Formal Bridal Portraits

Think June Cleaver, Carol Brady or (possibly) Your Mom----- did they have a formal bridal portrait taken? Has formal bridal portraiture gone the way of rick-rack trimmed aprons and highballs with the evening paper? Not at all! Bridal Portraits are making a very real resurgence and many the savvy bride is choosing to include a formal session in their wedding planning. Why would they? Isn’t it a bother? In today’s faster paced world isn’t this just a poor use of both time and budget? Not at all, in many ways it is a valuable tool to insure that your day goes exactly as you planned. Ideally, a bridal portrait session should be scheduled pproximately 4-6 weeks before the wedding. As many of our brides say it forces them to stay on task and insure that they have several key components in place before the session-which then makes the last weeks prior to the wedding far smoother. A bridal session not only creates a stunning portrait of the bride but it does so when she is relaxed, calm & prepared to create a portrait of herself as The Bride. There is not a bride we talk to that doesn’t want a remembrance in all her bridal glory! The dress has had its final fitting, the bride has chosen her hairstyle and her makeup as well as her accessories, and it is an excellent time to give those a trial run before the final crunch as well as giving another layer of excitement to the wedding planning. Our brides come to the studio or location with their gown in hand, their makeup and hair is done. We’ve discussed how they want their portrait to look-what would they like the background to be? Studio? Home? A location uniquely special to the bride and groom? Are there any special props to be included? Our style on wedding day is creative and candid--- and many brides and grooms appreciate a portrait of the bride that is exactly “her”, we can all take the timein the world to create the image desired. The wedding day can then be documented as it unfolds, and the bride and her family know that her portrait has been taken ahead of time. During the portrait session the bride discovers how the dress fits, how the veil looks, how the hairstyle will work, if the makeup is what she is looking for, if the accessories are perfect, are the shoes comfortable and perhaps most importantly, just how much time did all of this perfection take anyway? We suggest you make a day of it, make it fun and special--- and ENJOY!

We urge all of our brides to consider the merits of having a formal bridal portrait taken in their choice of locations. We may not listen to June, Carol or Mom much anymore; but we do know that Martha says “It’s a Good Thing”!