Groomals: is that a familiar word to you? Ever heard of bridals? That photoshoot a few days before your wedding by yourself in your gorgeous dress and perfectly arranged flowers? Well groomals are just that, a formal wedding photoshoot, but with the groom too! What a concept! Who doesn't want plenty of professional, gorgeous photographs of you and your groom? These are already rather popular, you just may not have heard the proper term before. Why were we leaving out the groom before and only doing bridals? Well, groomals were a bit of a taboo before since it is a cultural tradition that the groom is not to see the bride before the wedding. But as is with certain old wedding traditions, that myth is slowly dying. Don't get me wrong, I am all for tradition, and if you believe that the bride should not be seen in her dress before the wedding, by all means DO NOT LET THE GROOM SEE YOU BEFORE YOUR WEDDING. Your traditions and beliefs matter because it is YOUR wedding. But first, let me give you a 6 reasons why I think you should consider a groomals photoshoot.
Time. So Much Time.
Let's just be real here, wedding photography takes up a VERY significant amount of time. If you have a large family and/or large bridal party, your wedding photos are going to take up a lot of time during your big day. (Even if you schedule your groomals to be done before the wedding, please still block a good amount of time for photos on the wedding day.) If you have an afternoon ceremony, you can get your groomals done on the day of the wedding in the morning, freeing up a little bit of time between the ceremony and the reception. If you have an earlier ceremony, or even if you have an afternoon one, I would suggest getting your groomals done a few days to a few weeks prior to your wedding day. Your big day is already tightly scheduled, don't you want at least a little bit of time to relax?
Relaxed Bride = Relaxed Photos
Speaking of relaxing, believe me when I say if you take your formal photos of you and your groom during your wedding, you will be any thing but relaxed. You will be trying to take them as quickly as possible to make sure you are on time for your next event. If you are taking them between your ceremony and reception, you will be stressed on time and that will be portrayed in your photos. And you do not want to stress your photographer out or your photos will not turn out the way you want them to. Don't you want to be relaxed during your shoot and take your sweet time to get the perfect photos? Taking your photos before your wedding and you will be relaxed, happy, and giddy just knowing that the big event will be happening soon!
Makeup and Hair On Point
Looking relaxed is one thing, but think of your hair and make-up, ladies. You either paid to have someone professionally do your hair and makeup for the big day, or you spent hours doing it yourself. Either way, it took time and money. And anything could ruin that look at any moment. Wind, food, a kiss (but I've heard lipsense can fix that), a tear, a LOT of tears that only a wedding can provoke. Save yourself the worry and get your photos taken while you are fresh and have that perfect bridal look! Now here's a thing a lot of brides hate (but some LOVE): So you're saying if I get my photos taken on a day before my wedding date, I have to get dressed up TWICE? Well, yes. But it's totally worth the effort for perfect photos, don't ya think?
Lighting and Location
Ever see those gorgeous, creamy photos with the sun coming between the trees making a golden halo around the bride's head? That's called golden hour lighting (Or something like that, I'm no photographer). A neat little tip I learned from my good friend and wedding photographer Alissa of Alissa Paige Photography. That lighting only comes at a certain time of the day. Now let's say you want those perfect photos with that perfect lighting but you will be in the middle of your cake cutting and toasts during that "golden hour" lighting? You definitely will not be able to pause your reception to spend an hour and take your perfect lighting wedding photos. Also doing your formal photos before your wedding gives you the freedom of location. If you set your groomals appointment for a few days or weeks before the wedding, you can take your photos on top of a majestic mountain and still have your wedding in your safe and comfortable venue.
The First Look
So this technically could be considered a reason why NOT to take groomals. That moment when the groom sees the bride is magical, and is a wonderful gift to share with your guests. And it most likely will be captured by your ceremony photographer anyway. However, with the time and felixibility that a groomal session gives you, you really have some freedom with that first look. You can style it anyway you want. It is not strictly limited to the bride walking down the aisle and the groom standing up at the front watching her enter. I personally love the turnaround or blindfold method where the bride sneaks down and taps him on the shoulder, and then the photographer goes crazy as the groom turns around and sees her dressed up for the first time. You can also hire a videographer and have this special moment added to your wedding video.
Wedding Décor
Last, but not least, is the freedom to be able to show off your gorgeous wedding photos AT your wedding! If you get your groomals done early enough that your photographer can get them back to you before the big day, you can have them printed and used as part of your wedding décor!
Hopefully these reasons helped or at least gave you a little more information on what a groomal photoshoot is! What do you think, will you be taking your formal photos on the big day or before the big day? Are you strongly opposed to letting the groom see the bride in her dress before the wedding? Comment Below! And if you have any questions on creating more time during your wedding or how to get started on the planning process, please contact me at [email protected] or submit an entry on the contact me page!
Now enjoy some of these gorgeous (relaxed) formal pictures!
Time. So Much Time.
Let's just be real here, wedding photography takes up a VERY significant amount of time. If you have a large family and/or large bridal party, your wedding photos are going to take up a lot of time during your big day. (Even if you schedule your groomals to be done before the wedding, please still block a good amount of time for photos on the wedding day.) If you have an afternoon ceremony, you can get your groomals done on the day of the wedding in the morning, freeing up a little bit of time between the ceremony and the reception. If you have an earlier ceremony, or even if you have an afternoon one, I would suggest getting your groomals done a few days to a few weeks prior to your wedding day. Your big day is already tightly scheduled, don't you want at least a little bit of time to relax?
Relaxed Bride = Relaxed Photos
Speaking of relaxing, believe me when I say if you take your formal photos of you and your groom during your wedding, you will be any thing but relaxed. You will be trying to take them as quickly as possible to make sure you are on time for your next event. If you are taking them between your ceremony and reception, you will be stressed on time and that will be portrayed in your photos. And you do not want to stress your photographer out or your photos will not turn out the way you want them to. Don't you want to be relaxed during your shoot and take your sweet time to get the perfect photos? Taking your photos before your wedding and you will be relaxed, happy, and giddy just knowing that the big event will be happening soon!
Makeup and Hair On Point
Looking relaxed is one thing, but think of your hair and make-up, ladies. You either paid to have someone professionally do your hair and makeup for the big day, or you spent hours doing it yourself. Either way, it took time and money. And anything could ruin that look at any moment. Wind, food, a kiss (but I've heard lipsense can fix that), a tear, a LOT of tears that only a wedding can provoke. Save yourself the worry and get your photos taken while you are fresh and have that perfect bridal look! Now here's a thing a lot of brides hate (but some LOVE): So you're saying if I get my photos taken on a day before my wedding date, I have to get dressed up TWICE? Well, yes. But it's totally worth the effort for perfect photos, don't ya think?
Lighting and Location
Ever see those gorgeous, creamy photos with the sun coming between the trees making a golden halo around the bride's head? That's called golden hour lighting (Or something like that, I'm no photographer). A neat little tip I learned from my good friend and wedding photographer Alissa of Alissa Paige Photography. That lighting only comes at a certain time of the day. Now let's say you want those perfect photos with that perfect lighting but you will be in the middle of your cake cutting and toasts during that "golden hour" lighting? You definitely will not be able to pause your reception to spend an hour and take your perfect lighting wedding photos. Also doing your formal photos before your wedding gives you the freedom of location. If you set your groomals appointment for a few days or weeks before the wedding, you can take your photos on top of a majestic mountain and still have your wedding in your safe and comfortable venue.
The First Look
So this technically could be considered a reason why NOT to take groomals. That moment when the groom sees the bride is magical, and is a wonderful gift to share with your guests. And it most likely will be captured by your ceremony photographer anyway. However, with the time and felixibility that a groomal session gives you, you really have some freedom with that first look. You can style it anyway you want. It is not strictly limited to the bride walking down the aisle and the groom standing up at the front watching her enter. I personally love the turnaround or blindfold method where the bride sneaks down and taps him on the shoulder, and then the photographer goes crazy as the groom turns around and sees her dressed up for the first time. You can also hire a videographer and have this special moment added to your wedding video.
Wedding Décor
Last, but not least, is the freedom to be able to show off your gorgeous wedding photos AT your wedding! If you get your groomals done early enough that your photographer can get them back to you before the big day, you can have them printed and used as part of your wedding décor!
Hopefully these reasons helped or at least gave you a little more information on what a groomal photoshoot is! What do you think, will you be taking your formal photos on the big day or before the big day? Are you strongly opposed to letting the groom see the bride in her dress before the wedding? Comment Below! And if you have any questions on creating more time during your wedding or how to get started on the planning process, please contact me at [email protected] or submit an entry on the contact me page!
Now enjoy some of these gorgeous (relaxed) formal pictures!