Indian bridal getting ready photos: how to plan the morning

For good Indian bridal getting ready photos, choose a room with a large window and little clutter, ask hair and makeup to finish thirty minutes before the photographer needs you dressed, and lay out the outfit, jewellery, shoes and invitation in one place. A second photographer covers the groom’s preparations at the same time.

The getting-ready hour is where the album starts. It holds the jewellery your mother wore, the dupatta being pinned by a cousin, the first time your father sees you dressed. It is also the part of the day couples plan least, which is why so many getting-ready galleries are taken in a dark hotel room with three suitcases in the background. A few decisions made weeks earlier change that completely.

Which room should you get ready in?

The one with the biggest window, not the biggest bed. Window light is the most flattering light there is for skin, gold and silk, and it lets us work without flash, which matters when an aunt is mid-way through pinning a saree pleat. When you book the suite or choose the room at home, look for:

• A large window, ideally not in direct sun at the hour you will be dressing.
• Enough floor space for the bride, the makeup artist, two or three family members and us.
• A plain wall or a door that can be a background for the final portrait.
• A second room nearby for suitcases, garment bags and food, so the main room stays clear.

At home, the living room often photographs better than the bedroom. At a venue, ask to see the bridal suite at the time of day you will use it; a room that looks bright at four in the afternoon can be dim at eight in the morning.

How should hair and makeup be timed?

Ask your artist to finish thirty minutes before you need to be dressed, then plan another thirty to forty-five minutes for the outfit and jewellery. Indian bridal looks take longer than anyone expects: a lehenga with a heavy dupatta, a saree draped properly, the maang tikka, the nath, the chooda, the kaleere. A late baraat very often starts with makeup running over. Build the morning backwards from the time the family needs you, and give the artist the real finishing time, not the hoped-for one.

We usually arrive during the last part of makeup, photograph the details while the artist finishes, and are with you for the dressing, the jewellery and the final portraits.

Which details should be laid out?

Put everything that matters in one bag or box, so we can photograph it while you are in the chair without anyone hunting through suitcases:

• The outfit on a proper hanger, and the dupatta.
• The jewellery: necklace, earrings, maang tikka, nath, bangles, rings, and anything inherited.
• Shoes, the chooda and kaleere if you wear them.
• The invitation suite and any ceremony items you want remembered.
• For the groom: the safa or turban, the sehra, the mojris, cufflinks and the watch.

Who should be in the room?

The people you want in the photographs, and not many more. Mothers, sisters, a grandmother, the cousin who always fixes everything. A crowded room means a crowded frame and a slower morning. If there are moments you want, such as your mother putting on your bangles or your father seeing you for the first time, tell us at the planning call and we will make sure they happen in the light rather than in the corridor.

What about the groom?

At most Indian weddings the bride and groom get ready at the same time in different places, which is why the wedding day is covered by two photographers. While Surya is with the bride, a second photographer is with the groom: the safa being tied, the sehra, his parents, the friends who will dance him in. Our guide to second shooters explains how the two sides are split.

How long should getting ready take in the timeline?

From our arrival to the moment you leave the room, about ninety minutes for the bride and sixty for the groom, including the details and a short portrait at the window. The shot list covers what else to include, and the mehndi and haldi guide covers the days before.

Every collection includes a planning call where we go through the morning with you. The Hindu wedding photographer and Sikh wedding photographer pages cover the ceremonies that follow, and you can check your date with us here.

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