You may have come across engagement sessions when hunting for your wedding photographer and have asked yourself whether it is important to have an engagement session before your big day.
Firstly – what is an engagement session? It’s a romantic couple session, a moment filled with tenderness. It’s also a moment to let your hair down. I feel it’s essential to help prepare you for your wedding portrait. Today I will be sharing with you 5 reasons why engagement sessions are a vital part of the wedding experience.
To get you comfortable in front of the camera
Not all of us are comfortable in front of a camera and it’s perfectly normal to have a few nerves at first. One of the best reasons to have your portrait session is to work out those butterflies and to become more confident in front of the camera. This is definitely a situation where practice makes perfect.
Your engagement session is when you learn what works for you… and what doesn’t work (which is almost more important than discovering what works). I take you through a complete couple portrait session outdoors, in the same location as your wedding portrait session, or in another location – it’s up to you, to get you used to being in front of the camera so that you’re more relaxed on your big day.
You have some ideas you want to try out? Your engagement session is the perfect time to experiment with ideas you might have before your wedding day.
Think of your engagement session as your practice run before your wedding.
To help you and your photographer get to know each other
Wedding photography is an important investment and your photographer will be with you all day so it’s important that you’re comfortable with them and the way they work – they will be capturing special memories for you that will last a lifetime!
Your engagement session is a great opportunity to see your photographer in action, to see how they work, to discover their vision of you as a couple and to learn what to expect on your big day. Being comfortable with your photographer will give you peace of mind that you’ve made the right choice and you’ll have one less thing to stress about on your wedding day.
I, as your photographer, will learn more about you as a couple, how easily you fall into poses together and how you interact with each other – are you super romantic, playful, passionate or more reserved? During the engagement planning session and the viewing session I also learn more about what you like. You may prefer some photos or positions to others and this information helps me finetune your wedding portrait session.
It’s a great opportunity to test out your hair and makeup
Why not organise to have your hair and makeup trials on the day of your engagement session. You will not only look stunning but you’ll also have the added advantage of seeing how your hair and makeup will look in photos and to see if you want to make any changes for your big day.
To get lovely photos of you as a couple
Your engagement portrait session gives you the occasion to have lovely portraits of you two. Why not use your engagement portraits on your save the date or wedding invitation, personalised guest book, wedding gifts, table decoration or simply to have a lovely piece of art for your home?
It’s a great way to spend quality time together
This is a very exciting time in your relationship and, as your wedding day approaches, you’ll find yourself getting much busier. Your engagement session is one of the pre-wedding activities you can enjoy together.
I truly believe that the engagement session is invaluable for the couple and, for the reasons you have just read, I include it in all my wedding packages as a gift to my engaged couples.
I hope you understand a little more about engagement sessions and why it’s really important to have one before your wedding. When you’re searching for the photographer who will be photographing your wedding, ask them if they do an engagement shoot and, if they don’t include it in their wedding packages, consider asking them to add it as it’ll really help you feel more relaxed on your big day.
Next blog
I’ll be sharing a fun summer engagement portrait session, taken in the Parc des clos des Chartreux in Tullins in my next article so be sure to come back to check it out…
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