I recently had a conversation with a mother of bride about engagement sessions. She informed me that her daughter was looking for a wedding photographer, but she didn’t need engagement photos because a friend had already taken them. Trying to take a positive spin on the conversation, I added that our wedding package automatically comes with complimentary engagement photos, so her daughter would be lucky enough to get two sessions.
This got me thinking about what causes brides to book an engagement session before booking their wedding photographer.
I’ve heard lots of reasons behind this move, but the one I hear most often is:
“My friend is a photographer, but doesn’t shoot weddings.”
I totally get this because that used to be me. Before I added weddings to my repertoire, I was pretty darn scared of them. There was something so final about this type of session! I mean, there aren’t redos for a wedding!! So I stuck with engagement sessions and sent my couples elsewhere to find their wedding photographer. Luckily, I pushed that fear out of the way and weddings just happen to be my favorite thing to photograph for so many reasons.
With my own history in mind, I can honestly say that today I would encourage brides who only want me to shoot an engagement session and not their wedding to check in with their wedding photographer first before going that route.
Here are my top 4 reasons behind this mindset:
- Familiarity- You guys…there is nothing more important than to feel comfortable with your photographer on your wedding day. If you’re not comfortable with you photographer than that will be evident in your photos! That’s the biggest reason we offer complimentary engagement sessions anytime you book us for a wedding. We want you to feel comfortable with us and in front of our camera…which leads me to my next point.
- Expertise- There are very few people who feel like posing experts when a camera is pointed their direction. This is especially true for your grooms. That’s why engagement sessions are SO important! You’ll learn how to be posing pro by the time your engagement session is over. Phrases like, “Nuzzle each other” and “Flirt with your collarbone”, (I seriously say that…haha!) won’t be foreign to you on your wedding day.
- Continuity- This is an important point but one that you might not think about right away. Lots of people can take photographs, but that doesn’t mean that all photographer shoot or edit in the same way. For instance, I use natural light and focus more on creating bright-airy photographs. Other photographers might go dark and moody. It’s nice to be able to look back on all your photographs from this season of your life and see that continuity from one session to the next. Plus, it makes putting together your album and arranging all those printed photographs on your wall even easier because they are cohesive!
- The Whole Experience- One of my favorite things about working with our couples is getting to know them! This is hard to do when we only get to photograph your wedding. In fact, the engagement session is where we get to know each other better, cut loose a bit, and build trust in each other. Those things are not impossible to do on the wedding day, but it is harder due to the schedule constraints.
If you’re looking for an engagement and wedding photographer I would strongly suggest to find one that offers both of those sessions as part of package. I think you’ll find it will make your wedding day go much smoother because you can simply relax without having to worry about your photographs or photographer!