What are bridal portraits? And should you take them?

Bridal sessions are actually rooted in tradition in both Europe and the South in America. The bride would usually schedule a bridal session a few weeks before the wedding day to try on the dress, do a trial makeup and hair run, and pose with a similar wedding bouquet. The photos would then be kept secret and the favorite photo would be displayed at the reception for everyone to see.

While this is still the way they can be done, there are many other great ways and reasons to book a bridal session. In the modern day, bridal portraits can be scheduled before the wedding, right after the wedding, or even many years later! They are a great way to feel that wedding glow all over again or get comfortable in front of the camera without all the stress of your wedding day. Bottom line, bridal sessions are awesome!

Why you should have a bridal portrait session?

There are many reasons why you might want to consider a bridal portrait session. Here are some of the top reasons to consider one.

1. You can change up your bridal look

   Whether you are getting your bridal portraits done before your wedding, or many years later, bridal sessions give you a great chance to switch up your look! If you are going to have a veil on your wedding day, but want to do something less formal for your bridal portraits. Do it!

   If your wedding day look is going to have complex makeup, but you want to go for a more natural look on your bridal portraits. Awesome!

   Maybe you have some family heirlooms that you want to wear, but they don’t quite go with the theme of your wedding day. Wear them on your bridal session! The idea is to get you feeling your most confident, so experiment with different looks and have fun with it!

2. You can choose any location for it

   This is one of my favorite parts about bridal portrait sessions, you can take them anywhere! I love to get adventurous and if you want to hike to the top of a mountain for your session, I am down! If you want to get creative and get some in water bridal portraits, let’s do it! Do you want to do your bridal session at the ocean? A lake? Your backyard? Your home? You can go anywhere! There is no theme here so you get to create it and we can work together to create something fun and creative.

3. You want to feel the wedding day feels again

   This reason is specifically for brides that are scheduling a post-wedding bridal session, but is one of my absolute favorite reasons!

   Let’s be honest, that wedding dress is probably collecting dust anyways and you are looking for an excuse to wear it. Well this is the best excuse yet! Break that dress out of its box or bag and feel like your absolute best all over again. It’s amazing the feeling people get when they put on their wedding gown again.

   The brides I work with are usually transported back to their wedding day and get in their feels all over again. Hands down, this is one of the best reasons to schedule a bridal session after you have been married.

4. You have so much time

   Unlike your wedding day, their is so much time to take your bridal portraits. There is no rushing around to try to say hello to all your guests, or get back to the cocktail hour.

   However, you can easily work bridal portraits into an adventure elopement day experience because of how much more time you have. So if you are considering eloping, you can work bridal portraits into your day very easily. But for my brides that have a more traditional wedding day timeline, a bridal portrait session is a great way to feel relaxed in your wedding dress and get any shot that you want!

5. They are great to pass down to children or grandchildren

   Who has seen that classic timeless photo of their grandma in a wedding dress? Chances are, you probably have. Bridal portraits are one of the best timeless gifts to hand down through generations of your family. Your grandkids can smile one day when they see a picture of you looking your best, having fun, and feeling confident.

What should you bring to your bridal portraits?

You should bring your dress, veil, shoes, earrings, necklaces, headpieces, and anything else you are going to or did wear on your wedding day. Don’t forget to bring your engagement ring too! If you are undecided about your wedding day look, bridal portraits are a great time to experiment with different looks, hair, makeup, or jewelry combinations.

You should also bring your bouquet if it is available to you. If your bouquet is not available, the portraits will still be amazing!

I also recommend bringing a helper or two along with you. This person can be a bridesmaid or your Mom or someone else close to you. They can help with fluffing your dress if needed and fixing your hair/makeup, and they can help you relax too!

When should you schedule your bridal portrait session?

If you are planning to have your bridal portraits before your wedding, I recommend scheduling bridal portraits about 5-6 weeks before your wedding date. This way, if you want to display one of the photos at your reception, there will be enough time for your photographer (me hopefully!) to edit the photos and get them back to you. If you schedule the bridal portraits for before your wedding, remember to check with your florist or makeup artist to see if they have availability too.

If you are planning to take your bridal portraits after you have already been married, schedule it anytime! I truly think this is an underrated way to have your bridal session done. I have worked with several brides that have had bridal portraits done after they have been married for 5 or 10 years.

These brides all say the same thing after they are done with the session, “Wow, that was so much fun and I could feel my wedding day feels all over again.” That’s what it is all about! I love that bridal portraits give you an opportunity to remember how you felt on your wedding day, but without all the stress.

If you went the traditional wedding route, but wanted to do something more adventurous, this is the opportunity to go somewhere epic to take those bridal portraits. Or if you had an adventure elopement and want to go back to the same location to do your bridal portraits, this is the perfect opportunity!

So whether you want to have some bridal portraits taken before your wedding, after your wedding, or feel that wedding day bliss all over again, a bridal portrait session is for you. Reach out to me about scheduling your session today!