Shooting the Bride’s Thong

The newest trend in wedding photography is a no-holes-barred look behind the scenes. The Wall Street Journal had this story today.

“Joelle Nieto, a 28-year-old from Miami, was looking for an “informal” photographer to document her Sunday-morning wedding last May. Stephan Maloman’s site caught her eye, and she liked how the photographer had documented previous proceedings from beginning to end. Early on the day of her ceremony, Ms. Nieto was showing her mother a pair of underwear a friend had given her. Mr. Maloman seized the moment. The result: A photo of Ms. Nieto’s unzipped trousers, belly-button ring and a pair of panties with the word “bride” written in sequins on the front. “I guess we’re just more relaxed about certain things,” says Ms. Nieto. “My husband loves that shot.”

Brides and photographers point out that the pictures almost never depict full nudity, and say they’re rarely any more salacious than those in a Victoria’s Secret catalog. Still, they may be the wedding-day equivalent of a tattoo — something that seemed like a good idea at the time but has the potential to haunt later. And in some families, the images can create awkward moments between generations.

Hours before her son’s wedding in New York City two years ago, Lisa Brettschneider was a little taken aback by the scene in the suite of her daughter-in-law-to-be at the Mandarin Oriental hotel. A twentysomething male photographer was snapping photos of the bride, Alison, and her 12 bridesmaids in their underwear. At one point, the bride-to-be posed on the bed in a silky robe. “It was like a Playboy shoot,” says Mrs. Brettschneider, who lives in Larchmont, N.Y.

When the family got the proofs, Mrs. Brettschneider deemed a few images inappropriate for public consumption, including one of Alison’s favorite shots, which showed her G-string and back tattoo. “My in-laws weren’t too happy about that,” says the bride, now 29, who owns a women’s clothing showroom in Manhattan. “But it was such a cool shot.” Adds her mother-in-law: “I kept saying, ‘You’re going to have to show them to your kids one day. She didn’t put any of those pictures in my album.”