favorite thing about being a “Natural Light” photographer. Of course, there are for sure situations where adding light with a flash is necessary, such as after dark during your epic late-night wedding dance party, or in a room with no windows, but if you choose a getting ready space which has at least one fairly large window, you’ll be able to have that gorgeous natural-light feel to your images!

Another reason to choose a getting ready space with at least one big window is for your makeup. Makeup colors look different in different colors of light. The artificial light of a lightbulb can vary from quite orange, to a soft yellow to an almost blue tinted color. Natural sunlight gives you the cleanest light, so when you are choosing lip color and assessing how your makeup looks, using the natural light coming in through a window will be the most accurate light by which to judge color and your overall look!

floor to ceiling windows! Yes Please! — Floor to ceiling windows! Yes Please!

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this room had a full corner of large windows which provided perfect lighting for sweet moments like this! — This room had a full corner of large windows which provided perfect lighting for sweet moments like this!

Getting Ready Space Tip #2

Choose a space with a neutral color scheme.

Neutrals man, they just make everything better! Choosing a space which is predominately white or light tan or very soft blue or even very light grey will prevent any bad color reflections from appearing on your skin in photos and it will also make your robe, lips, hair, eyelashes and florals really pop!

The focus of your getting ready photos should be you, your beauty and the emotions of those you are spending your morning with. When you have a dark getting ready space with lots of deep reds, oranges, or blacks the color of the room is so bold that it detracts from the real stars of the day - you and your crew!

I just love how this bride’s curls pop off the page with that gorgeous white background!

This room’s neutral walls made for the perfect setting to show off these gold shoes!

The soft pinks in this room were neutral enough not to create bad coloring on this bride’s porcelain skin and no bold color detract from how cute her smile is! — The soft pinks in this room were neutral enough not to create bad coloring on this bride’s porcelain skin and no bold colors detract from how cute her smile is!

Nothing says ‘bridal’ quite like white on white!

This handsome groom’s suit really pops against that pastel wall!

These flowers steal the show with a nice neutral tan curtain behind them.

Getting Ready Space Tip #3

An Ideal Getting Ready Space has at least one large full length mirror.

Picking out your full wedding look, from the dress to your shoes, your makeup to your hair style, even which jewelry you decide to wear, all these decisions are made so that your final look is just the way you want it. You deserve to see what it looks like when it is all put together! Even if you do a trial hair and makeup run, you probably haven’t ever seen what that hair and makeup looks like in your dress!

If your getting ready space dosen’t have a full-length mirror you have to wait all the way until you get your wedding photos back to see what your full ensemble looked like!

Plus, from a photographer’s standpoint, I LOVE taking some candids while my brides get to see what they look like in a large mirror. From excited smiles to soft serenity, it is always a really beautiful moment and without a proper mirror it just can’t happen.

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Getting Ready Space Tip #4

Make sure your Getting Ready Space is big enough for your Bridal Party and Vendors.

While most hotel rooms seem spacious enough, once you add in 5 bridesmaids, 2 hair stylists, a makeup artist, the photographer, a videographer and your mom things can get a little crowded!

It’s important to think about how many people will be in the space where you get ready. It should be large enough for people to be able to spread out and enjoy themselves rather than constantly bumping elbows and accidentally spilling someone’s drink!

If you are looking at booking a hotel room check to see if they have a suite available or you can even book two rooms which have adjoining doors. You can also rent out an entire house on Air B+B which will give you tons of space to spread out.

One other thing that is advantageous about booking a whole house or a suite with multiple rooms is that you can have one room as “the messy room” where you can have everyone put their bags and purses and extra clothes. When you are getting into your dress, the most beautiful images don’t have a lot of clutter on the floor or on the bed or chair. Having an extra place to put all that clutter keeps it out of your photos!

If you rent a full home or are using the home of a family member or friend, you can also reserve one room as the “Bride’s Dressing Room” and keep it totally free of everything except your shoes, dress and jewelry. That way, when your photographer arrives to take detail photos of these items they are all in the same place! Also, once your hair and makeup are ready, you and one other person can go into this clean room to put on your dress and then you can do a “First Look” with the remainder of your bridesmaids by having them come to that room to see you for the first time! Reserving this space just for you will also give you a clutter-free room to get some Bridal Portraits of you when you are at your freshest with perfectly done hair and makeup.

Getting Ready Space Tip #5

Avoid a Getting Ready Space which has distracting patterns on the curtains or wallpaper designs.

It’s funny, but sometimes venues seem to think that the more things they put up on the walls or the more “interesting” fabric choices they make for their furniture or curtains make for a more “photo-friendly” space. I’m here to tell you, this is not the case.

When I arrive at a getting ready space in a venue, if my clients haven’t fully moved into the space yet the FIRST thing I do is start taking off all the distracting things which are hanging on the walls. Now don’t freak out, it’s not like I tear them down or anything! Most venues just have “cutesie” signs hanging on nails, or in hotel rooms there seems to always be some sort of nature painting or something hanging on the wall. It’s usually very simple to just take those off and store them in a closet, which then gives me a blank neutral wall as my background to photograph my bride and her bridal party.

Being able to photograph emotional candid moments without a strange painting in the background or some sign that you can only read a part of makes for a more powerful image, so this attention to detail in the getting ready space really IS that important for the best photos.

Now when it comes to curtains it’s not like you can just take them off. In most hotels you have sheer curtains which are usually a nice neutral white or off-white that you can use in your images and work fantastically for softening up any intense sunlight which might be coming through the window. However, if you have big bold yellow or red patterned curtains, it is really hard to avoid getting them in your photos, especially when you are using the natural light from the window as your main light source for photos. So, if you are considering a getting ready space take a look at the color and pattern of the things you can’t remove in the room- the wallpaper, carpet and curtains, as these patterns and colors will most certainly be in your photos.