Tips for Capturing Dreamy Bridal-Inspired Photo Shoots (by Stefanie Vallen)

There are so many magical possibilities you can achieve with a bridal themed shoot. The soft textures and colour palettes you can work with have always been a favourite of mine.

Styling

This is one of my favourite parts and the options are endless!! I usually like to start looking at garments and style around those. Most of the time I will keep an eye out at the op shops for any formal dresses or wedding dresses and think about what kind of colours I’d like to pair together throughout the series.

I also like to see how I might be able to customise any of the dresses, get creative and see what kind of magical pieces you can create! If you aren’t feeling too confident with gathering or creating garments then try getting in touch with local formal and wedding dress shops to see if you might be able to borrow any pieces in exchange for your images.

Styling Extras

When you have your beautiful outfits together think about any props you’d like to use. It might be a vintage chair, some floral head pieces or a classic string of pearls. Lay everything out so you can see what you think might compliment the garments.

Lovely light

When you’re planning your shoot think about the quality of light you want; do you want something soft and diffused or do you want to play around with more directional light? I mostly shoot with natural light, so to get a dreamy feel I will shoot during golden hour when the sun creates a warm glow.

You can play around with positioning your subject in relation to the light to see what results you can achieve. I love to use backlight (where your subject is in front of your light source) and it’s magical when you capture some great lens flair. If you don’t particularly want to be outdoors you can also get some nice results from shooting your subject next to a large window or in a shaded open area like a garage.

Have fun playing dress ups and see what kind of dreamy images you can create!

– Written by Stefanie Vallen – You’re sure to love Stefanie’s incredible work, and we encourage you to visit her website or follow along on Instagram (@stafnie_).

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Image credits: Photography by Stefanie Vallen | Model: Holly | MUA: Amy Leigh