Have you thought about where you’re getting ready on your Wedding Day or what your Wedding Day Getting Ready Location might look like? This is a question we hear frequently and I want you to find the best place that fits your style and needs and allows you to get the most stunning photos of you and your bridesmaids drinking mimosas & popping open champagne in your cute monogram robes!

Ways to Choose Your Wedding Day Getting Ready Location

Here’s a list of Our Top 5 Ways to Choose Your Wedding Day Getting Ready Location plus a few additional tips!! We love to help, so please don’t hesitate to reach out if you’d like help finding the perfect venue or getting ready location for your celebration.

Lots of natural light flowing softly into the room

1. When we step in to capture your getting ready photos, details, and you & your bridesmaids laughing, we will likely be turning the lights off. Light bulbs give off yellow, green, purple, & sometimes orange casts, which show up in unflattering ways on the skin. Our goal is to get the best-looking tones and light for your skin tone.

• What to look for: Look for large windows where light is cascading in across the room. If you can find floor to ceiling windows, even better. If they have white shades or sheer curtains, that constitutes as the best windows we can ask for.
• Beware of harsh lighting and dark shadows.
• Ask the staff which side of the hotel has the best lighting and what time of the day has the softest light. Many times we’ve found the hotel staff to be very knowledgeable.

Light neutral colored walls

2. Having white or light neutral colored walls can help in many ways starting with it being a pleasing & clean background in your images. They reflect clean neutral light into the room and onto your skin which is an important element, so we love as much of that as we can get. Let’s be honest not a single person wants puke-green walls in their wedding gallery. The lightness and color of the walls in your getting ready location are also something you want when we are designing your wedding album. Consistency throughout a wedding day aesthetically tells a story cleanly without disruption so that eyes flow from one image and page to another. Allowing the beauty of the image to have the most impact!

Allows you to have your Photography, Makeup, and Hair team on site

3. Surprisingly enough we have run into B&Bs and Inns not allowing on-site vendors. Due to liability I imagine, or if the establishment is small and not fully reserved for your event, having a large number of people hanging around could potentially be disruptive to other guests. Just something to ask, confirm, and check off your list! We’d hate to have that surprise come the morning of your special day.

Close proximity to your ceremony venue

4. Knowing your close to your ceremony venue eases nerves and if something were to get left behind, you can send someone and they will return quickly. Plus you’re in the car for only a short time, less time sitting and scrunching your dress.

Ample Space

5. There are going to be bridesmaids, Moms, Grandmas, Aunts, hairstylists, makeup artists, photographers, and videographers potentially sharing this space. I’m sure everyone loves cuddling, however, it’s nice to have more room than needed. We don’t want you feeling smothered on your Wedding day.

• We suggest reserving a suite or adjoining rooms. This way belongings can be in one room and keep the other space open and clean. And this room can double as your Wedding Night suite. For our Wedding, my bridesmaids & I stayed in the room the night before after the rehearsal, then got ready there, & then used it as our Wedding night suite. It worked out perfectly. Every single person in the party was where they needed to be, at the right time. Control freak, maybe! Or I know my family all too well. lol.

Find The Best Getting Ready Location For Your Wedding Day

Other things to think about:

• Have the Groom get ready at the same location. The fewer locations we have to travel between, the more photos you receive. Have a family member staying in the same hotel where you can borrow their room for the morning?
• Have you thought about getting ready at your parents or a relative’s luxurious home? Do they have our Top 5 suggested?
• Does your ceremony site have a bridal suite? Does this location have all five of our Top 5? Because it’s available, doesn’t always mean it’s the right spot.
• Are there any large events, banquets, or conferences happening at that location on the same day? Sometimes, this can really hinder the location.

Our last notes:

Most hotels, inns, and bed & breakfasts will let you tour their rooms. So by all means, set up a tour and check it out first hand. Have questions or don’t know exactly what you’re looking for? We would be happy to join you on your walk through or you can send us photos of the room!

Good luck with your search and Congratulations on your Engagement!

Is there anything I’m missing and should add to the list?

See our Pinterest board with many examples of good lighting situations for the best getting ready location on your day! | Pinterest Board | Continue reading more Wedding Day tips and recent Weddings we’ve photographed.

The Helgesons are Door County Wedding Photographers who photograph genuine, personal, and artful images for couples who value connection. Also serving Green Bay, the Fox Valley, Lake Geneva, and stateside.