What is a bridal portrait?
I’ve had several people ask me what are the reasons to do a bridal portrait. First, let’s go over what a bridal portrait is. Bridal portraits are typically taken before the wedding and are just of the bride in her dress. It can be a great way for a bride to see what it will be like to wear her dress and make sure it fits well. Also, a lot of brides will use this session as a time to do a trial run on their hair and makeup. If someone who doesn’t usually do your makeup is going to be doing it on your wedding day it’s great to do a trial run so that they can learn what you like without the rush of the wedding day
Why would you do one?
I’ve also had several people that really want portraits done at a location that would be impossible to use on the actual wedding day. They use the bridal portrait as a way to do that. Since you aren’t limited by the time constraints of the wedding you are free to go wherever you want. Sometimes brides want to have a bridal portrait done so they can have a large print of them in the dress up at the reception. We do the session in advance to give enough time to get them back and order a canvas or print to present on the wedding day.
If you don’t think you want a large portrait of yourself hanging in your home after the wedding then it’s always a great gift to give to the bride’s parents to hang in their home. Sometimes brides even do the session so they can include a pet. I’ve done portraits of brides with their dogs and even horses. A bridal portrait gives you a lot more freedom to take pictures that bring out just the bride’s interests and personality.
If you get your dress back in plenty of time before the wedding and want to try out your wedding hair, makeup, flowers or just do something a little different then a bridal portrait is a great idea.
