Should we do an Engagement Session?

The short answer is YES. 🙂 As easy as it would be to stop writing here, let's talk a little bit about why? It's not just as simple as "everyone does it" or "we need a picture for our save-the-date". So what benefit does an engagement session bring you?

Getting Comfortable before the big day.

Are you camera shy? Maybe you've never had professional pictures taken. Enter Engagement Session. Perhaps the biggest benefit for you of doing an engagement session is that it will help get through the "ice-breaking" of being photographed by your photographer, NOT ON YOUR WEDDING DAY! Yup, that in itself is a HUGE benefit. See, the first time being photographed by someone always brings some kind of nervousness. An engagement session will help you get used to being in front of a camera. After that, of course we'll have built the trust and comfort that will allow you to be yourself in front of my cameras. Wouldn't it be great to get past before your wedding day even begins? Absolutely! It'll be one less thing to think about on your wedding day which means more of your thoughts, more of your emotions, and more of your time can be dedicated to the moments you want to feel and the people you love.

Learning how I work ..

I can recall that in just about every single engagement session, the couple will give me the deer-in-the-headlights look when I shout out a direction that sounds like another language. 😂 And that's ok because that's our session. However, if we've done a session, the wedding day experience is very different. Once you've learned how I communicate posing and direction, it'll become quite simple, almost like a reflex for you. Again, taking time to do this on separate day (that isn't your wedding day) will make things feel much smoother on your wedding day.

Knowing what you'll get

An engagement session is an incredible valuable way to see what you'll look like in my images before your wedding day. We can narrow down what you loved most about your engagement session images and use similar posing and a similar approach on your wedding day. In the event you find something you don't quite like, you'll also get the opportunity to provide that feedback so that we can make adjustments for the wedding day.

Favorite Location

This is one that not many couples think about. The truth is with the logistics of a wedding, we might be a bit limited as to which locations we can use to photograph you. An engagement session can accomplish everything we've mentioned so far AND get you some photographs in a location to which you might not be able to travel on your wedding day. Often times couples select a meaningful location like where they met or where the got engaged. And this usually isn't an option on the wedding day. For a session we have a ton of possibilities.

How does it help your photographer?

This isn't only beneficial for you. An engagement session ends up being my time to learn how you two interact, what makes you smile and what makes you look your best. Every couple and every individual is unique. And as a photographer I want to capture what's unique about you, what makes you smile, and how you show love to each other so that on your wedding day, we can continue (not learn) that flow and make beautiful images with minimal effort. One of the key factors of getting to know you during a session is that we'll have that time to ourselves. Your wedding needs to be your time with the people you love and who love you. This will be one of the things that helps us get the most out of your wedding day images while maximizing the time you spend actually enjoying your day with friends and family.