What not to do before your wedding ceremony: protecting the dress
Planning to shoot most of your photos before the ceremony? This video covers the one thing we watch closely when we do: keeping your gown clean between the first frame and the aisle.
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Why we guard the gown before the ceremony
If you are planning to have the majority of your photos done before the wedding ceremony, that is great. We do it all the time, and it frees up the rest of your day. The only thing you need to be aware of is the dress.
Going to many different types of places before the ceremony can drag the dress and leave stains on it, which is a real problem once you are standing at the altar. So we are always careful about where we stand and where we go, and we make sure that after all the photographs are taken your dress is still in pristine condition.
If you are open to doing even more photos before the ceremony, we are absolutely open to that as well. Just be aware of the risk in the places below, especially anywhere on the beach, anywhere sandy, or anywhere with a lot of soil and grass, where a dress can get a little dirty without anyone noticing.
Beach, sand, soil and grass: where a dress gets dirty
The hem and the train touch the ground, and they are also the parts that show in a ceremony photo from behind. Sand works its way into lace and tulle, damp grass leaves green marks, and bare soil after a sprinkler leaves mud. None of it is disastrous, but it is hard to undo between portraits and the processional.
Paved paths, stone steps, indoor corridors and clean carpets are the low-risk options, and most venues have plenty of them. When we plan pre-ceremony portraits, we look for spots like these first and save the lawn or the sand for later in the day if you want them.
Doing more photos before the ceremony without the worry
Nothing here should stop you from a full pre-ceremony session. It only changes where we do it. If the beach is the whole point of your venue, one option is to shoot the beach after the ceremony, when a little sand on the hem no longer matters for the walk down the aisle.
It also helps to have someone from the wedding party carry the train when we move between spots, and to tell us early if the dress is a rental or a family piece. We would rather take a slightly longer route than explain a stain later.
What our team does about this on the day
Checking the ground first
Before we place you for a portrait, we look at what is underfoot. If the spot is sandy, damp or muddy, we shift a few feet to pavement or stone rather than risk the hem, even if it costs us the framing we wanted.
Moving between locations carefully
When we walk from one spot to the next, we keep the route short and clean, choose where you will stand before you get there, and avoid anywhere with loose soil or long grass until the ceremony is over.
A last look before the aisle
Once the pre-ceremony photos are finished, we check the dress with you, front and back, so that you walk into the ceremony with the gown in the same pristine condition it was in when you put it on.
Couples usually ask
Can we do most of our wedding photos before the ceremony?
Yes. Doing the majority of your photos before the ceremony is something we do all the time. The one thing to plan around is the gown: we keep it pristine by being careful about where you stand and where we go beforehand.
Will beach photos before the ceremony ruin my dress?
Not ruin, but sand and damp are the two things most likely to mark a hem, so the beach is the spot we are most careful about before the ceremony. If the beach matters to you, ask us about doing those photos afterward instead.
What kinds of places stain a wedding gown?
Anywhere with sand, soil or grass. Walking through many different types of places drags the dress and can leave stains, and a beach, a lawn after watering, or a dirt path are the usual culprits. Paved and indoor spots are the safest for pre-ceremony portraits.
Can we still do extra photos before the ceremony?
Absolutely. If you are open to more photos before the ceremony, we are open to it as well. We simply ask that you know the reasons above, so that we can choose locations together and keep the dress clean for the walk down the aisle.
Related guides from the series
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