When I was a bride planning my first wedding, I was completely clueless.  I bought things that were not necessary or important, had quite possibly the WORST day-of timeline, didn’t do a First Look because no one told me that was an option… so many things I’d do differently if given the chance.  I had no idea what I was doing and I’d venture to say that most brides feel the same way I did.

Now that I am a wedding photographer with almost 250 weddings under my belt, I think it’s important for me to educate my clients because I do this EVERY weekend and I feel like I’m pretty aware of the things that really make a difference on the wedding day.  One major piece of advice I have for my clients pertains to their getaway car plans… if you’re going to spend all of that money to rent a vintage car on your wedding day, you should rent it DURING THE DAY instead of at the end of the night.

Hear me out…

You’ve spent a ton of money on an incredible venue.  You’ve (hopefully) booked a fabulous photographer.  Your dress, your bouquet, your hair + makeup… it all comes together on your wedding day and you two look FLAWLESS.  Why not take advantage of everything and kick it up a notch by including a vintage car in your wedding portraits!?

Instead of spending the money to use it at the end of the night, when it’s dark outside and you’re not looking as fresh because you’ve been drinking + partying all night, rent it for an hour during the day!  Work with your photographer and carve out some extra time during the day to use it in your natural light portraits!  Your photographer will be insanely happy, your wedding photos will be even more amazing, and let’s be honest… it just makes sense.  No one cares what you drive away in at the end of the night (honestly…) and those end-of-the-night photos are NEVER the ones you choose to print + display in your home!

Do yourself – and your photographer – a favor and consider renting your getaway car earlier in the day.  It’s an amazing addition to your portraits and it’ll make a much bigger impact in your photos if you have it there earlier in the day!!  Want to kick it up a notch?  Have your florist make a garland to decorate the car with for photos… SWOON!!  This will be money well spent and honestly, you can just Uber to your hotel after the reception.  There’s no shame in that and it actually makes way more sense to utilize the car fully if you’re going to spend money on it anyway!!