Pre-wedding Photography
As a wedding photographer I’m here to talk about why you should book an engagement photography session! It’s likely we chatted about the benefits of a pre-wedding photo sessions during our initial meeting, and why you might consider one.
But if you’ve forgotten amid all the wedding planning, fear not!
I’m here to remind you about what an engagement photo session actually is, and why one might be beneficial to you.
What is an engagement shoot?
An engagement photography session is basically a portrait photography session of the two of you that takes place pre-wedding. In other words, it’s a celebration in pictures of your engagement!
I tend to photograph mine on location somewhere – discover more about picking locations for an engagement photo session here.
8 reasons why you should book an engagement photography session
- The first reason to book an engagement session is because they’re great at helping you both feel comfortable with me and the camera before we work together on your wedding day. This means one less stress for the wedding day. If you don’t like having your photograph taken or feel nervous about the wedding day, meeting up and getting to know each other (and how I work) will really help ease those nerves.
- As long as we plan in advance, you can use your engagement photographs for your save the date cards. It adds a lovely personal touch for your guests to receive a save the date with your faces on!
- If you’re living in one location, and marrying somewhere completely different, it’s nice to pick a local location for your engagement session. This means you have a collection of photographs which represent you now, as well as having your gorgeous wedding day memories.
For example, Neerali and Ketan (below) had their wedding at the English countryside location of Davenport House, so they chose to have an urban engagement session in Shoreditch.
Another example is Katie and Johnny (below). They were getting married in Katie’s home county of Shropshire, so the pair had their engagement session on their local beach to always remember where they lived when they got engaged.
- To make the engagement photos really unique and full of personality, you can incorporate a hobby like hoola-hooping or dancing.
- Pick a different time of year for your engagement session compared to your wedding day! Christmas wedding? Go for a spring or summer photo shoot! This is a lovely way to capture a variety of photos of the two of you.
- You can use the images on your wedding day in the details. Table number cards, order of service, seating plan, guest signature book… the possibilities are endless.
- If you have a long wait between booking your wedding suppliers and the actual wedding day, it can be nice to plan something (and share the photos) to get you and the guests excited about the wedding day! Maybe one year or six months before the big day?
- And finally…Include your pets! If your pet can’t come to the wedding, then get them involved in a pre-wedding photo session. I’ve photographed many dogs over the years… and even a pet tortoise!
I cover what to wear on an engagement session in this blog post.
As you can see, there are a number of reasons why you should book an engagement session. I’d love to chat with you about the options and see if it’s a good idea for you to book one in….contact me!
Laura xx
