It's always hectic at the bride's preparation house (not always her own, typically "Mammy's") on her wedding day, especially when there are so many things going on, and so many people crammed into the house. We have bridesmaids, we have flower girls, we have Mum & Dad, we have nieces and nephews, make-up artists, hairstylists, videographers and me, the wedding photographer.

I always call my brides a few days before, just to make sure that everything is as it was agreed, mainly to make sure the times haven't changed as sometimes these things are book years in advance and as the time draws closer, things tend to change. It's only natural, you think a 2pm Wedding is a great idea until you start factoring in travel times between the service venue and the reception and the time it takes to get photographs done, so sometimes things move.

As an experienced wedding photographer; you become familiar with the 'flow' of the day, the pitfalls and stumbling blocks that can be avoided if a little thought is put into it. As I said, that comes with experience, so today I'm going to draw attention to the humble dressing gown.

Matching Where PossibleWedding day images from the marriage of Karen and Clive who were married on the 16th August 2014 at Donemana Presbyterian Church, with a formal reception at The Eveglades Hotel in Derry. Images by Darron Mark Photography - www.dmfoto.co.uk

Wedding albums usually have a few pages of the preparations in there, capturing the essence of the mania going on in the family home, I've 30-page wedding albums where nearly 20% of it is taken up with just the morning alone! The reason being? Well, it's probably one of the most naturally captured part of the day with little or no intervention by the photographer. We're just hovering around trying to capture those special unguarded moments where family members are just interacting with each other. We as photographers love uniformity, it makes life so much simpler in editing if everyone is almost matching in style, so it's always nice to see the bridal party wearing the same dressing gown with their different roles on their backs in rhinestones. We'd prefer it if they weren't all so white and reflective on a sunny day, but we can't have everything now can we?

The other advantage of the dressing gown is in its ease of getting out of. What I mean to say is, you don't have to pull it over your head having spent nearly an hour getting your hair and make-up done.

They're so cheap too, almost a throwaway item starting from as little as £5 on Amazon and they come personalised to each of the roles each of your bridal party are responsible for. 

If you don't fancy a gown, you can even get something with a little more 'post-wedding' use such as a hoodie as seen here:

The Wedding HoodieWedding Day Images from the Gemma and Philip's big day in Ballykelly. The Drummond Hotel was their wedding reception venue. Images by Darron Mark Photography. Whatever you decide to do, make sure you're paying attention to how you're going to get out of your preparation morning clothes into your wedding attire, and also check out what the rest of your bridal party are wearing, otherwise they'll have to jump back into the hairstylist's chair to get emergency repairs done, making you later to the church than your groom's nerves can handle.