Beautiful weddings start with paying attention to tiny details. Taking a few steps to ensure you capture terrific wedding shots at your home should be part of your planning list.
Whether you’re hosting the wedding at your home or just taking photos as you get ready for the big day, there will certainly be shots taken to capture the memories. So, you’ll want to consider how to make your familiar home-sweet-home look just right for the photos you will treasure forever.
These simple steps will not only create great backdrops for photos, but also have the added benefit of leaving your home company-ready for the big day.
Clear the clutter
Of course, you are going to pick up stray shoes, toys, and piles of magazines in cleaning up for the many visitors you will receive. Go a bit deeper at wedding time knowing that your home’s rooms will be immortalized in photos–besides, you want all eyes on the participants and not your collections. As a professional organizer, my rule of thumb is that if it looks like work, put it away, and if it looks like fun, leave it out.
For example, a stack of mail and bills reminds you of all your errands, so you should stash those in a drawer or file cabinet. However, a basket full of knitting yarn or a pile of novels reminds you of your favorite hobby, so you can leave those out.
But remember, there really can be too much of a good thing. Keep the background of your photos simple by paring down your belongings. Working with odd numbers creates the best look. Instead of tons of framed photos, trim it down to a few favorites. Tuck away windowsills full of houseplants and keep out the best specimens. Grab a tub and carefully store away excess home décor. You can always pull out your treasures later. As you declutter, take a fresh look at each room as if you were listing the house for sale. If you’d hide it before showing your house, hide it now so it doesn’t live on forever in the photos.
Prep for picture-perfect photos
There are bound to be plenty of candid shots, but take time to study possible backgrounds and lighting arrangements for posed photos. Consider your favorite features of your home, because you’ll likely find those are your best backgrounds for photos. It might be your beautiful stone fireplace and mantle, a rustic brick wall to contrast with your gown, a gorgeous view out a picture window, or those amazing climbing roses in the yard.
Then, take a few shots of your favorite areas before the big day. This gives you a chance to study the background and pare down items or add some beautiful touches, like a bowl of tulips to the coffee table or blooming branches to the vase on the fireplace.
You’ll also want to study the lighting at the same time of day as the wedding photos will be shot. You won’t want photos in the direct sun, so this is the time to put your window shades to use. Closing them partially or all the way might give you the diffused light right for photos.
See if you like the look of your window treatments and if they function properly. They may need to be partially or fully closed for lighting or to hide views or reflections you don’t want in your photos. Window shades, drapes, and blinds may become an important part of your photography backdrop.
Photo tips for the Big Day
Getting a photo of everything and everyone you want is one of the many little details of the big day. Use these tips to stay organized.
- Plan some shots:Now that you’ve set a beautiful background, you’ll be disappointed to not get some of the shots you imagined. Make a list of backdrops or places in and out of your home where you’d like to see pictures taken.
- Make a list:It’s hard to remember on the spot every family and friends group you’d like to have photographed. If you want one picture of all the cousins, one of your high school friends, and one of all the various generations of men in your family, then you need a list. Take a look at your guest list and write down who needs to be in which posed photos.
- Get help:There is a good chance your wedding photographer doesn’t know everyone, and even if they do, they’ll lose valuable shooting time trying to find this person hanging around outside and this other person nibbling appetizers in the kitchen. Take up the offer of a friend or family member who asks to help out. Arm them with lists of your group shots as well as your favorite backgrounds and let them work with the photographer to make it happen while you enjoy the day.
When it comes to your wedding photos, you’ll find that the little things really do make the biggest differences. Taking time to set the scene by decluttering and using your window treatments to get the lighting right will create photos you’ll cherish for a lifetime.
Content courtesy of Blinds. com. Abigail Sawyer is the Senior Social Marketing Specialist for Blinds. com and a home improvement junkie currently restoring a 1972 cottage with her husband and Goldendoodle, Biscuit. Visit the Blinds. comwebsiteto find a variety of window treatments that will add an elegant look to your home for any occasion.
