The Significance of Groom Details

It hurts my a heart a little bit every time I see groom details being neglected on a wedding day.

Something I’ve noticed in the wedding industry is that on a wedding day, the groom’s details tend to get less attention and care when being styled & photographed than the bride’s details. And that is if the groom details are even photographed at all! This tendency not only makes me sad, but also is simply MIND BLOWING to me! A wedding day is all about TWO people getting married to each other, and celebrating that with all their family and friends. If it’s so easy to see the importance of bridal details. why wouldn’t it also be a priority to beautifully capture the groom’s shoes, watch, cuff links, cologne, etc. too?

Maybe it’s because when it comes to groom details there usually aren’t as many of them. Most of the couples’ “shared” details like the invitation suite, all the wedding rings, etc. are typically with the bride in the morning, so that by default leaves less items for groom details.

Or maybe it’s just that there is a natural gravitation towards the bride and her details. All the sparkle, and ribbons, and florals, etc. are just a natural playground for photographers who love details! And don’t get me wrong, I am one of those photographers who LOVES bridal details. I could spend hours styling and photographing all the pretty little elements that help set the tone of a wedding day. But that also means I LOVE groom details.

But I think the biggest culprit of groom detail neglect is the stigma that “grooms don’t care” about the details. And while that certainly may be true for some grooms, it’s not true for all of them. And maybe people will think I’m totally nuts for saying this, but here I go…

Even if the groom “doesn’t care” about his details, you should photograph them anyway (and do so beautifully).

There, I said it. I really do think the idea that “grooms don’t care” should be kicked to the curb. Even if the groom has very simple details like black shoes and a black tie, that doesn’t mean he didn’t still put time and effort into making those choices. Regardless of what they look like, I believe that the groom details should still be documented well.

Every time I photograph a wedding, I approach it from a storytelling mindset. From the portraits, and candid moments, to all the details, every piece plays a role in telling the full story of the wedding day. Without the groom details, in my opinion, it feels like a few pages of that story are missing.

Being in the unique position of currently planning my own wedding while also being a photographer in the wedding industry, it’s given me a lot of insight! Groom details have always been something of importance to me, but even more so now that my fiance, Ryan, and I are dreaming up our own big day. Ryan is so excited to pick out a fun tie, a special cologne to wear, unique socks for him and his groomsmen, all that stuff. Those details matter to him. And they also matter to me. I want us to have beautiful, well-styled images of not only my bridal details (which I am AMPED about!), but also Ryan’s groom details!

I want to remember all the little things we both picked out, the decisions we made, & all the memories associated with planning our wedding day. Photographs of bride and groom details are a big part of that.

I hope this blog post is helpful in sharing a little personal insight as to why I think it’s important that wedding photographers capture both bride AND groom details. And if photographing groom details is something you don’t typically do, I would love to encourage you to start!

You may be feeling stuck on where to start because photographing groom details is something that typically falls on the plate of a second shooter! But in that case, it’s the lead photographer’s responsibility to communicate the importance of groom details to their second shooter. It may be helpful to create a second shooter guide to share with your second shooters to help explain expectations and answer potential questions about working with you! Or you can simply chat with your second shooter & provide a shot list/example images so they know what types of shots you’re expecting!

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Shout out to my second shooters who always kill it at the groom detail game! Images above by the wornderful Tori Petrillo & Fabiana Skubic!