Why engagement sessions are a must!

August 28, 2020

Yay, you’re engaged! Congratulations! I am so thrilled for you and this next season of your lives. Once you’ve booked me as your wedding photographer the next steps are to plan out your engagement session. I LOVE engagement sessions for so many reasons! Other than the fact that they are so sweet and romantic, I feel like an engagement session has several benefits and is a VITAL part of the entire process. It can even affect how your wedding day flows! This is why I offer engagement sessions in all of my wedding collection packages. Here’s a few of my top reasons why I highly recommend ALL my couples to have one!

Keep scrolling to the end to get some engagement session prep tips!

It’s a great way to get to know each other! I fully believe in building a relationship with my couples and it shows through in the images. You can begin to feel comfortable around me and let your true self shine. I can see how you interact and how to photograph you in a genuine way! If you don’t feel comfortable with your photographer on your wedding day it will show in your images.

2. You can see and experience how I handle lighting and posing. I’ll walk you through the whole session and show you exactly what to do! This will make you pros on the wedding day during your portraits because of all the practice you had during our session! Plus, if for some reason during the wedding day things get behind we can flow through your bride and groom portrait time effortlessly and quickly while still capturing a ton of images for you!

3. When I show up on your wedding day you’ll feel like you have a friend there to walk along side you during your day! It will instantly put you at ease when you know your photographer and feel comfortable around them. After all, we will spend about 90% of your wedding day together, you should have someone you feel like you can truly trust and be yourself around! You’ll love your images so much more if you do!!

4. An engagement session is a special time that you can spend together. During all the planning it’s so nice to be able to step away from everything and just laugh and have fun with your best friend! Treat it like a date night and go to dinner afterwards since you’ll be all dressed up and looking your best!

Engagement Session Prep Tips!

Getting the most out of your engagement session starts long before the session even begins. When you book your wedding with me I help prep my couples to give them the best experience I possibly can. You’ll get a welcome package included with my bridal guide that has tons of tips for planning your wedding and prepping for your engagement session. I also email you my engagement session style guide that’s filled with outfit inspiration! Here are a few tips that you can use to get the most out of your session:

Go with two outfits! Choose a dressier outfit – after all, you only do your engagement session once, and then bring along a cute but more casual outfit to change into halfway through. I always recommend starting with the dressier outfit. Feel free to send me photos of your outfits if you’d like a second opinion! I’m happy to help weigh in!
What you wear matters. If you love my style I highly recommend going with something a little lighter. Darker colors will make the images feel heavier than they truly are. Neutrals and pastels photograph the best. Don’t be afraid of patterns or floral print as long as they aren’t too busy. It’s also better to coordinate with each other than to try and match.
Consider heels! They help slim and elongate the entire body and come on, they’re sexy!
Set up your trial hair and makeup for the same day as your engagement session. If that’s not possible, at least consider having your makeup professionally done (unless you normally rock at that). Your eyes will pop in the images and you’ll get great use out of of your trial with your hair and makeup artist!
Clean your ring and have your nails looking nice for those close up ring shots!
Lastly, be sure to sit down one night with your fiance and browse through 2-3 of my engagement session blogs so you have an idea of what to expect!
If you have any questions I always encourage my couples to reach out! I’m here to help make this an incredible experience for you.