The Bridal Portrait | Asheville Photographer

So, bridal portrait sessions. It’s something we do in the South. And maybe it’s just because I’ve been a southerner my entire life, but I love bridal portraits.

On second thought, maybe it’s because I’m a wedding photographer, and I love every opportunity I get to photograph a beautiful bride. For most wedding days, I don’t get an extended period of time to focus on photographing just the bride like I do in a portrait session. There’s just not time built in to a wedding day that allows for that. Sure, I’ll spend most of the day with the bride. I’ll photograph the bride getting her makeup done, sharing a laugh with her bridesmaids, walking down the aisle, and dancing with her new groom. And on a good day, I’ll get maybe fifteen minutes to take few portraits. But, never do I have an hour or more.

So, enter the bridal portrait.

The bridal portrait is exactly what its name implies: a portrait of the bride. I usually schedule the bridal portrait session 1-2 months before the bride’s wedding. Not scheduling too far in advance of the wedding ensures that the bride’s appearance and style don’t change much from the portrait session to the wedding (a drastic haircut, a change of mind about wedding day jewelry, makeup, or even the dress!). So, the bride will typically hire her wedding day hair and makeup artists, put on her dress and wedding day jewelry, and look absolutely beautiful for a relaxed portrait session. And I love it. We can get really creative without the typical rush of the wedding day. We can even explore multiple locations and create multiple sets of photos in different environments.

I deliver the photos at least a couple weeks before the wedding, and some brides have them on display at their reception or have a small custom album designed as a wedding day gift for their groom. Regardless of how they choose to use the photos from their session, brides always love that they chose to do a bridal portrait. The only downside of the bridal portrait is that I can’t share the amazing photos of the beautiful bride until after the wedding! We definitely can’t let these photos get leaked online and risk the groom seeing his bride in her dress before the wedding day. So, I always share a private, password-protected gallery for the bride’s eyes only.

Hickory Bridal Portrait

Lindsay’s bridal portrait session was amazing. She looked absolutely gorgeous and was so open to trying all kinds of ideas (and even brought a few of her own!). She chose the location of her wedding (Rex Allen Theater) for her bridal portrait as well. The landscape was perfect for a rustic, southern feel. I had so much fun with our session and am thrilled with how these photos turned out.

Check out Lindsay’s engagement session at Craggy Gardens here.

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If you’re reading my wedding photography blog for the first time, welcome! My name is Lance Crawford and I’m a wedding photographer in beautiful, quirky Asheville, NC. Feel free to leave a comment (or give a like). If you’re interested in hiring me for your wedding or portrait, please drop me a line. I’d love to chat!

via Ultraviolet Images | Asheville Wedding Photography - blog http://www.ultravioletimages.com/blog/2016/lindsay-bridal-portrait-asheville-wedding-photographer