Dear Brides.
Your wedding day is the “one day” which you can shamelessly show the world and “your husband” 🙂 how beautiful you are and how lucky he is to be standing next to you as he says his wedding vows. That’s right! You want your lucky husband and everyone else to see what a perfect combination of cute, sexy, and elegant you are. It is Your Day! The day you’ve dreamed of your whole life.
Now, it up to us photographers to be able to capture those beautiful images that you’ll be proud to show all of your friends and family now and eventually your children and grandchildren in the future to come.
Unless you are a trained professional model who in a split second can strike the perfect pose, there are some basic rules for posing that need to be followed.
Having been a wedding and portrait photographer for 21 years, I feel that it’s important for me to say that these 5 tips or “rules” below are all meant to be broken. Why? Because on your wedding day the moment is more important than anything else, so these tips are only for those posed images which you know will be displayed on your wall etc. I could go into the whole philosophy of capturing the wedding day but that’s not the purpose of this blog. We’ll save that for another post. But having said that these rules are meant to be broken, it important to be at least aware of them so you know what do to when the time comes.
Ok, so here are the 5 expert tips for posing for brides.
1. Hold your bouquet at the right height.
So what does this mean? Most brides have the tendency to hold their bouquets too high. While this can be used for some cute photos, for a formal pose there is an ideal height which not only looks better but slims your body and shows your figure the way your dress was designed to do. Look at the following two images.
So, when you hold your bouquet just below your bust line, two things happen:
- It creates the right amount of bend in your arm and…
- It creates a gap between your arm and waist which slims your body and shows your waist.
Imagine if in both of these images the bouquet was held too high. That would hide the beautiful décolletage design of your dress and if it was held too low, your arm would be together with your waist as “one chunk”, this way adding volume to your body. In your images, you want definition in the shapes, you want delicate and elegant curves. So remember to hold your bouquet at just the right height for those formal images.
2. Graceful Hands.
Both men and women have a hard time posing their hands. They simply do not know what to do. This is especially true for men since there isn’t so much men can do with their hands for photos. But you brides? You can do sooooo many different things which add so much personality to your wedding photos.
Take a look at these 2 examples from the same wedding.
Posing your hands properly adds so much elegance and personality to your photos and it just takes a little practice. That’s right. I said practice. Since most brides are not trained models, you need to know what to do and feel comfortable doing those things when it’s time to capture your wedding portraits. So go in front of a mirror and see how you feel about the way you move your hands. It will pay off with some amazingly beautiful photos.
3. Show personality.
By the way, what I am known for is applying my fashion and glamour techniques to all my weddings; so what I like to do with all of my brides is a very short and fun “fashion show” on their wedding day.
When I work with my brides I always “guide – help – inform” them on what to do prior to the wedding so on their wedding day we are all ready to go as a team and feel comfortable doing all these things. So, when we do this little “fashion show”, personality is key. Since we already know each other that comes naturally.
If you are working with a photographer make sure to inform him or her that this style of images is very important to you. You not only want beautiful images but you want them to be natural and fun.
Have fun with it and the series of images will be nothing but amazing!
4. Bend your leg for a sexy curve.
Ok, so this one many times comes naturally to women and many times it doesn’t. So I just want to explain why the “bend” in your leg is so important – it can make for a just average nice photo or a sexy and elegant one.
Let’s take a look at the photo below…
When you bend your leg and bring it inward, it adds a natural “S” shape to your body which highlights your waist and torso in a subtle but in a very sexy and elegant way
I’m showing you this image because it exemplifies this point very clearly. It is not a exaggerated over the top pose. It is simple and yet very elegant. Even a very shy bride can easily pull this one off beautifully.
Also, keep in mind that your dress was designed to show your shape in the most feminine way possible; so when you’re trying out your dress, practice in front of a mirror some poses you want and feel comfortable with and don’t forget this one rule – “Bend your leg for a sexy curve.”
5. Bend slightly forward at the waist.
Next time you take a photo of a friend or have a photo taken of you, notice how people have the natural tendency to lean back and raise their chin. When you do that, it not only looks unnatural, but it is also unflattering. And.. it adds weight to your face.
What you want is to pose your face in a way that shows and accentuates your cheek bones and facial features and engages whoever is looking at the photo.
Look at this beautiful photo below taken at the Villa Borghese Caterers.
Does the bride look like she is leaning forward? Look at it closely. Does she? No, she doesn’t. That’s because the perspective to the lens corrects for it. If she was leaning back like she would naturally do ( had I not guided her ), the photo would not have had the same effect. She would most likely not like the photo and not know why. She would say something like… “It just looks weird, something just bothers me but I dont’ know why.”
So remember to pose “for the camera”, not anything else. The only thing that matters is what appears to the lens and that’s up to your photographer to determine. But as a rule of thumb, always lean slightly forward at the waist ( not hunch over ) and you will have a very pleasing pose that you will like.
Conclusion.
Ok, so here you have 5 expert tips on how to pose. These are basic rules and yet are missed quite often. By being aware of them you can proactively work with your photographer to achieve images that you’ll absolutely love and even bring tears to your eyes.
Thank you for reading this post and please share it with the ones you love. Have fun planning your wedding. 🙂
If you are interested in working with me or just chatting to get more info about my wedding photography work feel free to call/text or email me at any time.
Call or Text (845)978-2613 Email me at: info@lacertisphoto.com
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