It’s a common question during a wedding consultation:
Are you looking for engagement photos, as well?
Many of my delightfully pragmatic couples have been torn on whether or not they truly wanted them.
I completely understand the conundrum. Many people [myself more than most, if I’m honest] are uncomfortable in front of the lens, and the concept of paying for an additional session that doesn’t seem to directly tie to the wedding day can seem unnecessary or even like a waste of time.
Rather than the potentially uncomfortable and overly simplified
You’ll just want them
I wanted to take the opportunity to give some in-depth perspective on the benefits of having engagement photos taken.
[r e a s o n 1] Posing Practice
This may sound a bit silly off the cuff, but most experienced photographers don’t simply will their couples to prance through a meadow releasing sunbeams and true romance and end up with magazine cover-worthy images. Most of us have honed our craft over years and have a combination of poses and prompts that we use with our couples to illicit the expressions and movements that you expect with high end photographs. While we are experienced and not shy with how we describe these options, when you have experience with them, it makes the process of photos go more smoothly on your wedding day when you’re able to remember a more in-depth posing experience that you’re able to recreate on your wedding day. It helps the photos to move more smoothly, confidently, and quickly so that you are able to get to your reception and enjoy the process of partying with your friends and family.
[r e a s o n 2] Confidence on your wedding day.
Everyone has insecurities. For some people, it may be just a couple things, for others of us, it’s a laundry list we carry around tacked inside our brains. But when a couple chooses to do an engagement session, the nerves are taken out of the equation and they get a chance to see how they look reflected in those fine art photos that they sought for their wedding day. That feeling of “Oh wow, I look great” helps to offer confidence as you head into your wedding photos, allowing you to trust your photographer with poses and angles, rather than worrying about your minor insecurities.
You can add to that the relief that the majority of my grooms feel following their engagement session. They expect a silly, posed, and slow-moving experience, and instead it sets them up to look forward to their photos and the experience of having their photos done on their wedding day. I have heard countless times about how couples weren’t looking forward to having engagement photos, but following them, that they had a wonderful time and treasured their photos.
[r e a s o n 3] Familiarity with your photographer.
A wedding is one of the primary life events that a person will experience. There is a reason that throughout history, the majority of events recorded were births, deaths, and weddings. With that in mind, you want to be comfortable with the person whom you hire to capture this momentous event. It is an intimate glimpse into your love story and into your personal and family history. Feeling comfortable and familiar with your photographer gives you greater confidence in your images, but also allows you to focus on your commitment and your event, rather than on the person directing you for your photos.
I know that one of the things that I hope for in my job is the opportunity to connect with my couples. I look forward to building relationships with them, when I’m able, and to be able to speak life over them and into their lives as they move forward into marriage. When that opportunity presents itself and I’m able to work to build a relationship and rapport with my couples during an engagement session, it fosters and feeds that experience more that simply meeting and working together on the wedding day itself.
[r e a s o n 4] Your photographer learns your quirks.
It may sound like over-generalizing, but I believe that all of us have weird quirks that come out in front of the camera. My personal one is not subtle at all, but involves a large, cheesy grin and finger guns. It’s beyond cringe-worthy. Most other people’s photo-quirks are more subtle: a half smile, over-cheesing, holding a smile too long, tilting one’s head to the side. These can all be cute elements in a few photos, but they can be very unpleasant when they permeate your gallery. An engagement session gives your photographer some idea of how you behave in front of the camera so that she isn’t caught off guard by your subtle quirks and is able to give directions that stem from knowledge of you without making you feel self-conscious.
[r e a s o n 5] You get gorgeous photos and a date night.
The process of wedding planning is exhausting. There is a reason many people hire wedding planners. Planning a wedding is literally a full-time job. In most couples, both parties are also working full-time jobs. Finding time together while planning a wedding can be daunting. Planning engagement photos becomes a built-in date to spend with your spouse-to-be that allows you to simply enjoy each other and the romance of being engaged. What we choose to do with our poses and bodies reflects in our minds and hearts, and the act of being romantic with your fiancé allows you to really engage with each other in an incredibly special way.
I point out during most consultations that while I love running a business, I am not a sales-person and am ill-suited to that role. Most photographers I know would describe themselves in the same light. We are generally helpers and creators who want to nurture you, your legacy, and your memories. The act of “upselling” a client or a potential client makes our skin crawl. The heart behind encouraging our clients to purchase an engagement session goes far beyond making a sale, but instead setting our brides and grooms up to have a successful experience with their photos as they head into their wedding day.