See Ashley’s Bride Guide for engagement/bridal portrait advice from StudioWed’s own Lotus Blossom Photography! Excerpt below.

Tell us a little bit about Bridal Portraits and Engagement Sessions – what are they for?

Bridal sessions are kind of old school. It’s an old, southern tradition that a lot of moms like, more so than daughters. Like I did mine because my mother wanted me to and not because I wanted to. There are advantages to this too – hair trial and makeup trial so I could see how it could look with the dress and I ended up changing my hair on the wedding day because I didn’t like how it looked with the dress.

For engagement sessions, usually it’s the first time the photographer meets the couple, it’s a lot more laid back than the wedding, obviously, and it’s helpful because we get to know them better.

What are the advantages of having an engagement session?

Once the couple gets relaxed with you as a photographer, they’re more relaxed on the wedding day. So it’s nice to get pictures of people together. It’s also a good time to make sure you really like your photographer’s pictures. Personally, if you could do one or the other I would do engagement over bridal.

Why?

It’s nice to have a record of yourelves before you get married. I love having pictures of the couple more in their element. Sometimes it’s important after your wedding to look back at that.  It’s helpful to have the photos to do something with a save the date. A lot of people do guest books, some decorate their weddings with pictures.

See the rest here!

~ Kelly