Southern Things&#8230;

Southern Things…

May 1st, 2008 @ 1:45 pm by Mrs. Hydrangea
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I mentioned earlier that I will be having my bridal portraits done next week. Several readers weren’t entirely sure of what bridal portraits are, so here is my best explanation:

Bridal portraits are taken before the wedding (I would say normally about 1-2 months in advance) and shows the bride in her full on bridal attire, hair, makeup, the whole shebang. There are various types of photography for all of these pictures, and just like your normal wedding pictures and engagement pictures, you can be traditional, funky, modern, etc.

I am not sure if bridal portraits are a Southern tradition, but I have always grown up knowing about it. Usually a large sized photo of the bride from her bridal portraits is placed somewhere at the wedding, whether it be by the cake or the guestbook, etc. When speaking to my Aunt from California on the phone the other day, she asked me a gazillion questions about the pictures, like she hadn’t ever heard of them before.

I am taking my portraits particularly early (5 months from the wedding) only because about 1-2 months out from our wedding will be the HOTTEST time of the year in Texas, and I don’t really care to sweat that much in my dress and have my face melt off.

My whole immediate family is from Cali, but they have lived in Texas for so long that some Southern traditions have just become normal to them. My Aunt was surprised, as well, that people really put their announcements in the paper. The groom’s cake is something that people who aren’t from the South always get a kick out of as well.

What regional traditions are you incorporating into your wedding that other parts of your country, and the world, are not used to?

*All photos credit to our amazing photographer Perez Photography

Tags: traditions |

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19 Responses to “Southern Things…”

Bee

frenchbulldog (message) 7,730 posts, Bee Keeper

I also grew up in the South, but now live in CA… my first friend to get married’s mother is also from the South so we both knew about all these traditions and got a kick out it when ppl had no clue.
At her wedding they had a grooms cake and everyone kept asking, “Why are there too cakes?” “What’s with the cake shaped like a Beaver?” (They met @ Oregon State, and their mascot is a Beaver). I just refernced the Armadillo from Steel Magnolias and the got it

5/1/08 @ 1:54 pm (reply)

Guest

karebearlbc

I’m from Cali too! I don’t know anyone (personally) that has done photos before the wedding in their dress but I know about the tradition just from sites like these. I think I’ve thought about it more for after the wedding! Not exactly “Trashing the Dress” session but a more relaxed look and not being too worried about ruining my dress since it would be after the wedding. I think it will come down to cost for me!

We do grooms cakes here too but I think they have moved to the Reherasal Dinner. I think that is what I’m going to do anyways! I’ve seen other CA brides do the same! Out of the 10+ weddings I’ve been too in CA I think I’ve only seen a grooms cake at one wedding. Some don’t even have them at all!

I guess other traditions here would be taking e-pix on the beach and in the ocean but probably just because it’s on the coast.

5/1/08 @ 2:01 pm (reply)

Member

quirkyparsnip (message) 385 posts, Helper bee

I’m from Austin, so yeah I thought Bridal Portraits were pretty normal. I don’t plan on doing them, but my friend and cousin both did them. I always looked at it as a way to put your trials (make-up, hair, etc) to good use and maybe make sure it all photographs well. I don’t know what my friend did with hers, but my cousin had hers on display at the reception.

5/1/08 @ 2:07 pm (reply)

Guest

rjd2123

In Western Pennsylvania, we always have a HUGE cookie table…either the brides mom, or several friends of hers, or even bakery ordered, but always TONS of cookies. Not as the favor…just…because. There are cookies!

5/1/08 @ 2:13 pm (reply)

Member

SBH (message) 72 posts, Worker bee

I’m a southern bride and my FI’s family is from the north. I had to explain to them our southern traditions. You mentioned most of them (groom’s cake, newspaper announcement, bridal portrait). But the one that they couldn’t get their heads around was the bridesmaids’ luncheon, and in particular, the bridesmaids’ cake with the little charms in it.

Bless their hearts, they can’t help that they aren’t southern!

5/1/08 @ 2:24 pm (reply)

Guest

endb

Cookie table apparently extends into parts of eastern Ohio too! I had never heard of such a thing until I attended a wedding in Youngstown, OH — cookies galore. Regardless, we won’t be featuring this at our Ohio wedding — I spent too much on that cake to have people eating cookies.

5/1/08 @ 2:31 pm (reply)

Guest

Rachel

Even though here in Boston people don’t really think of doing bridal portraits, I love to do them!

5/1/08 @ 2:40 pm (reply)

Guest

jen

I’m Cuban-American from Miami. My mother and aunts did bridal portraits. They hung in my grandmother’s living rooms and hallways for decades! I think some brides in Miami still do it; but I believe it’s not as popular.

5/1/08 @ 2:43 pm (reply)

Guest

enmoore66

Okay, now that I understand the how’s and why’s - I vote for your hair down for the bridal portraits and hair up for the wedding. The bridal brunch/luncheon is something I have hosted for a friend and my mother keeps asking for my wedding - and we are from the Midwest originally. I like the idea of the brideal luncheon, but that is just one more thing to do the day of the wedding, so I’ve kindly asked my mom if we could skip that tradition and have a brunch buffet in the suite where we are getting our hair and make-up done. I’m not sure where the bridal luncheon tradition came from, and I love the idea, but it is hard in what is already a very busy day.

5/1/08 @ 3:06 pm (reply)

10.

Guest

Alisa Joy

Bridals are a really good way for the bride to get to know her photographer. There is no price on feeling comfortable with the person who will be following you around all day! I’m a photographer in Texas and the tradition is going strong!

5/1/08 @ 3:27 pm (reply)

11.

Member

jnicholea/thatbride (message) 115 posts, Blushing bee

I’m not sure if it is becuse I am LDS or from the Northwest, but everyone I know gets their bridals done. Groomals are becoming more popular now as well, with the bride and groom taking photos together in advance of the wedding so it doesn’t have to get squeezed into the wedding day.

5/1/08 @ 3:39 pm (reply)

12.

Member

wizard (message) 53 posts, Worker bee

I live in Minnesota and nobody I know does bridal portraits before the wedding. Trash the dress is a little more common, but not by much. We don’t have the cookies, or the bridal luncheon. And grooms cakes are just catching on (perhaps all these comments only belong to my circle of friends..) But I do really LIKE the idea of a fun grooms cake at the grooms dinner! What a smart idea!

Do you brides that do bridal portraits ALSO do an engagement session with the fiance??

5/1/08 @ 3:39 pm (reply)

13.

Member

babagrlshell (message) 426 posts, Helper bee

I live in the South too, so I understand about the sweat! I swear by the time I leave my truck and make it to whatever building I’m going to, I’ve already sweated a gallon! There is this stuff called oil mattifier from Mary Kay that keeps your makeup from melting off… I used it on my wedding day and my face stayed on- tears and sweat and cake and all!

5/1/08 @ 5:13 pm (reply)

14.

Guest

Christina

I live in NOLA and will have some traditional Southern/New Orleans elements at my wedding. A grooms cake next to the wedding cake. The wedding cake will have cake pulls (cake charms). We will have a second line with handkerchiefs at the end of the reception.

I will not be doing bridals, but it is very common.

5/1/08 @ 5:49 pm (reply)

15.

Guest

Erin

I’m in Oregon. I had never heard of bridal portraits until I started wedding planning. We don’t typically have grooms cakes, although I’m familiar with them.

But we definitely put our announcements in the paper!! I thought everyone did that! Maybe not in big cities? I had my engagement in my small hometown paper, but not in Portland where I currently live.

Hehe, this reminds me of a conversation I had with a guy in college who was originally from Seattle but had spent a semester in the South (I can’t remember where - maybe Georgia?). He said that he preferred Southern girls to NW girls “because they take better care of themselves.” He sheepishly realized that it was technically an insult to me, but I pointed to my rain-frizzled hair, blue jeans, and fleece jacket and said “I understand.”

5/1/08 @ 6:14 pm (reply)

16.

Member

tea (message) 7,263 posts, Bee Keeper

i’m from cali and while i have heard of these traditions, i never seen them at any wedding i’ve been to. though my mom asked me if i would be doing bridal portraits and i guess that’s what they do in korea as well? i don’t know but it was so random that she asked me. though now that i think about it, i think i agreed to do them. ha. so yes, i will be doing bridal portraits?

5/1/08 @ 7:07 pm (reply)

17.

Member

megs08 (message) 133 posts, Blushing bee

I’ve heard about the cookie table tradition in NE Ohio and Western PA. We are having our baker provide a variety of Polish and Italian cookies/pastries as well as the cake for our reception. We aren’t having favors so I may provide glassine bags for the guests to take home with them. We ahve tried to incorporate traditions that tie us to our families heritage/ancestry.

5/1/08 @ 8:55 pm (reply)

18.

Guest

Miss Bliss

I’m a Northwestern Pennsylvania girl. The cookie table locally is presented as you enter the reception. Little plates are located at the table so you can pick your favorites. Lady locks are a standard speciality, but each bride’s family creates a cookie table that matches their traditions. Newspaper announcements are on the society page. My mom had her bridal portrait done, and I have friends who have also sat for formal photographs prior to their wedding day. The wedding cake is served later in the evening, so everyone can enjoy both cake and cookies. In Central PA, the Amish have a tradition of serving seven sweets and seven sours at a meal. (Generally it means that they offer at least seven varieties of sweet foods… cookies, cakes, etc, and seven sour …spicy, salty foods at their buffet!)

5/2/08 @ 9:48 pm (reply)

19.

Guest

Marissa

I’m from the northeast and we put wedding announcements in the paper- I thought this was something people did in all parts of the US. I’m not sure, but I think people here do have bridesmaid luncheons too….

5/9/08 @ 2:01 pm (reply)