Happy Wednesday, friends!

If you’ve been following the blog for some time now, you may know that we’re all about the details of the wedding day! From how we photograph a bride’s perfume bottle in the morning to how we shoot bride and groom portraits in the afternoon, we strive for excellence at every twist and turn of the wedding day. And, recently, I started thinking, what’s an overlooked area of the wedding day where changing a few small details can actually make a big difference? The answer? Groomsmen photos! So, here are three of the smallest but biggest impact tips for making groomsmen photos looks just a little more polished!

1. Make Sure the Top Button is Buttoned
A lot of guys like to unbutton their jackets, especially when it’s hot outside, which can be an easy thing to overlook during formal portraits! The photos of the guys look much sharper, though, when they’ve all got their top button buttoned because it allows the suit to contour closer to guys’ bodies and gives them all that slimming silhouette that suits were intended to provide. Since they’re typically in identical suits, any difference among any of the guys (like someone with their coat open) will stick out like a sore thumb! So, the next time you line up the fellas for a photo, make sure to remind them all to button their top button before you start photographing!

2. Keep the Groom’s Lapel from “Riding Up”
When buttoned, if a groom throws his arm around one of his groomsmen’s shoulders, the lapel will separate from the chest a little bit causing the jacket (especially right near the button) to bunch and scrunch up. This, just like an unbuttoned suit, takes away from the natural silhouette of the suit, distracts attention away from the groom’s face and adds attention to the jacket. Especially if the groom is in the middle of a shot and he has guys on either end of him, the jacket pulling up is really noticeable and gives the appearance that the groom didn’t get as good of a fit as the groomsmen. Not ideal for sure! To combat this, tell the groom to put his arms underneath his friend’s arms and around the groomsmen’s lower back instead of upper back. That simple trick alone keeps the lapel from lifting. Bonus: Once the groom’s in place, walk over and pull down the jacket a little bit for him to get rid of all evidence of a bunch or scrunch in the fabric! Just get his permission first!

3. Hide the “Phantom Fingers”
Speaking of the fellas having their arms around each other… When they do, sometimes their arms wrap so far around the other fella that their fingers creep around the other groomsmen’s torso. Look, it’s not the end of the world. Not at all! And this might just be a picky Sarah E thing, but I try to avoid those creepin’ phantom fingers at all costs. It just looks kind of weird. Like floating fingers. And if the groomsmen have their hands in their pockets, and the only hands you’re seeing are the phantom fingers here and there, it distracts the eye from the faces that matter. So, what do we do? We just tell the guys to keep their hands on their buddy’s mid back, and if the phantom fingers start creepin’ around and photo bombing the shot, we just tell the gents to hide the phantom fingers. They totally get it!

And there you have it! It’s all the little details that make the difference!