Behind The Scenes :: Detail Styling Kit

 

 

When we arrive to photograph a wedding day, we of course bring along all of our camera equipment. But there’s another box of items we bring to help make the photos better… our detail styling kit! Lots of photographers bring something like this to weddings, and ours is far from extensive, but for us it works. This is something we’ve really started to make a part of our typical wedding photography routine this year, and we’re loving it.

 

So what is this kit we speak of? Well… it’s a collection of fabrics, ribbons, tools, and small items we use when photographing the details of the bridal suite. For things like the dress photo, jewelry photos, stationary, shoes and other small details it’s nice to have these styling tools to make the photos cohesive with the rest of the day. Here’s a quick list of what we bring with us to weddings:

• Wooden hanger
• Command hooks
• Neutral fabrics
• Tulle fabric
• Lots of colorful ribbons
• Decorative papers/card stock
• Thematic small items (wine corks, seashells, twine, glitter)

(Our assistant carries an emergency kit that includes a sewing kit, scissors, crochet hook, tic tacs, drinking straws, chalk, Shout wipes, safety pins, bobby pins, and other necessary items)

Here’s why we bring these things:

Wooden hanger and Command hook – Because we like to have complete control over where we hang the dress for it’s close up. If the best light is hitting a wall without anywhere to hang the dress, we don’t want to have to go to Plan B. So we bring Command hooks with us, that go on easily and come off without a mark. We use the sturdy and attractive chrome version of their hooks and we always have a place to hang the dress! The hanger always stays with us just in case the Bride doesn’t have one of her own. White plastic hangers are never ok for photos 😉

Neutral Fabrics – We always like to have a few different options of neutral fabrics on hand. These are a very important starting point for how we photograph the small details. Typically we will use a chair, a hotel bed, or even the floor to set up the detail photos of all the small items like stationary, rings, and jewelry. If for example, a Bride has a green and white wedding theme, and the only furniture in the getting ready space is red… we need something else use as a backdrop for her details because that red simply will not do. Often times we will use a Bridesmaids dress as a background, but sometimes the ladies are already dressed and we need another option. The neutral fabrics are a must!

The navy blue chair in our studio is gorgeous, but if it wasn’t a color in the wedding we were photographing, we’d have to figure something else out and go to a Plan B which isn’t always exactly what we were hoping for. With a canvas fabric to cover the blue chair and yards of tulle, we were able to create this neutral backdrop instead…

 

Colorful ribbons – These are probably our favorite things inside the detail kit. Ribbon is a great way to incorporate a wedding’s color theme without going overboard. We can use curls of linen, silk, or even velvet ribbon to add dimension and color to the detail photos. We have a stockpile of ribbon and it’s hard to turn away a great find! These vintage spools are some of our favorites, and the velvet ribbon is something we can’t wait to use!

 

Small items – Having a few standard thematic items on hand is a good idea. Things like wine corks for vineyard weddings, or perfect sea shells or star fish for beach weddings can come in handy. When we already have what we need, we don’t have to start stealing decor from the tables 😉

 

Here are some real life examples of how we used some elements of our styling kit to enhance detail photos…

 

We wanted to photograph this invitation, and our only option was a footstool near a window in a crowded bedroom. Instead of leaning it against the wooden door, we instead used a Bridesmaids dress to pull in the main color of the wedding, and laid it across the stool. Then we draped our tulle fabric over top of the dress to add a little softness. After the invitation was in place, we wanted something else to bring in the secondary color, lavender. The only lavender thing around were the ribbons used to tie the bouquets with, and we were not going to destroy any of those bouquets. So instead we grabbed our lavender linen ribbon and curled it around the invitation to frame it. Done!

 

For this ring shot, we knew we wanted to incorporate the seaside theme of this wedding. We found some sea grass that was left over from the planner’s floral buckets and made a bed for our sea shells. Added the rings in and bam! Seaside theme ring shot!

 

We wanted to get a shot of these light and neutral invitations. Gray and white were the colors we had to work with, and after laying out our white fabric as a backdrop, we topped it with the Bride’s own veil for texture. After placing the invitations and rings for the photos, we grabbed our light gray silk ribbon to bring some extra gray pop of color to the photo.

 

For this shoe photo, we needed to do a lot of “cleaning up” so to speak. The colors of this wedding were navy and coral, but the only furniture around was either olive green or dark orange. That wasn’t going to work! It was a nautical location, so we grabbed our neutral fabric with rope accents and covered the chair. Then after setting the Bride’s navy shoes into place, we added a pop of the coral accent color to tie this photo in with the rest we knew we’d be taking as the day went on.

 

There you have it! A peek into our styling kit and how we use it!