Marblegate Farm Bridal Session
This bride’s name is Christine, and she runs Silver Orchard Creative! She does a ton of graphic design, and also offers photography services. She shoots a TON of weddings alongside another photographer and has learned over the years what photographs best! As we shot her Marblegate Farm bridal session, both of us kept noticing specific things about her dress that were just perfect for photos. By the end of the session, we both thought it would make a great blog post so that brides can know what about her dress is so photogenic in case they want to recreate it themselves!
- The color of her dress is almond. Now, you don’t have to do “almond” exactly, but having a warm tint to your white dress allows it to photograph prettier. Stark white usually comes off with a blue tint and reflects every single color around you like a mirror. In Christine’s case, her dress would have reflected green the whole time because we were constantly surrounded by green grass, green trees, etc…
- Her dress had zero tulle. This is important if you are terrified of bugs or are obsessed with amazing trains that lay just perfectly. So, let’s address the bug thing first. Because your dress is going to be some shade of white, whether it be blush, champagne, almond, or stark white, the fact that it’s brighter than most everything around you, will draw in the bugs. The problem here is that when you’re wearing tulle, it acts just like a bug net. Now, it won’t show in photos because the bugs that NORMALLY get caught in there are tiny gnats, and they just don’t show against the whiteness. Also important to note here is that the bugs never get to your skin because of all the layers in your dress. BUT still, if they freak you out, I want to encourage you to steer clear of tulle skirts or get married in the winter ;-).
- Now the train situation. Pretty much every bride with a traditional wedding dress has some sort of train… ranging from a couple yards long to just a few inches long. If you keep noticing that your eye is drawn to the trains that lay perfectly spread out with detail along the edges and have no creases anywhere, you’ll also want to steer clear of tulle. I am a tulle girl, I’m not going to lie. I love it. But it doesn’t lay perfect. And that’s kind of the beauty of it, it can be messy and still look great. But if you keep finding yourself eyeballing those dresses that have the massive trains perfectly laid out, stick to a different material!
- Okay, as you’re scrolling I want you to pay special attention to the images where Christine is either twirling or carrying her train. If you are obsessed with how it lays and flies through the air, it’s important that you get a very light material that will catch the wind. Tons of lace doesn’t work for this. Even though it’s GORGEOUS, it’s heavy and won’t fly through the air as delicately.
- If you’re getting married in the summer heat and humidity of East TN, pleeeeaaaase get a light dress. You will be dying if you don’t. Seriously. These days get HOT you guys. The less layers the better. The more flowy your skirt the better because you can just pick it up and get some air on your legs. Also just being able to pick it up yourself instead of relying on someone who has to grab your train every time you want to move will be a convenience for you that you never knew you wanted until the day of the wedding ha!
- And this isn’t about the dress, but the last thing I want to address is the veil. If you LOVE those veil shots where the veil is flying in the air, or is wrapped around you and your hubby, or is pulled over both your heads with the photographer under there with you… those are going to work better with single layer veils that have no beading or lace on them and are cathedral length. So here’s the deal. I know that not everyone envisions themselves with cathedral length veils. I also know that lace and beading detail on veils are GORGEOUS!! So here is the solution I recommend. Either, you can buy some tulle at Joanne’s and make your own cathedral length, plain veil that we can use for those specific photos and the rest of the time wear your normal veil that you buy to match your dress etc.
In summary, I by no means want you to do these things if they aren’t important to you. I WANT you to get your dream dress that makes you feel pretty and like a bride. I don’t think you should settle for a dress that you feel is just okay for your wedding day. However, if you look at these images and you’re thinking… how in the world did she get her dress to twirl like that?! or why does it photograph so beautifully? Then here are the answers to your questions and I hope it helps you determine what wedding gown is perfect for you on your big day!
I’m so thankful Christine did a Marblegate Farm bridal session the week of her wedding. We now know exactly where we want to invest our time on the wedding day this Sunday and get the most out of each location!
I’m a Knoxville Wedding Photographer that loves to travel…I shoot anywhere! Click here to contact me with any questions you have about pricing or booking! If you liked what you saw above, go ahead and follow me on Facebook or Instagram to see my daily updates of the latest sessions!
Vendors used by Christine:
Venue: Marblegate Farm
Florist: Colby West Design
Hair & Makeup: Bangs and Blush
Dress Shop: Say Yes For Less
Dress Designer: Anne Barge
See more from Amanda May Photos:
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[…] I don’t know if Sarah read my blog post about wedding dresses that I wrote here, but she picked out the most perfect gown. It twirled and caught the wind absolutely perfectly. […]