10 Photo Editing Tips For Creating Dreamy Wedding Photos
The big day. Apart from vows, dancing, and tear-jerking speeches, there is another thing you can expect…photographs, and lots of them! But how does one take a few simple photos and turn them into lasting wedding memories, you ask? Don’t fear, because here are 10 photo editing tips for creating dreamy wedding photos, all made using the super simple BeFunky online Photo Editor.
1. Embrace the Colors of Your Landscape:
You could be standing against the prettiest seaside location, only to have your image turn out a little dull. Sometimes your photos just won’t do justice to your naturally beautiful surroundings. Editing them, however, can!
To create the ‘After’ shot, I used the effect Cross Process 2 at 75% strength. To add a dreamy glow, I used the Orton Style effect at approximately 15% strength. Finally, I used the Beautify feature (in the Edit menu) at 50% to add saturation and a hint of contrast to the image, really allowing those colors to 'pop'!
2. Play Around With Focus and Blur:
By using these two features, you can choose to focus on any one element in the photo, such as this couple’s wedding rings. To achieve this, I used the Funky Focus tool under the Edit menu and used the target to focus on the couple's hands with their wedding rings. The opacity was set at 51, hardness at 50 and blur was set at 100.
3. The Slightest Effect Can Make a Difference:
I was able to apply lens flare, warmth and touches of color all in one step by using the Bokeh 4 texture.
4. Create a Magical Atmosphere With Layered Effects:
I used the Beautify tool and adjusted it to 45 to increase saturation. I wanted to add warmth to this image and decrease the amount of green present, so chose the Color Mixer tool. I increased the Red to 24, decreased the green to -14 and amped up the blue to 21.
Vintage Colors 1 as an effect (moving the slider to half way) gave it an even more magical touch. Light Leaks 9 (found under the Textures menu) gave the image that final touch that it needed to make it appear as though they were dancing in an enchanted forest.
5. Don’t Be Afraid to Eliminate Color:
Applying the effect Tin Type 3 changed the photograph into a black and white image reminiscent of eras gone by. The texture Scratches 3 was then applied to enhance this vintage photograph look.
6. Highlight Those Dreamy Details:
With this image, I wanted to create a dappled summery tone, as though the light filtered through the trees. I used the Beautify tool at 50%, the Smoothing tool at 25.4, and the Summer 1 effect with the slider 1/3 of the way across to give the image a warmer tone.
7. Take Advantage of the Color Filter:
To achieve the second image, I used the Color Filter tool (underneath the Edit menu), chose a dark pink / purple filter and applied it at a low strength. I then applied the Beautify function at around 20%.
8. A Little Saturation Goes a Long Way:
The Beautify button is your one-click saturation tool! It enhances the color without making your image look ‘fake’. I wanted to really bring out the colorful confetti so applied the Beautify tool at 50%.
9. Add in Beautiful Bokeh:
While this image is already so beautiful and dreamy, there’s still one texture you can easily add in order to bring this image to a whole new level–Bokeh! I used Bokeh 2 at around ¾ strength and applied the Beautify tool at 15%.
10. Experiment With Foreground and Background:
Using the Blur paint tool at full strength, I added the effect everywhere on the image except for the roses in the foreground. I used this same technique with the Soften tool, before using the Sharpen paint tool on the roses. You wouldn’t want all of your wedding photos to be deliberately blurred like this, but when used on one image it adds an interesting depth of field.
Speaking of weddings, you'll also love our '8 Must-Have Wedding Photos' post! And if you've got any old wedding pics that need sprucing up, you can start beautifying them right here:
