Hi there sweet friends! I was looking over my blogging calendar and I realized that it’s been a while since I’ve posted a “Tips + Tricks” post for all of my lovely brides out there!  So the subject of today’s post is: venue visits.  A question that I often get from my brides is: “Do you need to see the venue before the wedding day?”  As a bride, there are a ton of things that you have to plan and think about, but this isn’t one of them!  For me, I approach any location or shooting based off of where the lighting will be best.  The light changes all the time, especially from day to day!  This means that just because we go to your venue on a Saturday the month before your wedding doesn’t mean that the lighting will be anything like it will be on the day of your wedding!  Instead, I actually arrive a few minutes early on your wedding day to scout those locations on the day!  It makes for a much more efficient day, and then you don’t have to worry about an extra visit!

For example, Holland and Alex’s day was on and off overcast/sunny all day long!  We found this little spot towards the front of the house that we could only have photographed in because it was overcast!  If it was super sunny the lighting would’ve made harsh shadows on their faces!  Had we visited the venue before the day of, we would have prepared for a sunny day and not an overcast one and might not have even looked at this little nook!