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Why are "getting ready" photographs so important?

Welcome to our purely informative blog post :)

This will be the first installment of 3 separate posts. The first (this one) will be solely concentrated on the "getting ready" period of time during a wedding day. The second will be about the ceremony, right before it and right after it. The third and final one will be about the reception. We hope you enjoy!

I will take advantage of this slower time of the year, here in the Pacific Northwest, to try to explain with words and, of course, with our images, what we of MoscaPhoto mean when we say we are a "spur of the moment" kind of wedding photography duo. This post will be describing and explaining the "science" of "getting ready" photography and why it is essential to a couple's wedding day's set of images.

Amelia & Doug - 7.17.10 - Mt Hood, OR

Back in the day, portraits set up perfectly and "by the book" was a norm for weddings. There is nothing wrong with portraits of friends and family being set up. After all, a wedding celebration always ends up also being a sort of reunion. Members of the family, that are only seen when large events such as weddings come along, deserve to be grouped with the bride and groom in a classic style portrait. It is highly possible that the rare visit of that elusive family member will be the last in a looooong time. To document the fact that families are reunited for that one special day, classic portraits are a must!

Becca & Wilsun - 9.19.09 - San Francisco, CA

The way we of MoscaPhoto work is simple, really. We concentrate on documenting the entire day. Not only the expected group portraits. Those take no longer than 3 to 4 minutes each, depending on how large the group is or whether all individuals are present and ready to be photographed. We take these, with pleasure, and do try to have fun with them :)

Trish & Jonny - 9.4.09 - Portland

Documenting the entire day is what occupies 99% of our entire time at a wedding. We suggest that we begin shooting the day as early as possible. We don't mean as early as possible in the morning, we mean as early as possible within the planned events of the day. We suggest and look forward to getting together with the bride and groom right when they arrive at their "getting ready" location and are joined by their bridal party and immediate family, most always mom and dad. The more time we get to witness and document during this preparation time, the more complete the reportage of the day will be in the end! Imagine MoscaPhoto showing up out of the blue at the ceremony without any casual and natural (and fun!) "getting ready" images... when the couple and friends and family get to see all of the wedding images, it will seem as if the bride and groom will have magically appeared out of nowhere to walk down the isle, without any documentation of the emotions and activities and reactions coupled with the putting on and seeing (for the first time) the make up, hair, dress and shoes, and jewelry.

Lacey & Jonathan - 7.24.10 - Portland

We always see a change in expressions and a beautiful exchange of hugs and smiles throughout the hour or so of preparations. What a beautiful sight for us to see and what a memorable set of images for the family to love for life, and beyond!

There are so many moments that are worth capturing on camera during this intimate time with the closest members of the wedding. Mothers get teary eyed; BFFs get the champagne ready for a celebratory toast; veils and jewelry and shoes (oooohhh the shoes!) are laid our on display; dad's face when he sees his daughter all dolled up and ready to be taken down the isle towards her new life with her soon-to-be husband... lots of amazing images come out of this time of the day.

Karen & James - 9.18.10 - Portland, OR

Really, truly, it is the reactions and the goofiness and the happy tears that we love to witness and photograph during the "getting ready" time. Some brides are more relaxed and goofy than others! We love you all! :) We get to know our couples super well during the engagement session, but we REALLY get to know them when they interact with, and are surrounded by, their closest friends and family, during this transition time from every-day-bride to actual-all-dressed-up-and-ready-to-marry-bride :)

Amber & Ben - 9.4.10 - Portland, OR

While I (Alice) start my day off with the bride, the other half of MoscaPhoto (Josh) spends his time with the groom. When Josh and I pool all of our photos together at the end of the wedding day, we LOVE seeing what we got a chance to capture while we were separated.

Many times, the bride and groom call one another on their phones and we are there to see both of their faces react to one another's voice... can you tell we absolutely love what we do?! The simplest of things move us :) The groom and his boys are always starting the "getting ready" part of the day long after the bride begins. The groom is also always done and ready way earlier, making it possible for Josh to spend some quality fun time with him and his friends while they wait for the ceremony to begin.

Becca & Wilsun - 7.19.09 - San Francisco, CA

Everything is always so choreographed at weddings, they are all flawlessly organized events, even if they may seem chaotic for all parties involved while the event is taking place. Once the images are pooled together, organized, edited and divided up into different times of the day, only then can the bride and groom and guests see how truly special and beautiful all parts of the wedding were. Including those parts that were photographed at separate times, which are always a surprise to the couple, until they see the final product. The "getting ready" time is one such separate time, unknown to the other until we deliver the images. Love the suspense! :)

In conclusion, we LOVE the "getting ready" part of a wedding. We encourage it and push for it. It simply makes sense to include it in the whole wedding day's photography collection. There are so many different parts during any one wedding day... all of these parts have meaning and are purposeful. In the end, all of these parts put together in our photos, always make for a beautifully and tactfully complete set of memorable images of the wedding day.

Thanks for reading! :)

~ Alice & Josh