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Hey guys,
I was at work the other day and we were talking about the wedding, and I mentioned that I'm getting my bridal portraits done, and a couple people said they did not do them because they didn't see the need too, and others said they NEVER heard of a bridal portrait before until moving here to North Carolina....is this true? Do only southerners do bridal portraits? Are you doing them?!
I've never heard of them. You just take pictures all dolled up in your dress and whatnot?
Hummm, well from Canada this is a new one to me. Although, I did have a friend who had (what I learned today are bridal portraits) with her dog...yes.
Its pretty nromal here for brides to have a solo session with the photographer the day of, but my understanding of bridal sessions is that they are ahead of time.
Really, it seems like an awesome excuse to try your look before the wedding.
thats pretty funny...ive never heard of bridal portraits before i moved here to NC either...and yes i will be doing them
I am Southern so I guess I'm not much help but from what I have heard, it is. We plan on doing a "day after" shoot so I can get my bridal pictures of just me and any pictures of the two of us we weren't able to get ON the wedding day. Kills two birds with one stone!
Nope, from the midwest and never heard of anyone doing them. I know what you are talking about though.
Ahh!! I think it's CRAZY that people have never heard of this!!! Here in the south it is a MUST to have them done!! Yes you literally get dressed up as you would on your wedding day, pick somewhere that you want your photographer to take pictures of you at (I'm doing mine at a HUGE estate that has a lot of history to it) and you have your favorite ones in a big frame at the reception to display! Then usually your parents take them and put them up in their house and you can take one and have it posted in your house for a little while.
I have heard of bridal portraits and have had a couple of friends do them but it's not my thing. I don't really want to see a gigantic picture of myself all dolled up in my wedding attire when I walk into my reception. Plus...what would I do with the picture after the reception?
To be honest, I don't really see the point in them. I've known a few people who had them done (Upstate, NY here) but I'm not really a fan. I'm not sure if everyone does the same thing but these girls either had the pictures done a few days before or after their wedding. They paid for their hair and make-up to be redone and got all dolled up to take some pictures. Why can't the wedding photographer just take some bridal pictures on the wedding day? That's what we're planning on doing. I'm paying too much for hair and makeup as it is. There's no way in hell I'd pay for it again just to get some extra pics done.
i selected that i've heard of them, but only beacuse i've heard of them on wedding bee. i'm from the northeast and no one ive known that has gotten married has ever done them.
@nursein10 is exactly right. You take your bridal portraits ahead of time, and your portrait (picture in frame) is displayed at the reception. Most parents in the south will put their daughters portrait in their home following the wedding.
The actual "point" is so you already have your pictures so your wedding annoucement can be in the paper the next day aka the Sunday paper, following your Saturday wedding. However, you also get an opportunity to see how you will look on your wedding day before the actual day, and get some really special and sometimes unique pictures (me...on my parents farm/land not just at the church or reception area) and have plenty of time.
Ok...CLEARLY, this is a true southern thing!!! haha I was born and raised here in Charlotte North Carolina and it is a MUST for brides to have this done and have them posted up at the reception...usually no more than 2 large ones...yes it's your time to really shine, your time to have a TRUE one on one time with your photographer and not fill rushed like you would the day OF the wedding trying to get nice pics of you in your dress alone (which you still will but NONE like a bridal portrait) and yes it's to BRAG at your wedding basically :) You choose the best of the best photo and have it posted, then the mother has it put up in her house after the wedding, and we will have one in ours probably the first year or 2 before we take it down...again...I guess it REALLY IS a southern thing!! This amazes me for some reason! haha I will post pics of bridal portraits so yall can kind of see what I'm talking about...
@SBourgeous: It's a tradition that dates back to before photography equipment was easy to carry around and use. Basically the only wedding photos couples had "back in the day" were posed in a studio and not taken on the actual day of the wedding. Having a wedding photographer actually on hand the day of the wedding didn't happen. The south just hung on to the tradition a little...well a lot...longer than other parts of the country. Now that photography equipment is so portable, I don't see the need for bridals anymore but some families still follow the tradition and have them done.
southernbride10....yayyy!!! FINALLY someone knows what I'm talking about!!! haha yeah and totally forgot to mention about the newspaper announcement part!! VERY important!!!
JamaicaBride...the only thing is, we don't do them in studios anymore...they havent been done that way probably since my parents got married almost 30 years ago...now people do extremely unique and breath taking bridal portraits out in nature, or in old vintage houses, etc
someone post examples!!! i have never heard or seen this before!
I'm from the south, have heard of them, and I'm not doing them. The only people I know that have done them (probably due to monetary issues) were my cousin and a friend. They were beautiful! But I'm sure she got the same pictures at the wedding :) My photographer is doing a lot of bridal portraits of me before the wedding, so I just assume get those and not pay extra. However, it's fun to have the photos blown up at the reception, or on a "At Home" card that you give to guests. Oh well!
@JamaicaBride: Ah ha, I understand. I knew they did that with couples/families in the past (my great grandparents on both sides passed these photos to my parents) but I had no idea this was still common. I still think it's a bit unusual, but I can see why someone would hold onto that tradition and be excited about it.
Here is my photographers blog, and another I love with some really awesome, and unique bridal portraits.
http://swparkerphotography.com/blog/?cat=12
http://julietelizabethblog.com/?cat=3
I'm also from Charlotte! As someone said, the actual reason is so that your wedding announcement in the paper can have a picture of the bride in her gown. But since I live in California now, and don't plan to ever move back to Charlotte, I didn't see the point of doing a wedding announcement there anyway, so we skipped it.
I wonder if wedding announcements in the paper are a more Southern thing also then?
@Ms Hedgehog: That is a fabulous idea about the day after. Stealing this idea!!!
SBourgeous....yes apparently....the first thing my grandmother said to me when I told her I found my dress last summer was "you better have your bridal portrait in the newspaper" haha
@SBourgeous: We (here in Kentucky) do an engagement announcement as well as a bridal follow up after the wedding complete with what was worn, where, who and all the details and run it in the paper. It's a big thing.
@Mrs.tobe: Yay! I love it when my ideas are so fabulous they get stolen! Steal away my friend, steal away. lol
@Ms Hedgehog: LOL! Plus my uncle is the photographer so there will be no problem in that department!
Hooray for stealing ideas 
I mever realized they were just a Southern thing until Wedingbee. I thought everyone did this.
A lot of girls will have their bridal portraits done the same day as their hair and make-up trial, so they're not just all dressed up with nowhere to go after the trial. It's also a nice way to see the entire wedding day look put together before the big day, so you can fix anything that you don't like.
I don't think that they are just a "Southern" thing, but are perhaps more uncommon in other regions. I'm from Northern Pennsylvania, and one of my best friends had one done for her wedding. My mom had hers done for the local newspaper for her wedding announcement that was published the day of her wedding. (I wish my local newspaper did the same thing, but it only publishes wedding announcements about once a month and they have a backlog of weddings...)
@kermie: Funny enough there is an episode of Rich Bride/Poor Bride where the bride does a set of bridal portraits with her dog and she's in Ontario.
Never heard of this until I started reading WB/Wedding Blogs.
I dont really understand bridal portraits at all. Plus I dont want to wear my dress anywhere outside the bridal store until my wedding day. And I'm not really sure what I would do with those pictures. I do want pictures of me in my wedding dress but on the actual wedding day itself rather than just some other random day by myself
The way everyone was describing them before I saw the actual pics made me think of Glamour Shots. haha
Never heard or seen this. In Chicago at least.
New England / MA bride here and I had never heard of this before this thread. No offense to anyone, I get that it's a total regional thing, but I don't think I really like the idea of this. Doesn't it take some of the excitement of putting your dress on for the first time, etc... out of your big day? I guess I just don't see the point or the difference of taking them after the normal getting ready shots on your actual wedding day?
My sister (as well as what I will be doing) just waited a bit for her pictures to come in before sending the announcement for the paper - they submitted their "official" wedding picture.
Also: Why wouldn't you want your husband in your wedding announcement picture? Or is the bride only the norm in the south, too?
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