In the midst of wedding planning, I learned that bridal portraits are not a wedding tradition for everyone. It is mostly just a southern thing. I recalled past conversations with some friends not from the south and they had never heard of bridal portraits which had shocked me. So because of this, let me enlighten y’all with the tradition of bridal portraits, share a few of my pictures, and why I loved taking them.
A Little Tradition of Bridal Portraits
The history of bridal photos dates way back before cameras were even invented. The first bridal portraits were hand painted for royals and wealthier families in Europe as a keepsake to remember the day and to showcase in their homes. Once cameras came along bridal portraits then were taken in studios as brides posed in their wedding gowns because photographers were not seen at weddings. Sometime after and not sure why, the tradition made it to the southern part of the United States and has stayed as a tradition ever since.
Keeping with the original tradition, bridals are now displayed at weddings on easels usually near guestbooks and then hung in parents’ homes to be seen for years and years.
My Bridals
Why I Loved Taking Bridals
For me, choosing to take bridal portraits was a no brainer decision! I always knew I was going to take them, not only because I wanted to, but it is also kind of a family tradition.
Reason #1 to take bridals: Perfect opportunity to do a trial run of hair and makeup!
I had my bridals scheduled in October and that was the day I did a full hair and makeup trial run with my stylists. This allowed me to see my wedding day “look” ahead of time. It was also a great because if I needed to make any tweaks with my look I could! I was so happy we did this, because we noticed while taking these pictures that my bouquet was a tad big for me, it blocked some of the view of the delicate details of my dress. Since we took pictures early enough, I got to show my florist what we were worried about. She agreed it was a little big and made that easy tweak for my wedding day bouquet.
Reason #2 to take bridals: More time in your dress!
I absolutely loved my dress so having an excuse to put it on an extra time I was all for! It was so fun to prance around, have fun, and twirl in my dream dress. It was also the perfect opportunity to walk around and be in the dress for a while to make sure everything fit correctly, and no other alternations needed to be done. Having that extra stress-free time in my dress made me even more excited to wear it on my big day!
Reason #3 to take bridals: Fun stress-free photo shoot!
This was the first time for me to work with my photographer, so this gave us extra time together before the wedding and she really got to know me! It also allowed us not to worry about getting pictures of just me in my dress the day of the wedding and we could focus on getting all of the other pictures we wanted, and we had a ton! The day goes by so fast so I could not have imagined having to make time to take bridals the day of. It also allowed me to enjoy the extra time with family and friends the day of the wedding and not have to sneak off and take pictures. There were also no time restraints, we had as much time as we needed to capture all the fun pictures in my dress.
If your wedding budget allows, I highly recommend taking bridal portraits! They will be pictures you treasure forever, and might even be passed down from generation to generation.
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