Wedding Wednesday

Tips for creating a theme through details
Wedding Wednesday -
details-wedding-gold

I talk a lot

about themes on a wedding day. We had a theme for our wedding… “Vintage Peacock”!  I STILL find random feathers around our house!!  Some brides have their theme nailed down and planned out perfectly…. and some brides are like “Hey, I’m getting married and I could care less about a theme!”. No matter what type of bride I’m working with, I have to be the one that makes the wedding day cohesive! It’s really crazy to think about but the photographer determines the way the wedding day will be remembered. AH! No pressure right?!!  The way we shoot determines the look and feel of the album and the blog post… and those are two main ways

that the bride and groom will share about their wedding day! So I haven’t decided if this post is going to be more helpful for BRIDES or PHOTOGRAPHERS. I’m going to share a way to shoot DETAILS and make them flow seamlessly into the wedding day theme.  I’ve realized recently that there is a way a bride can REALLY help her photographer out with the details and that is by gathering her details and including some fabric/stationary/extra crafty stuff along with the details pile. Some of my brides have done this on accident and it’s made a WORLD of difference in their detail shots. Ok, you’re probably lost right now…. thinking “Katelyn.. this doesn’t make sense”.  I’m so bad at explaining things that I get excited about!! So let me explain with pictures!

 

 

So here are some shots from David and Courtney’s wedding (That you can see featured on the wedding channel tomorrow!!) Courtney and David had a green and black themed winter wedding and they also ordered an album. So I knew that as I was shooting their details, all of these shots HAD to flow together or else the album would look HORRENDOUS!  So, instead of finding some AWESOME antique chair or placing the details on the carpet… I intentionally used the envelope of their invitation to add a pop of GREEN to the detail shots! 
And this is what the album spread looks like:
Another example would be from Bev and Craig’s wedding this past fall! Bev included an extra piece of scrap GOLD fabric that matched their wedding colors in her details pile. YES!!! I shot her details on this fabric and it made for the most beautiful details spread!
Here’s the album spread from these images!
Are you starting to see what I mean?  By just having a consistent background, you can have amazing detail shots! So brides… gather some of your extra crafty stuff and let your photographer go to town! And photographers… when you’re shooting details, be creative and don’t just look for “good light” …. look for ways to make these details match the THEME. Here’s another example: Molly and John’s wedding was a southern cowboy theme. It was adorable. However, like most weddings, the bride got ready in a modern hotel suite. This hotel didn’t match her theme at ALL. So I had to MAKE it match. I found an extra roll of burlap that was left over from decorating the reception and I put it to use! I found good light and instead of just propping the details up against the wall, I made a backdrop out of burlap! It looks like these details were shot in a BARN… not a Marriott!
Besides using invitations and fabric… you can get creative and use BRIDESMAIDS dresses to carry out the theme and the color of the wedding day!
Hope this helped both the BRIDES out there AND the photographers! These are super simple ways to totally transform your details!!!

Comments (23)

Comments

  1. Rachel: ( )

    Great post, Katelyn!! Very helpful and creative! Thanks!!!

  2. ashley barnett: ( )

    Awesome post Katelyn!! Super helpful to photographers AND brides :)

  3. Patience: ( )

    Wow! This is such a great post Katelyn! I never thought of bringing all of the stationary to go along with the details. That is such an easy way to tie it all in with the theme.

  4. Christy: ( )

    My clients are just now finally ordering albums so this is definitely helpful during the day of the wedding for me to think about shots in terms of album design! Thanks Katelyn! :)

  5. Regan: ( )

    Really helpful post, Katelyn! Thank you for the inspiration! :) I wish I had thought of this stuff when I was a bride. Further motivation to do it with clients now!

  6. Rebekah Hoyt: ( )

    Genius! You just gave me so many new ideas! Thank you for sharing!

  7. Paige: ( )

    good stuff…very helpful for photographers!

  8. Charlotte J.: ( )

    Right on sista! Once again, thanks for insight into your creative mind.

  9. jamie: ( )

    love all your details shots! Thanks for sharing how you pull it all together!

  10. Caroline: ( )

    you are the QUEEN of detail shots… seriously so brilliant!! thanks for this :)

  11. Ashley {Ashley Daniell Photography}: ( )

    Wow, great advice Katelyn! I’ve never even thought about using a bridesmaid dress before. Loving all of these – thanks!!!

  12. Katie | KD Productions: ( )

    This.Is.Amazing! I wish I had seen this before I got married. I LOVE the emerald color. All of these themes are so great.

  13. Sara: ( )

    Saving this blog post so I can refer back to it later!! Thanks Katelyn!!

  14. camilla knudsen: ( )

    great post. very practical and informative. thankyou :)

  15. Hans: ( )

    wonderful post, thanks so much!

  16. Kimberly Fogarty: ( )

    That shamrock green never gets old to me! Thank you for featuring our wedding Katelyn in your blog today. Made me smile.

  17. emily: ( )

    gorgeous photos. such simple ideas turned in to fantastic images!

  18. Stephanie Stewart: ( )

    Yes, this was totally helpful as a photographer! Thank you so much for the ideas – making a theme for a cohesive album is so important and fun! Thanks again!

  19. Amanda: ( )

    You are pretty much amazing! THANK YOU for the great ideas! Can’t wait for this summer/fall, the busiest of my wedding season!

  20. Lyndsay London: ( )

    Beautiful spread and ideas!

  21. Laura Gordon: ( )

    You my friend, are a genius- thank you!!

  22. Amanda Truth: ( )

    I know I say this a lot, but you’re so so fabulous!! This post is fantastic and you’ve given me soooo many great ideas both for my brides’ weddings and for my own wedding!! Yay yay yay. You rock.

  23. Cosas bonitas: Invitaciones handmade | Niceparty: ( )

    [...] katelynjamesblog.com via Superkitina/Niceparty on [...]

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