Why engagement sessions?

As a wedding photographer, engagement sessions are one of my favorite parts of the wedding process – I get to spend a relaxed hour or two with a fun, in-love couple in beautiful settings and gorgeous light making fantastoc images – what’s not to like? But what people don’t always realize is that I also think engagement sessions are one of the most important parts of the wedding photography process – in fact, I think they’re so important I don’t include the time I spend on them when I calculate my wedding photography package prices – I really do add them all in for free.

The main reason is simple – doing engagement sessions with my couples always results in better, easier photographs on the day of the wedding – this is obviously great for me as well as the couple being photographed. The chance to get to know each other, for a couple to become comfortable with how I work (and see how amazing they look in the resulting photos), and for me to get some practice seeing what approach to photographs works best for a particular couple is invaluable for the day of the wedding, where we may only have 15 minutes or so to get formal bride and groom portraits. Most of my couples hire me wanting a more photojournalistic approach to weddings, though, and what they don’t always realize is that engagement sessions can greatly help that process, too. During the time we spend photographing the engagement session, we talk. I find out more about the wedding plans, important family members, and the types of photographs that are really important to the couple.

Engagement sessions are fun, too (I promise!). In the midst of all of the chaos of planning a wedding (on top of an already busy life), it can be really nice to have a couple of hours to spend focusing on each other. The goal for engagement sessions – much like the goal of your wedding photos – is to get images that capture who you are as a couple, and how you relate to each other. Nothing cheesy, nothing forced – just natural, beautiful images of this amazing and oh-so-fleeting period in your lives.

Want to know more about getting the best possible engagement photos before your big day? Read more here. And, as always, feel free to shoot me an email or give me a call to find out more.