Engagement sessions are about the two of you.
Document the love you share.
Consider leaving the posing up to the Photographer. They want you to relax and enjoy each other.
These photos can be used for save the date announcements, wall art, gifts to your parents or to a signature book for guests to sign at the wedding reception.
Be playful, be yourself, and they’ll capture it all.
When they get to work with you before your wedding day, great things come from it. They get to really know you as a couple and you get to see how they work.
When is the last time you had your photos taken by a photographer?
Maybe it was the wedding you were in last year, or at your parents 50th wedding anniversary party. Quite possible you haven’t had professional pictures taken since your high school senior picture. Now you are engaged to be married and in a few short months you will be in front of the camera. All eyes on you. No pressure. LOL
You are celebrating your love story and it begins with your engagement.
Having an engagement session will be the first time you and your fiance will be in front of the camera together. It is a great way to practice and get to know your photographer. Kind of like how you have a wedding rehearsal.
Connect! And not just on Facebook or Instagram
The connection that you will gain with your wedding vendor will be organic and the results will be beautiful wedding photos. Engagement sessions allow the photographer to get to know all your quirks in an organic setting and this allows them to take photos that you will love, that who you really are.
Building confidence in the couple.
Most likely you are not a model nor is your fiance. It may take 15-20 minutes just to feel comfortable in front of the camera. This is totally normal and to be expected. Your photographer will be directing the two of you and helping you pose.
Now, imagine if you didn’t do an engagement session with your wedding photographer. The day of the wedding you may only have 25 minutes together and 20 of those precious minutes are you two just getting comfortable.
After you see your engagement pictures you will see how amazing you look in your photos and know that your wedding day pics will be even better and you will look awesome.
Putting couples at ease
We all know weddings can be stressful. From choosing the right color flowers to renting tuxedos. Not to mention certain family members. But when you have worked with your wedding photographer before the wedding day you will eliminate the stress of being in front of the camera which will directly lead to you looking amazing in your wedding photos.
The photographer really gets to know what works for the two of you as individuals and as a couple.
It is also beneficial to photograph a couple before the wedding. This allows your photographer to get a feeling how you interact and connect.
It’s quite helpful in advance to know how to make a couple laugh, smile and simply look natural, at ease. It’s wonderful to have this all figured out at the engagement session, so on the wedding day when moments unfold quickly the photographer is ready for everything. So to speak, they’ll be primed to, “hit the ground running.”
Getting to know your photographer before your wedding
Seeing professional pictures of the two of you before your wedding can be a huge advantage for the success of your wedding images. You can communicate to your photographer certain angles you like or dislike and they can adjust the photography accordingly. Why wait till the wedding day when it will be too late.
You get to know your photographer really well. You will learn their style of shooting and see them in action. This will create a beautiful bond between the three of you. On your wedding day you will feel so comfortable knowing you are in good hands.
Your photographer will be taking mental notes throughout the session. These will be used to capture moments on the wedding day that are unique to just the two of you.
Engagement Tips
- Have your hair and makeup done on the same day, that way you get to see how it will look in your photos before the wedding.
- Fun, they are simply fun. It’s your style your look, your love story being told in a relaxed environment, whether we photograph couples in our studio or at your favorite park.
- Choosing a location that is meaningful to you is important, maybe it is where you go engaged or where your first date was.
What can you do with the pictures?
- gifts to your parents
- save the date cards
- announcements
- a coffee table album
- prints to put up in your home
- signature books for wedding guests to sign (most popular)
- photo to display at your wedding reception
- images for the newspaper announcement (parents love this)
So, don’t pass on the Engagement Session, it will be invaluable. In addition, your photographer will always want to answer your questions, so never hesitate to ask them. They are artists, they want to please you!
Have a wonderful engagement shoot!
Special thanks to to the photographer for providing this valuable information about engagement shoots.
See more photos here: Christopher Todd Studios – Los Angeles Engagement Photographer
