Bridal portraits are a very popular Southern wedding tradition—and for good reason. It is a time when the bride can take her time, relax and have fun while capturing beautiful photos in her wedding gown. The photos make a great keepsake for the bride and her family, and are beautiful to display at the actual wedding reception.

I had the honor of photographing my beautiful cousin, Anitra, for her bridal portraits. She is my second bridal portrait client (this Charlotte bridal session was my first), and I couldn’t have been more excited to take her photos!

I traveled down to Santee, SC, which is near my hometown. Earlier in the day, we celebrated Anitra at her bridal shower. As the evening came, and the guests were all leaving, it was time to get ready for her bridal portraits.

The great thing about bridal portraits is that they are done ahead of the wedding, so there's an opportunity to do a practice run on the dress and make-up, and there's no time pressure or constraints as there would be if we had tried to capture these photos on the actual wedding day.

The bad thing about bridal portraits, however, is that they are absolutely stunning and I have to wait WEEKS in order to share them after the wedding.

But now that Anitra is officially a Mrs., I can finally share her beautiful portraits with you. Here are a few of my favorites.

In short, Anitra made an absolutely stunning bride. Pin the image below for future bridal inspiration!

Sharetha Monique is a maternity, newborn, child, and family portrait photographer in Charlotte, NC. Follow me on Instagram: @sharethamoniquephotography or join my private community on Facebook. To keep up new content, and stay informed of exclusives and special offerings, sign up for my newsletter!

Note from Sharetha:

Thank you so much for reading this blog post! I love featuring my clients’ images on my blog (as well as some personal favorite images), and this will give you a glimpse into what you will receive when you commission me for your bridal portraits in Charlotte.

If you would like to see what an entire gallery looks like, please don’t hesitate to ask. Some of my favorites are posted here, but all of the images you receive are worthy of being in a frame, an album, or displayed on your walls!

For pricing information, please click here. If you would like to reserve your date on my calendar, please fill out my contact form or email me directly at sharetha@sharethamonique.com.

Due to the custom nature of portrait sessions, I take a limited number of clients each month.

Capturing stories and creating beautiful images brings me tremendous joy, and I would be honored to capture yours!