3 Reasons to Combine Your Bridal + Boudoir Sessions

Christine Diaz
June 23, 2017
Categories: Photo Shoot, Photography, Wedding Style, Weddings 101
Tags: Boudoir, Bridal Session, Inspiration Shoot, Style Shoot

Some of the most fun parts leading up to your wedding day are the photo shoots! Bridal portrait session are a southern tradition, and many a Bride now also opts for a boudoir shoot as a special gift for her groom. However, two separate photo sessions can not only get pricy, but they also take a lot of time! So why not combine them? Here Smith House Photography, Mibellarosa Designs, and Hey Lovely Makeup created a ballerina inspired shoot that demonstrates how you can easily transition from bridal to boudoir in the same day, plus they explain the benefits of combining the two below!

Bridal portraits are a southern tradition – especially here in the big State of Texas! You get you hair and makeup done, wear your beautiful dress, and take gorgeous photos prior to the wedding and sans the groom (because hello, that’s bad luck!). Then you’ll have fun making sure the groom doesn’t see how your hair and makeup will look for the big day and that none of the gorgeous photos are leaked!

The effort takes a team – the hair and makeup artist, the florist, the photographer – and basically half a day, from start to finish. Most of the time it’s done at a studio rental or at the reception venue. Truth of the matter is, as wedding photographer Becki of Smith House Photography shares, most Brides rarely print their any more photos beyond one or two beautiful portraits to display at the reception.

But who is only going to shoot for 10-15 minutes after you have your hair and makeup done? You may have also been considering a boudoir shoot to gift to your future husband as a keepsake, but that also requires hair and makeup, a hotel or studio rental, and another photography session. Becki suggests tackling both your bridal and your boudoir sessions in one day to make it sweet, simple, and convenient for you and the entire production team!

Here are three reasons why you should schedule your bridal and boudoir sessions on the same day:

Your hair and makeup will already be done. Gals generally use their bridal hair and makeup trial run for their bridal portraits. Once you’re already beautifully dolled up, you should absolutely make the most of it! Makeup and hair trial, bridal session, and boudoir session – now, that’s killing THREE birds with one stone!
No lies needed to surprise the groom! Engaged couples are nearly inseparable, so the idea of trying to schedule a boudoir session for images to gift to him without him figuring it out may be stressful! However, “I’m going to get my bridal portraits done,” immediately implies, “You are not invited,” and doesn’t attract any additional questions. Smart thinking, right?
This is super budget-friendly and saves time! Who doesn’t like the thought of that, especially during wedding planning? There’s no need to clear two separate days on your calendar (More time to spend cuddling with Mr. Right? Yes, please!), no need to pay twice for a venue/studio, hair and makeup, and separate portrait sessions. Extra money? Heck yea! You could take the savings and spend it on something to make your sessions extra special, memorable, and jaw-dropping. For example, add a bridal bouquet for the bridal portraits, go all out with a floral installation for the boudoir session, add a flower crown, or splurge on some amazing lingerie that may have otherwise been out of budget.

For this shoot, we wanted to showcase the versatility in styling flowers, hair, and makeup for bridal portraits as well as boudoir. For the flowers, floral artist Phuong of Mibellarosa Designs created a bouquet that’s as delicate, graceful, and full of movement as the beautiful ballerina bride. She also created a compote arrangement for stunning still shots of the bride. The bouquet was then transformed into loose florals while the compote arrangement completed the look of the green installation bed used for the boudoir setting afterwards. Hair and makeup expert Erica of Hey Lovely gave the bride a braid that could be worn up for her bridal session and then easily taken down for a sweet yet sultry look for her boudoir shots.