At your wedding, you want to capture all of the wonderful moments in photographs you’ll both love. You have researched top wedding photographers and are ready to start discussing photography plans for your big day. But wait! First thing’s first…
Take a moment to learn about why engagement sessions are an important first step with your wedding photographer.
What is an engagement session?
It is a photoshoot with you and your wedding photographer before the wedding. The engagement photos can be casual, unique, or sweet and simple. It’s a time to celebrate your engagement, get comfortable with your photographer, and get some beautiful (and professional) engagement photos taken of you as a couple before you’re married.
So without further ado, here are the Top 5 Reasons Why You Should Have An Engagement Session:
1. See what it will be like working with your photographer on your wedding day.
Since you’ll be busy on the day of your wedding, you have to be able to trust your photographer to capture all of the memories throughout the day. Therefore, it is very valuable to get a comfort level with your photographer in a more relaxed photo session first.
This will be a time to focus solely on the photography element of your wedding without any distractions. Talk to your photographer about your ideas and listen to their tips. They can help guide you about what poses will look amazing, and you can tell them more about your vision for the wedding day. This way, once the big day arrives you and your photographer will be perfectly in sync.
2. Get comfortable in front of the camera.
You have probably only been professionally photographed a handful of times, or maybe never. Like with all things, a little bit of practice makes a big difference. Learning what angles and poses you like now will make the day-of photo sessions go that much smoother. Your photographer will also have plenty of ideas about what works and how to make you both look your best.
Tip: Don’t be afraid to let loose in some of the photos! The images you’ll cherish the most later might be the ones that show your relationship in a more candid way. Talk to your photographer about your hobbies or interests, and work on incorporating them into the shoot (Do you love motorcycles? Have an engagement session that includes photos of you on the bikes. Do you play hockey? Strap on some skates for some unique shots).
Same goes for locations. Think about having the photos taken somewhere that is meaningful to the two of you; the beach where you got engaged, the cafe where you had your first date, the lake you vacationed at, and so on. This way, you’ll feel more comfortable in front of the camera since you’re being yourselves!
If you need some help with finding the perfect location, be sure to read our post on the top engagement locations and photo ideas here!
3. Test out hair and makeup to see how everything will look in photos.
You will probably want to book a trial hair and makeup appointment before your wedding to make sure you like your makeup artist/hairdresser and their plans for you. The day of your engagement session is also the perfect time to have your trial hair and makeup done (two birds, one stone!) since you can see how you will look on your wedding day- in person AND in professional photos.
This will let you see if you are happy with how you look, or if you’d like to tone up or down your hair or make up for your wedding day.
4. Give your photographer feedback.
After the engagement session, review your photos and see what you like and don’t like as much. If there’s something you want more of at your wedding or something you weren’t happy with, this your chance to share that feedback. Your photographer will then know exactly what you want on your wedding day.
They can come to your wedding even better prepared with your favourite poses and ideas in mind, and make sure the photos you want are taken. When they also know what you don’t like, everyone’s time can be spent as efficiently as possible on the day of the wedding, taking only photos you know you’ll love.
Last but not least…
5. Have professional photos you can use before and at the wedding!
The photos taken at your engagement session can be used in a number of ways. You can have beautiful “save the date” cards or invitations sent out with your favourite engagement photo(s) on them. Family and friends can hold on to them as keepsakes, and they can be added to wedding albums and photo collages later on. You can also have engagement photos displayed at your reception.
Ideas: Having a themed wedding? Each table could have a different engagement photo that fits your theme. For example, if your theme is “movies,” each table could be named after a different film and feature a photo of the two of you posing as the leading couple!
Or, have a large print framed with white matting that your guests can sign. Then you’ll have a framed photo along with special signatures that will always be meaningful to you.
So, for these reasons (and more) you should definitely book an engagement session!
Since they are so important, at M+M Photography we include engagement sessions in all of our wedding packages. We love getting to know the couples we’ll be working with before their wedding and making sure we’re all on the same page for the big day.
We are always excited to incorporate a couple’s individual ideas, style, and love story into every image- starting with the engagement session photos.
One more reason to do it…Engagement photo sessions are a lot of fun!
