Why you should treat your wedding day like a photo shoot

Working in both the fashion and wedding industry for the last 14 years, I have learned a huge amount about photography. The time, energy and effort that goes into constructing a beautiful photo shoot is astounding; even from a makeup point of view, it's not about just showing up on the day and winging it.

When we undertake a project for a magazine, the way it works is that we are given a brief, then the photographer, stylist, hair and makeup artist work together to design a look and choose a model we think would suit what we are trying to achieve. This process can take a few days, sometimes weeks. The result is a perfectly shot photograph fit for the cover of a magazine.

When working on weddings, I use the same mindset. At the end of the day, apart from having an amazing day, all you are left with is your photographs and/or video.

So, from my experience, here are the best ways to get your wedding photos looking high-end and magazine ready.

Your dress will create the brief for the whole day. Let's just say you have chosen your dream dress, and it's a boho style one. As with a photo shoot, the clothes will decide on the overall look.

From there, choose a venue to match this look. For the boho style, this could be a destination wedding in Portugal or Spain, or a beautiful manor house with an amazing garden.

Your hair and makeup come next; these elements should reflect your dress. So, beachy waves and a bronzed goddess type makeup look would look stunning.

Next are your bridesmaids' dresses. Keeping with your boho style, choose dresses with an element of your gown.

For your bridesmaids' hair and makeup, stay with the boho theme. If you have decided to wear your hair down, their hair should be up or half-up. As for makeup, if you have chosen an eye focus, they might have a lip focus; if you go for a cut crease, they might have a smokey eye, but in a boho style. If you have lashes, they should have none or a half set.

I always like to keep bridesmaids uniform in hair and makeup; it just makes you stand out that little bit more, and it is your day after all.

Your flowers are next, which should be again in your theme; frangipanis or the like would compliment your boho theme.

After that come wedding favours/table settings/invites etc., which should all fit around your Boho theme. And so on and so forth; flower girls, cakes and cars and all the rest keep with your Boho theme.

Would you ever mix and match themes on your wedding day? Would you treat your day as a well-oiled magazine shoot, with a little bit of love and laughter thrown in?