Kristi's Bridal Portraits

2 weekends ago, Kristi and I met up at the Adriatica in McKinney for her bridal portraits. If you've followed the blog for a little bit, you've seen Kristi before. I shot her engagement portraits last summer.

She gave up on hiding her dress from her husband-to-be a while back, so I have permission to share her portraits with you before her wedding later this month! I'm glad I'm not the only one that failed to follow that tradition; my husband actually helped me get ready for my bridal portraits 6 months before our wedding (He's the one who lent me his airsoft assault rifle and bought me some aviators and a cigar so I could have some crazy gangster bridals. Because I'm ridiculous).

I was ridiculously excited that Kristi decided on the Adriatica for our shoot. For those who don't know, the Adriatica is a recreated Croatian village in McKinney that's still under construction. The homes there cost approximately a bazillion dollars, the tile-roofed shops, bell tower and cobblestone streets are gorgeous, and all-around, I think it's one of the best local venues for bridals. The weather wasn't 100% cooperative that day (though the sun did finally come out and provide a gorgeous sunset at the very end!) but the happy bride more than made up for the grumpy winter storm-clouds.

I'm forever scrambling onto things with camera in hand in order to catch a shot I have in mind, like the shot below. In this case, I climbed onto a wall with a 20 foot drop to my left. Whee! (Also, doesn't her bouquet photograph beautifully? From the photos, it's especially hard to believe that those pink & yellow roses are silk!)

One of my very favorite bridal fashion trends is colorful shoes. I absolutely love Kristi's purple peep-toe pumps. Say that 5 times fast.

I think the above shot would look awesome printed large and hung prominently on the wall. I'm in love with the colorful lights and Kristi is totally bringin' the fierceness.

The bad weather brought with it some fortuitous wind. I love all the photos that captured her hair and veil floating in the wind.

Kristi brought along a friend as well as her mom (though mom wisely stayed warm in the car the whole time), which is something I definitely recommend. Kristi's buddy helpfully doubled as hair stylist, veil fixer, and stuff holder.

And then the sun came out! Yaaay. I love this moment I caught between poses as Kristi fixed the gorgeous lace overlay on her gown.

The following image requires a brief explanation. Kristi and I both went to the same college. We're "The Comets". Our very.. creative hand sign dealimabob is "the whoosh". Because.. comets.. whoosh. Yes. See below for an example of "the whoosh." It's exciting. :P

We finally found a dry spot for Kristi to let down her train. Gorgeous, yes?

Yay, wind!

That evening definitely had one of the prettiest sunsets I've seen all winter. How lucky!

I have definite envy for Kristi's deep blue eyes.

Kristi, I had a great time freezing my butt off with you! I'm so excited for you for your quickly approaching wedding. I know you'll have an amazing wedding day, and an amazing marriage to follow.

-Mary