Dear wedding planning brides,

What stresses you out about wedding prep the most? Out of all the concerns I’ve heard expressed by my brides in the past, the most common questions, hesitations, and nervous anxiety have revolved around the fact that your wedding day is a really big day in your life and you want it to be absolutely perfect. It’s not like you can really have a dress rehearsal!

Well, you’ve got parties and dinners in preparation for the actual wedding day that can give you an idea of how the celebration will feel. And they say to just accept that nothing will go as you planned on your wedding day, and that’s okay, but I disagree! I think that through preparation and practice in creative ways, you can get as close to perfection as possible with each of your vendors.

Today I wanted to share three reasons that you should involve your vendors in your Bridal session -- a little unique, I know. But hear me out and then decided whether you should plan on having a few more people involved than you were intending!

A test run for vendors and for you! Whether your vendors are professionals or friends, all could probably benefit from a test run with a more relaxed timeline and fewer audience members. If you realize as you’re heading out to pictures that your make-up is totally not you, at least now you can try a do-over for these photos or for the wedding day! Or if you realize that it’s much more difficult to walk in your gown than you anticipated with the shoes you bought, now you can take it to your designer to be hemmed or have time to find a new pair of shoes.
Back-up photos for the win! Not only is it fun to have bridal photos to share or display at your reception, but including some of your other vendors like your florist, your cake caterer, or your wedding planner to set-up a display table or a faux place setting for pictures means that if something happens on the day of (lose your bouquet, cake looks a weird color in the light of the reception hall, people start eating before your photographer has a chance to photograph the place settings), you still have beautiful photos of these important elements of your big day.
Learn more about potential hiccups to come. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve played wedding planner, stylist, or maid of honor-for-a-minute for a bride who was in a time of need before someone could come to her aid. I love filling that role, don’t get me wrong, but I’m sure for most brides it brings a big peace of mind and allows her to relax during her big day to know she has the help or the solutions to potential problems as they arise. Including your vendors in your bridal session is a way for you to learn about each of the pieces of your big day to know how to best care for your bouquet, where the pins go in your hair, what products are used in your make-up, and how all the pieces of your ensemble should lay so that you can communicate those things to your mother, bridesmaids, and other people there to help you.

What are your thoughts? Would you consider including more vendors in your bridal shoot than just your photographer in an effort to potentially eliminate problems or stressors on your big day?