I am often asked what I have in my bag on wedding day. Well the obvi, of course, and that is listed below, but the craziest things can happen at any wedding, and you can prevent a photographer catastrophe (or bridal party wardrobe catastrophe) by simply adding the essential items below to your wedding day camera bag!

• Extra camera body – buy, borrow, or rent one! (What could be much worse for a photographer shooting a wedding than to have a broken camera body and nothing to switch to?)  A great place to rent: Lensrentals
  
• LOTS of memory cards – then add a few more to the bag
  
• I bring 3 lenses with me; but if you rent one, test it out a day or two before you use it at the event
  
• Extra camera batteries, fully charged – I have 2 extras in my bag plus the two that are in the camera bodies
  
• Extra camera battery charger
  
• Flash – I use my Nikon SB-700 Speedlight which can be an on-camera or off-camera flash
  
• Wireless Speedlight Commander Unit for when I swap to off-camera flash (and extra batteries)
  
• Extra batteries for speed light (I use Panasonic Eneloop Pro)
  
• Battery charger for speed light batteries (mine came with my Eneloop’s mentioned above)
  
• Lens cleaner- use a cloth or a pen
  
• Kleenex
  
• Pain reliever (I can’t be the only one with foot and back pain being on my feet for 10+ hours on wedding day…)
  
• Chapstick/lip gloss/lipstick
  
• Extra clothes and shoes (Have them ready to go in the car… you NEVER know, y’all)
  
• Business cards – I don’t know how many times I’ve been asked for a business card while shooting. Have them readily accessible to quickly hand to those who ask
  
• Snacks (easy to pack and able to be eaten quickly, i.e., granola/protein bars are perfect and can slip into the bag easily)
  
• Hair ties (I call them ponytail holders, anyone else?) and bobby pins
  
• Tide Pen/Shout Wipes – Save the day by saving the bride’s gown (or bridesmaids – it happens at most weddings before pictures get started)!
  
• Safety pins and travel-sized sewing kit
  
• Essential Oils – this is my favorite!  This is not an advertisement or a ploy to sell to you because I really am in love with the Deep Relief Roller by Young Living. I use this mostly for my lower back when it starts to bother me after several hours of shooting! As for other essential oils…it never hurts to have a calming oil for the bride.
  

I recently added my list of what equipment and other accessories I have, and you can find it here if you are interested.

…and even more surprises that are coming your way…I am working on a mini course as you read this, all about wedding day details!

Magan Ward

Magan Ward is a photographer, wife, mom of 3, and educator to fellow photographers. She has an unhealthy obsession with Chick-Fil-A mac and cheese, and has a bit of a love affair with dry shampoo – something she tried to avoid for years until the pandemic of 2020 occurred rendering her dependent upon the waterless revelation that saves her time, something now used to instead apply nutella to waffles for tiny humans.

Putting that Masters in Education to good use, Magan enjoys teaching her fellow photographers and online entrepreneurs the ins and outs of building a business that they love…and occasionally sprinkles in some encouragement for Mamas, because life with littles is just plum hard sometimes.

You can grab her free list of favorite tools for entrepreneurs here.