Do you Need a Bridal Session?
Short answer. No. Which might be shocking to hear from a photographer. But this blog post may convince you otherwise…
While I just said “no” you don’t need a bridal session, I am going to tell you why you might want a bridal session.
I’m firmly against trying to upsell clients by convincing them they need more sessions for different reasons. But I am here for giving you information so you can make your own decision. After all, photo sessions are not cheap and they take time and effort for all involved. This particular session involved Allison (the bride) having to order a sample bouquet from her florist, schedule hair and make up, and cover the studio costs as well. While that may sound like some work, I do want to share why I think it was worth it in this case!
4 Reasons You Might Want a Bridal Session
For those of you who don’t know… A bridal session is a session before the wedding day where the bride is photographed in her final wedding look. This includes hair, make-up, jewelry, flowers, shoes, the whole shebang. Here are the reasons why I love when a bride does one of these sessions.
It’s a good opportunity to see how your final look appears on camera
After looking through the photos, you may decide to do a different hairstyle or swap out necklaces for the wedding day.
2. You have extra time and space to be photographed
On your wedding day, time can be crunched and space can be hard to find if people are running around setting up. At a bridal session there is plenty of time to get great photos and you have room to be photographed without having to hide from guests.
3. So many photos!!
Due to reason #2, I know when I deliver a bridal gallery, there are SO many photos to choose from. I edit and include all the good ones without limit, so my brides have a versatile gallery with various lighting and angles. I only get 10 ish of a bride by herself on a wedding day as compared to the 70+ I get from a full session.
4. Use your photos as reception décor
Whether you get a huge canvas or some small prints, using your bridal portraits as decoration at the reception is a great idea! Guests can ooh and ahh at your bridal beauty and it’s obviously on brand with your wedding so it makes total sense to have some photos on display! Also I KNOW guests like grandparents, godparents, maybe even BFF’s may want to take an extra copy home with them simply because they love you.
At Allison’s session, the weather kept changing quickly. When a crazy dark storm came through, we moved inside and captured a little bit more moody of a vibe that we felt reflected the moment. Here are the photos.
