Photographed at Magic Island during Sunset
DRESS TO IMPRESS…YOURSELF
Full disclosure – I’m a dude and have never worn a dress before in my life. Not even on a dare. Not even on Halloween.
Full disclosure – I don’t design dresses. That just isn’t my thing.
Full disclosure – I have been a wedding photographer for over 20 years, with most of those years spent photographing and planning beach weddings, so there’s a pretty good chance I could generate a pretty good opinion.
WHEN IS THE RIGHT TIME TO BUY A WEDDING DRESS?
Technically, there is no such thing as a “right time” to start dress shopping when you are planning a beach wedding. You technically just need to make sure you have a dress for your wedding and show up with something on, right? I had a client jury-rigg a bikini with tule, to make into a “wedding dress” the night before she tied the knot. If you’re wondering, the groom wore white speedos. I’m not posting those photos, by the way. My website is family-friendly.
With that all being said – Ideally, the minute you’ve decided to get married, you should start shopping for a wedding dress. That means back at home before you leave to Hawaii. If you’re ordering online, make sure you have time to tailor it to your size.
Make Sure it’s Not See-Thru!
You would think this is common sense, right? I mean, who would design a dress that leaves absolutely nothing to the imagination. You’d be surprised. If possible, take your dress out in normal sunlight to make sure it’s not see through. I would say about 10% of my brides showed up with dresses that revealed way too much and I ended up having to CGI out things to make their pics G-rated.
Consider The Weather
Hawaii’s humidity is at around 80% all year around, but it’s doesn’t feel that bad because we have cool tradewinds that break up the moisture. It’s nothing like how the South or North East feels like during the summer. With that being said, summer is still a lot warmer than other months. So if you’re planning on getting married during the summer, and closer to noon, you may want to consider a dress doesn’t have layers of material, aka heavy. It gets sweaty hot under the dress.
Front and Side Angles are Very Important
While the back of the dress is always great, sometimes I feel many brides focus too much time on energy on how the dress looks from the back. The majority of the photos will be taken from the front and side. Make sure your dress looks great from those angles too, not just the back.
Over at Ko’olina in the morning.
Make Sure Your Dress Is Comfortable to Sit In
You’re going to be doing a lot of sitting on your wedding day and not just for certain poses. You’re going to sit in the limo. For dinner, you’ll be sitting quite a bit. And if you’re planning on eating some great food, you may want to make sure that dress isn’t too tight around the waist. Also, you can always change into a more comfortable dress for dinner that’s a lot easier to sit in.
If You’re Plus Sized
Choosing a big ballgown dress does wonders when it comes to photography. Yes, ironically, a ballgown tapered dress will make you look smaller. If you are conscious about your arms, choose a dress with nice sleeves, maybe down to the elbow. By the way, there are little non-CGI tricks to always make you look skinnier in the photos that I always use.
If You’ve Got the Legs, Flaunt it
I’m not talking about sporting a wedding dress that is cut way too short, but aleg slit helps when it comes to photos. One of the biggest problems I face as a photographer is trying to make sure a wedding dress doesn’t look like a gigantic comforter, especially when we are doing sit-down poses. Those slits help. If you don’t have a slit, make sure your dress is light enough where we can hike it up just a little.
Apparently, I’m known for pictures like these, even though I shoot much more than just this pose – haha.
Make Sure You Can Move
You’ll be getting married on the beach and will be without your high heels, but you don’t need to taper your dress to fall perfectly when you’re barefoot. Taper it to the height of your heels. When you’re in the sand, it really doesn’t matter. What matters more is that you can walk freely with one foot in front of the other, and you can possibly sit down. Some of my past client’s dresses were so tight, it really limited us on what type of poses we could do. Many were so tight that it was too dangerous to do walking in ocean pics (what I’m apparently known for, I had no idea).
Not Exactly Kahkis, but it does work!
How Grooms Should Dress
All the same rules I listed above also apply to men when it comes to weddings in Hawaii. Dressing casually does the job. Khakis with a light-colored long sleeve shirt that’s rolled up, does the job. If he’s wearing white pants, make sure his pants are not see through. I hate photoshopping out pockets and underwear lines.
Getting Your Dress to Hawaii
There really is no easy answer on how to do this. The “poofier” your wedding dress is, the more likely you’ll have to dedicate a suitcase to it and pay the extra baggage fee. Don’t pack anything else in there that can stain or ruin your dress. The good news is that if you follow this route, your poofy dress can double as packing material to bring back fragile gifts you may buy in Hawaii.
If you’re wondering how you should get wrinkles out of your dress, the answer is that you’ll most likely need to do it yourself or ask the hotel if they can do it. I think it’s best to pack a travel steamer that you can purchase through Amazon for around $20. Unfortunately, we don’t have any company that can do it well in Hawaii. We used too. I’m not sure where that lady who did it went, but she suddenly disappeared.
Well, kids, that’s about all I’m writing about, regarding this topic. I’m honestly fresh out of answers! If I missed anything please let me know or comment below.
Remember, there are no rules when it comes to weddings as long as you have fun!
Steve Young
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