Bridal Portraits… I will advise any bride if you have it in your budget take them! Today I am giving you 5 reason why you SHOULD take bridal portraits and some photos from my own bridal shoot. Dominic of Fokas Photography shot my bridal portraits. It was great working with Dominic and his crew. They are so funny and just genuinely great individuals and want to capture the best moments possible for your wedding journey.
The day of my bridal portraits it was cold and if you know me I HATE being cold. But I took it all in good stride. At least it wasn’t raining. We had my bridal session down at Riverfront Park. The park offered many different scenes, which I really loved. We were able to capture some Southern moments, as well as some edgy shots.
Now as for why you need to have a bridal session:
1.) First and foremost, it allows you to evaluate exactly how you will look on your wedding day. Many will advise you to do your trial makeup and hair session for your engagement shoot and although I still suggest that because hey you want to get all glammed up for those photos as well, there is nothing like knowing how your dress, hair, makeup, accessories and shoes all work together. If anything didn’t quite fit right or didn’t work out as well as you would of liked you now have time to make those changes before the big day!!
2.) You will find areas of your dress that still need altering. When you go in for a fitting, you usually only spend around 30 minutes in your gown and most of the time you are standing in front of mirror still, while your seamstress pins the tiny details and imperfections that her eye notices. Plus you don’t move because you don’t want to get stuck! Well it is a completely different experience being in your dress for 2-3 hours. During your portraits, you will be moving, standing, sitting down, bending over and will begin to notice where places are too tight or not tight enough. You can then use your final dress fitting to address any of these issues, so that they don’t drive you bonkers on the day of the wedding.
3.) On the day of the wedding you will feel more comfortable and relaxed knowing that your photographer has already capture beautiful portraits of you in your gown and that is not something else that has to be squeezed into the morning. Since you have already had your session, you should also feel more comfortable in front of the camera, since that will happen a lot on your big day.
4.) Different Backgrounds/Change of Scenery. Most of the time, you will be getting ready in a hotel room, which may not always be the most glamorous background for photos. I would of never been able to capture the scenery from my bridal shoot, during my wedding day. So if there are any locations that you would love to have your portraits taken that you won’t be able to capture on the wedding day… write it down as a possible location for the shoot.
5.) Get creative and use the images. I recommend that brides take a moment aside with your dad before he walks you down the aisle. This is the perfect time to give him a beautiful picture of you in your gown with a card expressing how much he means to you. You could do the same for your mother, grandparents, etc. This is a nice way to share your feelings for that special person and create a nice keepsake for them to remember your wedding!
