Even on the tightest of budgets, I believe every bride should partake in a bridal portrait session (even if it’s not their first marriage).  There is so much more to the portrait session then just getting another image of you in your dress and spending more money with your photographer. Bridal portrait sessions are something that is predominant in the southern United States, but I believe every bride should have a bridal portrait session unless they are willing to get completely dolled up, just as if it were their wedding day, and wear their dress for about three hours.

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When you chose your dress, chances are you only had it on for 15 to 30 minutes in your bridal boutique. You were probably standing upright, looking into a mirror, and you may even have twirled once or twice and taken a few steps. You didn’t give the dress a real test drive. A bridal portrait session will give you an opportunity to wear your dress for a few hours. During this short window before your wedding day, you will have ample opportunity to solve and sidestep all sorts of obstacles.

9 Reasons Why You Should Have a Bridal Portrait Session

• Heirloom. Every bride needs a printed portrait of her in her dress. If you’re gonna have daughters or nieces (even sons and nephews), they are going to treasure this.
• Show off. You can then take this printed portrait and show it off at your reception.
• A glimpse of totality.  Not only will you get to see how your dress looks with all of the accessories you have picked out, you will also get to experience how your dress fits and how easy it is to wear for longer periods of time. You will discover when, where, and how often you will need to tug, pull, readjust, or reposition parts of your dress. You will find out if the tulle  underneath your gown’s skirt is going to scratch your legs. You will know if the bra you’ve selected will work or if you will even be able to wear underwear. You will discover whether or not you can breathe, walk, dance, sit, bend over, or basically anything else besides stand in your dress.
• Truth. The images from your bridal session will let you know exactly how you look in your dress.  If, by chance, you don’t like what you see, you still have time to pivot.
• Personality check. You’re going to be spending the majority of your wedding day with your photographer. If you didn’t have an engagement session, a bridal portrait session is an excellent opportunity to make sure your personality doesn’t collide with your photographer’s.  If you do not get along well with your photographer, you are not going to love your wedding day images. Make sure you love your photographer’s personality. Again, if you discover you cannot stomach your photographer’s personality, you have time to select another.
• Confidence. Having completed the bridal portrait session and getting comfortable in front of your photographer’s lens will give you all the confidence in the world on your wedding day. There will be no questions like, “Where do I look? What do I do with my hands?” because you will already know. You will be a seasoned pro.
• Time. Having a portrait session prior to your wedding day could actually save you precious minutes in your wedding day timeline. Being that these portraits have already been taken, you can dedicate photo time to other things (ie. first look, bride and groom sunset creative session, etc.).
• Again, time. A bridal portrait session will allow you and your photographer to really take their time at capturing these beautiful images. Having a separate session independent of your wedding day will allow you to be more relaxed, and more creative.
• Taste test. If you haven’t already had a preview with your hair and makeup artist, it will give also you a chance to taste test your wedding day beauty look. Not only will you be able to see what your hair and makeup will look like, you will find out how long it will take to achieve that look and what kind of staying power your look has.

Before you decide wholeheartedly against having a bridal portrait session, consider all these reasons. I think there are many more benefits to having a bridal session than to not having one. And, once that window of opportunity is passed, there is no creating it later. This is something you won’t regret having done. Promise.

The post, 9 Reasons Why You Should Have a Bridal Portrait Session, first appeared on Ata-Girl Photography Co.’s website and blog. Please feel free to comment here, or share this post with your friends via Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest. Please email me if you have any questions about this article or want to share a neat idea for a future blog post with me.