What Should I Wear to a Pre-Wedding Session?

The beauty of a pre-wedding session is you can make them what you want, and they can be a great reflection of your personalities.  Once you've picked the date, the time and place, what comes next?  The clothes!  They can make such a huge different to the look and  feel of the session - whether it's a casual look you're going for or something more formal to give your photos a real edge.  There are a few tips and rules you should consider when choosing your desired outfit - for both you and your partner!  This will make sure the clothes you wear help to compliment the overall feel of the photos. drawing maximum attention to you both and the love between the two of you.

---

Those of you that head read some of my previous blog posts will know I’m a real advocate of having a pre-wedding session before your wedding day (some good reasons can be found here).  So now you’ve organised one, set a date, time and place.  What else do you need to think about?  What to wear of course!

It’s worth getting this out there now, that because they can happen any time of year, if we happen to be outdoors, please make sure you wear suitable outer clothing for the current conditions.  Simply put if it’s a bit cold, wear a coat, hat, gloves, scarf etc.  If it might rain a little, bring an umbrella for you both.  Likewise with footwear, if it’s likely to be a bit mucky and you don’t want to ruin a good pair of shoes, wear some funky wellies instead!  It all adds a bit of character to your photos.

So let’s assume it’s a reasonably warm day in late spring, summer or early autumn.  What should you both wear?  Really it depends what sort of look you want to go for.  Although it’s possible there will be the opportunity to change clothes so you can have two distinct looks, this may not be practical, and so you will have to decide on a casual look or a more formal look.  This can either compliment or intentionally contrast with the location we’ve decided on – eg a suit and cocktail dress in an outdoor environment is a great contrast and something a little different.

For a casual look I would always recommend not having too many different colours amongst your clothing, and try to keep any colours slightly muted (however one of you can wear a statement piece that goes against this rule, but the other should be more subtle so there isn’t a visual fight going on).  Likewise it’s an idea if one of you wants to wear something patterned (eg a chequered shirt) that the other has a solid coloured top to balance this out.  Clothing should complement the overall composition and not draw too much attention away from the expressions and actions of you two as a couple.  Matching clothing works well too, for example you both wear jeans and a similar or the same colour top as it conveys a sense of togetherness between you both.

If you want to go down the formal route, then a matching jacket and trousers for the guy and a dress or two piece outfit for the girl.  Here a statement design or colour for the girl’s dress can add a real sparkle to the images and is unlikely to class with a darker suit for the guy.  If the man wants to go for different jacket and trousers, try to keep one or both of them more muted in colour to enable the girl to stand out a bit more.  Sadly guys, as on the wedding day, it’s usually more about the girl in these situations!

Footwear for formal dress styles can be tricky, as wellies do stand out a bit!  So please be aware of where you will be going for the pre-wedding session and accept that your suede shoes may get a little dirty, and your heels may sink into the soft grass a little if you are opting for somewhere outdoors and/or in the countryside.  For more urban locations this isn't a problem, of course!

Below are some more visual ideas for clothing choices, take these as inspiration when planning your own pre-wedding session!