Or really, I should title this post- Best Wedding Photographer Outfits for Short Women Like Me 🙂 Affiliate links provided to help you shop.
The Importance of the Perfect Wedding Photographer Outfit
This dress from target is one of my go-to’s. I have it in green and black and it’s only $15.
Let me tell you a little story about the first wedding I ever photographed. I was shooting as the lead photographer as an associate for my friends company. To be fair- this wasn’t the first wedding I ever shot, but it was the first wedding I was the lead photographer for. I felt more comfortable in pants, so I wore khaki colored capri pants and a flowy black top. I was shooting bridal details on the floor while the girls were getting ready in the morning. I had laid out my flat lay and was on my knees on the floor touching up the details. I sat back on my heels to look over my work, shot the details and went on shooting the rest of the bridal morning. Just as we were getting ready to leave for the church, the woman who owned the house looked at me and said, “Did you sit on something dirty in my house?! It looks like you pooped your pants!” Mortified, I run to the bathroom and lo and behold there is black stuff all over my butt. Apparently I stepped in oil or something gross outside, then when I sat back on my heels it got all over my pants. Luckily, I was able think quickly and decided to fling my camera bag around to my backside, adjust the strap so that it perfectly covered my ass and proceeded to walk around like that…FOR THE REST OF THE DAY. As if I didn’t have enough to worry about on my first wedding as a lead shooter. From that day on, I realized just how important clothing choices are on a wedding day- yes, even for the photographer.
Related Read: What’s in my Camera Bag
Wedding Photographer’s Dress Code
As a professional photographer, I shoot anywhere between 20-30 weddings per year in addition to all kinds of other events and portrait sessions. Over the years, I worn a variety of different outfits to weddings, but some work better than others. In this blog post, I share the outfits that work best for me and allow for freedom of movement and match my personal style. I’ll share outfits that work better for a winter wedding vs. summer weddings, as well as what I wear for different types of weddings. As you female photographers know, you have to be careful about how you dress. I never want to attract any unwanted attention and definitely avoid things like short skirts, low cut tops, etc. As a general rule, I also avoid the color white on wedding days- I would never wear a white dress or anything like that. This is not only because the bride should be the only one wearing white, but, I tend to prefer darker colors on wedding days because of the story I just told you. For the most part, I avoid vibrant colours on a wedding day. For the most part, I am drawn to neutral colors, anyway.
Wedding Photographer Outfit Ideas
The Black Jumpsuit
PROS
Ahh this is one of my favorite things to wear on a wedding day. I swear by this Vince Camuto jumpsuit I got at Bloomingdales and the size 2 fits me perfectly, but I will say- I am short (5 foot 2) and the length is perfect. I imagine this would not work for taller women! I even through it right into the washer and dryer so this is a huge plus for me! Its super durable and looks really expensive, but at $139 I thought the price was great and get a ton of use out of this one. I also love that it’s not too low cut. I can safely bend over and it is not too revealing. It looks really good with heels and dress shoes, but I love to wear it with my dolce vita sneakers. See below for more info on this. This outfit is so comfortable, yet looks really polished on a wedding day. Perfect for a black-tie wedding (though I would probably ditch the sneakers for black tie or wear them earlier in the day and swap them out before the wedding ceremony).
Dolce Vita Zina Sneakers | I also swear by my Money Maker Camera Strap.
CONS
The downsides are that because it is one piece, I have to take all my cameras and bags off to go to the bathroom, so it takes an extra few minutes to put myself back together. Sometimes you don’t have an extra minute or two on the wedding day so I definitely avoid wearing this on a wedding day when it’s that time of month. Sorry if that’s TMI but it’s definitely something to consider on a busy wedding day!
Best Wedding Photographer Outfit
Black Pants
Black dress pants and a black blouse is always a great option, or really any type of formal shirt. I don’t feel like I always need to wear all black on a wedding day, as I like to allow some of my personal style to shine through. Old Navy is a great place to buy inexpensive and comfortable wedding day attire. Sometimes I’ll even wear a button-down shirt, depending on the season. I do love to wear layers on a wedding day because even in the summer, reception ballrooms can be blasting cold AC and I am usually freezing. But also, sometimes the air conditioner in a venue is broken and I’m running around working, carrying all my gear and then I am super hot. So I always try to dress in layers. My black pants are all from Jcrew or Abercrombie.
Wedding Photographer Attire
Maxi Dresses & Midi Skirts
These work soooo well for spring and summer weddings! I love a good summer dress. For these, I’ll even allow myself to add a little more color to my wedding day wardrobes. The great thing about maxi dresses and skirts are that they are so comfortable and look flattering. Some of my favorite places to shop for these are Target and Abercrombie.
This pink maxi dress is from target but they don’t sell it anymore!
Tee Shirt Dresses
I have an old gray tee shirt style dress that I got years ago from JCrew that I love to still wear to weddings. I wish I had a link for you, but its so old, I’m sure they don’t make it anymore. This one is similar and they have it in black. It’s a little more formal than the one I am wearing though.
Black Dresses
This dress from target is my favorite (shown above & below). I have it in black and sage green. It’s only $15, yet looks so professional and is super comfortable. Again- I will preface that I am SHORT. This dress is short but is longer on me than it looks in the website picture. If you are tall, this dress may be too short for you to wear to work. Although, I do know photographer friends that will wear shorts under a short dress on a wedding day.
You can go wrong with an LBD. I have a number of different ones I wear, especially if I have multiple weddings or events in the same weekend. They are super practical and can always be layered with a sweater.
Comfortable Shoes
I know many photographers swear by ballet shoes on a wedding day, but honestly, I don’t usually find them that comfortable. Personally, I prefer sneakers. I love all of the Dolce Vita sneakers and it definitely helps that the whole dress and sneakers thing is back on trend.
I hope these tips and links help you. If you loved this wedding photographer outfits post, let me know and I will write more like them. If you are a wedding photographer, I would love to know some of your favorite wedding day outfits.
