The wedding is partially to blame for my recent absence from Chic Little Honey, the blog.  I underestimated the excessive amount of stress that one day in my life would rain down upon me.  Now that it’s over, I’m able to take a deep breath and focus on my poor neglected blog.  And I’m starting with the first in a series of wedding-related posts.

I’m beyond excited to finally be able to share my bridal portraits with y’all along with three reasons why you should definitely opt for a bridal session with your wedding photography package.

You will hear me say this multiple times in my wedding blog posts: I’m not one of those girls who had her wedding completely planned before the question was even popped.  So needless to say, I hadn’t even thought about bridal portraits or why I wanted/needed them.

I chose the talented Sterling Imageworks to be our wedding photographer.  Jaison and Callie Sterling are a husband and wife power team based in Little Rock, Arkansas.  I went to university with both of them and after following them on Instagram for years, I just knew they would photograph my wedding.  The wedding package I chose included a bridal portrait session, but I honestly wasn’t too excited about it until the moment we started shooting.

Based on my wonderful experience with Callie during the shoot, here are three reasons why you should opt in on bridal portraits.

Even though I went through my makeup and hair trials the week before my bridal portraits, it wasn’t until I had my hair, makeup, dress, shoes, and jewelry on together that I really got to see my finished bridal look.

This is your chance to see your entire look and find details you want to change or tweak.  For example, I had my makeup professionally done for my bridal portraits.  However, after I had the whole look together, I decided I wanted to do my own makeup on my wedding day.  I also tweaked my hairstyle with my hair stylist for the wedding day based on the bridal photos.

Bridal portraits give you the chance to wear your dress and shoes in a real environment.  Sure, you’ve probably tried on your dress and shoes and worn them around your house, but portraits will put you outdoors, walking up and down stairs, and walking and standing on uneven surfaces.  Test driving your dress and shoes outside of your house helps you understand how they will wear on your wedding day.  It will also help you make comfort adjustments to your shoes and dress. i.e. insole pads or loosening the straps on your gown.

Probably the most important reason why you should do a bridal portrait session is to save time and energy on your wedding day.  You will already have a laundry list of “must have” shots for your wedding day so having the photos of just you and your dress out of the way will be a life saver. Trust me!

Photos: Sterling Imageworks

Dress: Low’s Bridal and Formal Shoppe

Shoes: Manolo Blahnik

Hair: Sheena Branstetter of Rock PaPer Scissors Salon Spa Boutique

Hair Pieces: Amazon