Forget boudoir photography for brides because there’s apparently a whole new way to show off your Future Mrs. So-and-So panties on film! I’m talking about in the bridal chamber, post-makeup but pre-dress, perhaps while you wait for your mom to finish straightening your train. Picture this: You’re sipping a mimosa in your bra and underpants, while your wedding photographer hovers around snapping shots of you and your bridesmaids. The question is, do you keep those photos? Did you even want them? Are you going to care when they end up in your photog’s online portfolio?
According to the Wall Street Journal, of all places, in these salacious days of baring it all, more and more brides are letting their wedding photographers take pre-wedding pictures that look an awful lot like they came from a boudoir photography shoot instead of a wedding.
For the many brides who have been living with their fiancés for years before taking the leap, mugging for risqué shots can be a way of playing up the irony of donning a traditional dress. “The white gown and veil is a kind of performance or drag — like Madonna in her video for ‘Like a Virgin.'”
What now? I’m all about brides (and grooms, too, rawr) having pictures of themselves in their undies taken on the morning of the wedding, but I think that framing it as some empowering blow aimed at traditional wedding culture and gender roles instead of just harmless fun strikes me as a little weird. I can’t say I hate the idea of the pre-wedding bra and panties shots, but I would suggest leaving them out of your coffee table wedding album. And maybe also your online gallery. Sexy and lucious as you no doubt are, your family and friends might just not care to see you in your bridal underwear.
Thoughts? Should the bride’s choice of panties be left to the imagination or is there a place for that sort of thing in today’s wedding album?
Photograph by Ron Capobianco
I agree entirely. There’s definitely a place for the photos, but more in a private collection for the bride and groom than in the album – don’t want to give granny a heart attack, after all…
I think someone’s been reading WAY too much into pre-wedding shots! I think that they are fun and sometimes emotional.
The picture above is just too cute for words. Do I find anything ironic about it? No – I just see a beautiful, beaming bride!
And the white gown and veil as a performance? REALLY??? Ugh.
Sounds as though the person who wrote that article considers the actual wedding part to be the irony, which is a hell of a lot of hassle and expense to go through to do something that you apparently find somewhat ridiculous.
As for the photos, I think they’re entirely a matter of personal taste… and best kept on the more private side. Do I want photos like that of me? Not really. Do I have a problem with anyone else wanting to have photos like that of themselves? Heck no. Do I think they should be for public consumption? Well, I think they should at least get their own album so that both the happy couple and those who wish to see the wedding photos have a choice.
That said, I think the illustration you picked is kind of adorable. It makes me smile.
I’d tread very carefully here. The picture above is cute – while she’s in her skivvies, they are rather modest. Also, it doesn’t look like she’s trying to get tipped a $20 bill. But I’m afraid the majority of such shots are more likely to give Auntie Mae a heart-attack when she looks at your album.
Let’s put it another way- if it’s a photo that you can bear that Uncle Randy (i.e. the goat who always smells like whisky, hugs you too long and kept remarking on how your breasts were developing when you were 15) sees, then it’s probably okay.
I love the photo you posted, that woman is adorable and looks like she’s having a blast. In general, I like the idea of “getting ready” photos, but if any photos like that one were taken on my wedding day, they probably wouldn’t make it into the coffee table wedding album.