Chances are high that this is the first wedding you’ve ever planned. I know it can be a bit daunting, so you might as well take advantage of the knowledge of your wedding vendors who do this over and over again and learn from their experiences!

As a Colorado Springs wedding photographer with 55+ weddings under my belt, here are 5 unexpected tips from my experience that will help you plan for elegant images from your wedding.

1) Buy wedding specific sparklers

Yep, that’s right. Wedding sparklers are different than regular sparklers like the ones you might buy for the Fourth of July. Who knew?!

It turns out that true wedding sparklers are longer than the regular kind, giving you much longer to execute your “send off” after the wedding reception. Since I typically encourage my couples to go through the sparkler tunnel twice in order to get an extra attempt at the perfect grand exit image, the extra time s extremely helpful!

Not only that, but wedding sparklers don’t smoke like the regular ones do, which means I’ll actually be able to see you well in the images and you won’t have guests coughing all over the place from smoke inhalation (seriously, I speak from experience – it’s been rough a couple times).

2) Hold onto a Save the Date & Wedding Invitation suite for detail shots

Keeping a Save the Date and Invitation Suite is something that is easily missed in the hustle and bustle of wedding planning. But if you like how they turned out, bringing a nice copy of each can make for some memorable, more personal detail images and can tie together the overall mood and feel you’re trying to create for your big day.

3) Ask your florist to provide a couple loose florals to use in your wedding detail images

Loose florals can be such an elegant touch in photos with the your jewelry and other details (perfume bottle, ring boxes, something blue, etc.). Not only that, but they can also help to tie the detail images in with the images from the rest of the wedding and help them look cohesive.

Not sure why that matters? Well, especially if you want to order an heirloom album or print some photos for your walls, it can help them all feel natural, elegant, and professional when displayed next to each other like that.

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4) Choose a location with lots of natural light for getting ready in

Getting ready images are often the most challenging to make elegant since often people get ready in dark rooms cluttered with hair & makeup supplies, tote bags, and leftover wrappers & containers from a group lunch.

If you can choose a decent sized space with lots of light and make sure the clutter is minimized by the time your photographer arrives, you’ll maximize the time you have with them and the end result will be more bright, elegant images that you want to show off to the world!

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5) Have paper towels handy when you first pick up the bouquets from vases

Seem weird? Well I promise it won’t when your bridesmaids are handed their bouquets and immediately have noticeable water marks all down their dresses right before picture time. Except now that you know this – you’ll be watching out for that and will be prepared! 🙂

Another weird bonus tip about flowers is to have a couple people watch THIS VIDEO or one like it about how to pin on boutonnieres before the wedding day. It’s most helpful if this person or two will be able to be around the groomsmen while they are getting ready and just be in charge of making sure the right flowers get to the right people and are secured efficiently and securely.

Nothing like getting thrown off your timeline because nobody knew how to pin them on!

I hope you found these obscure tips helpful as you think through your big day. Check out the related posts below for more wedding planning fun!