What to Wear

Fabric matters more than cut. Silk and crepe hold light. Heavy satin can blow out under direct sun and go flat indoors. Lace reads beautifully up close and turns to texture from a distance, which is why we shoot it both ways.

• Ivory over stark white. Pure white photographs cooler than most people expect next to skin.
• Consider the veil in wind. A cathedral veil outdoors is the most photogenic thing at most weddings, and the hardest to control after four o’clock.
• Bring the second pair of shoes. Not for comfort. For the pictures where you are actually laughing.

Matching is out. Coordinated is in. Pick two or three tones in the same family and let fabric do the variation.

• Sage, terracotta, and dusty blue remain the strongest three-way combination this season.
• Avoid large busy prints. They pull the eye off the couple in every group frame.
• Keep the shoe tone consistent across the party, even when the dresses differ.

The groom should not match the groomsmen exactly. One notch different — a lighter tie, a different lapel, a pocket square nobody else has — and he reads as the groom in every wide shot without anyone having to explain it.

Nobody plans this and everybody regrets it. Send the mothers a color palette six weeks out. Two mothers in clashing jewel tones is the most common fixable problem in wedding photographs.