Why I Didn't Take Bridal Portraits

This was a pretty uncommon decision, especially in the south, but I decided to not take bridal portraits! Commonly, bridal portraits are taken the same day as your hair and makeup trial. It's kind of like your practice run at being a bride! Then, a bridal portrait is often displayed at the wedding. 

My decision to forego bridal portraits came down to three things:

1) My photography package came with our wedding coverage and an additional session. This could have been bridals, but we decided to have engagement photos taken instead. I wasn't willing to spend the extra money to have the bridals taken.

2) I didn't feel like putting the effort into arranging my hair and makeup trials the same day (my stylists were across two different counties), on top of finding a day that also worked for our photographer.

3) I didn't think I would use bridal portraits enough to make them worth the cost. I knew I would have photos taken of me on my wedding day, so what was I going to do with a bunch of others of me? We decided to display one of our engagement photos at the wedding. I felt that we both deserved to have a photo of us in a special place!

Most photographers do recommend having bridals taken, and I truly do not believe this is from a "they just want me to pay more for more pictures" standpoint. There are a lot of good reasons to have bridals taken. They are a beautiful, traditional memento and you can take in being a bride without the stress of your wedding day. 

For me, it just wasn't worth it and it's not something I regret!