Today we are sharing Grayson’s bridal portraits that were taken at Waverly Estate.  If you’re here because you love Grayson, you can go take a look at her engagement session and wedding day where we talk about how much we love this amazing bride.  But today we thought we’d just share some things about bridal portrait sessions in general.

Grayson + Dillon’s engagement 

Grayson + Dillon’s wedding 

We thought we’d share some who, what, when, where, and why of bridal portrait sessions.

What is a Bridal Portrait Session?

About an hour or two of photography time before the wedding day.  You get your hair and makeup done and spend some time getting portraits of just you before the wedding.  I think bridal portraits are a southern tradition so you’re able to have a large portrait at the reception.  But there are a lot of other great reasons to have a bridal session other than just getting that one portrait.

Why should I do a bridal portrait session?

It’s a great trail run. You can do your hair and makeup trail.  Have your dress all the way fitted.  Get your bouquet.  And put it all on and spend a little bit of time in it before the wedding day so you can make any adjustments that you may want.

Grayson couldn’t get her full bouquet for her bridals because some of her flowers weren’t in season yet. So her florist put together her bouquet using some fake flowers that would look as close to her wedding day bouquet as possible so she was able to see what it would really look like. And honestly, I don’t think you’ll be able to tell in these pictures.

I think having a bouquet on your bridal portrait session day is so important.  Unless you’re a professional model, just nice to have something to hold, something to interact with.  It’s also just a beautiful element to add to your pictures.  It’s a lot like a veil.  It just makes it feel a little more wedding-y.. a little more bridal.

Where do I take my bridal portraits?

Grayson decided to do her portraits at her venue, Waverly Estate.  But you can choose to do your session anywhere that may be special to you.  We’ve certainly shot bridals at parks, cool buildings, or areas you really love rather than at your wedding venue.

Who should come to my bridal portrait session?

Again.. it’s totally up to you! It’s nice to have someone come along to help hold your bouquet or the train of your dress.  Often times the mother of the bride comes, but it could be a maid of honor, a close friend, whoever you’d like! Totally up to you.  Also, it can definitely be just us!

Grayson’s mom was there and her mistress of ceremonies which was a close family friend.  It was very helpful because the sleeves of her dress weren’t tacked in all the way, so there were there to be able to help with that.  It was also nice because we were able to take some with and without the veil.

Bridal portrait sessions give you so much more time that we have on the wedding day. We’re always able to take a few of just the bride on the wedding day, but it’s sometimes only like 5 minutes.. where a bridal session can give us a full hour.  So it really gives us the freedom to relax and enjoy some time with just you!

When should I schedule my bridal portraits?

Typically about a month or two before the wedding day.  The dress is usually what takes the longest.  To make sure it’s come in and you’ve done all your fittings.  But also, you want to know exactly what you want for make up and hair and like we said, you definitely want a bouquet.

 

If you have any questions, please reach out to us.  Otherwise you can keep scrolling and see an example of a bridal session from Grayson’s Waverly Estate bridal portrait session.