The getting-ready room at the Hanover Inn in Dartmouth, New Hampshire, was in such a state of disarray that when it came time to take portraits of the whole bridal party, recalls Bethany Cox of Bethany & Dan Photography, the empty window ledge was, she says, “literally the only place I saw where they would all fit and there would not be any distracting elements.”

Standing a few feet back next to “plastic cups, curling irons, shoe boxes and a steamer,” Cox instructed the bridal party to be very careful as they made their way up. Once they were all safely in place, she fired the shutter. “I just love how they are all interacting with one another, and I particularly like how the bride is angled with the light on her face,” she notes.

For Cox, the most challenging part was getting the courage to direct all the girls. “I struggle with boldness as a photographer,” she says, “so asking the bridal party to do something like this was a bit of a hurdle, but that seems to always be my challenge with the shots that I end up loving.”

(Captured using a Nikon D700 and 14-24mm f/2.8 lens at 14mm, 1/60 of a sec. and ISO 1250.)

© Bethany & Dan Photography

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