Photographing your Dress Fitting
Say Yes to the Dress
I’ve spoken to a lot of brides, and for many of them, one of the most special moments they love to retell is the day they finally picked out their wedding dress. They remember all the details, like who was there, if their dad brought them flowers, if the store popped champagne. They remember the idea of the dress they thought they wanted, and the beautiful dress they ended up getting. These are details that a bride never forgets, and they’re stories that they plan on sharing with the women in their family and in their lives for years to come. It’s a pivotal moment, maybe the most beautiful piece of clothing she’ll wear in her whole life. There’s a reason more and more women choose to bring a photographer with them on the day they say “yes” to the dress.
Rocío’s Dress Fitting
Rocío had a special experience. Her cousin, Carla Valcárcel, is a couture wedding dress designer and owns her own company, so Rocío knew even before she was engaged that she wanted to design her dress “from scratch” with Carla’s help. She was able to work with her every step of the way in building her dream wedding dress, from trying on different skirt designs to creating the perfectly draped shoulder straps. Along with being an incredible designer, Carla also uses fabrics made of recycled plastic which Rocío absolutely loved. Since she was the first to premiere it, Carla named the bodice of the dress after Rocío, so now any bride that uses that style will get the “Rocío bodice.” Not every bride will get a custom dress made, but the emotion of seeing yourself in your dress for the first time is a universal feeling. Since nearly all brides set up a hair and makeup trial before their big day, I recommend doing at least one of those the day you do your final fitting so you can see your complete bridal look. This way, you’ll get a sneak peek of yourself as you will be on your wedding day, and if you hire a professional photographer, like Rocío did, the photos will be all the better for it.
Surrounded by her family, Rocío put her dress on for the first time. The excitement in that room would be hard to match. You can see in the pictures it wasn’t fully sewn yet, as she was still getting final measurements done before the dress would be a finished product. But that didn’t matter to Rocío and her family. Seeing her for the first time in her wedding dress was met with tears of joy and endless smiles. At the time, Rocío lived in Puerto Rico, and her parents lived in Texas. That distance made this moment that much sweeter for her parents and the rest of her family, since this was the only time before the day of the wedding that they got to see her in her dress in person. Those first looks were something truly special.
Should you get professional pictures done at your dress fitting?
As a wedding photographer, I’m gonna go with an emphatic YES! But I know that every bride is different, and the dress fitting process is an intimate time with your trusted circle to help you make sure that you are 100% set on your dress. It’s an important part of the process (and one of the most fun). The excitement of seeing yourself as you’ll be on your wedding day for the first time is a special thing to capture. That’s not an emotion you can easily fake. From my own experience at these events, the photographs come out amazing, and I’ve had brides tell me that they are among their favorites from their whole wedding album.
In the years to come, when looking back on your wedding, the special and memorable moments aren’t just from the big day. Some of the best memories will be days like this, with a small group of loved ones, having those first experiences of “okay, this is really happening”. A lot of brides don’t realize that their loved ones’ first look happens at the dress fitting. As a photographer, I believe moments like these absolutely deserve to be captured and cherished.
-Philip
