Congrats you are engaged! And now what? Pick a wedding day and find your photographer for your wedding! Most wedding photographers have a an engagement session with their wedding collections or you can book an engagement session as an add on. Today I want to tell you why you NEED to have an engagement session.

Here are 4 reasons why you need to have an engagement session with your wedding photographer!

1. Your engagement session is like your trial run for your wedding.

This is your no-pressure practice time in front of my camera without the pressure of the wedding day timeline and the nerves that come along with the day. An engagement photo session allows the couple to get super comfortable in front of the camera. By the time the wedding rolls around, the poses have been mastered and there’s confidence in front of the camera instead of being timid and shy.  

Here are some tips on how to prepare for your couples session. Check it out at this blog post.

2. Confidence is key!

When you’re confident, it shows in your images. After my couples have completed their engagement session, they have a sense of confidence moving forward to their wedding day. I’ll be the first to admit that when it was my turn to be the bride, I felt 100x more confident for my wedding portraits because I had already seen my engagement images! Confidence is not something you can just MAKE someone feel instantly. It has to be instilled BEFORE the wedding day! And that is what an engagement shoot is for.

3. Save the Date Cards

A lot of my couples use their engagement photos for their “Save the Date” announcement, or on their wedding invitation. Not only are engagement portraits awesome for invitations, but they allow you to have casual images to decorate your house with, and to display at the reception.

4. Get to know your photographer

Last but not least, your engagement session is your time to get to know your photographer! On your wedding day you are with them from anywhere from 6-12 hours. So it is good that you guys mesh well!

Our time together will be very relaxed and I the photographer will have 1-2 hours to get to know you the couple! An engagement session allows everyone to just get COMFORTABLE with one another. In my opinion, this is the BIGGEST point because I run my business relationally! When I KNOW my clients, then I can accurately capture their true personalities!! It’s REALLY hard to capture amazing portraits when you have no connection to the subject. Being emotionally involved with your subjects creates emotional, powerful images! I CARE about my clients and that will show in my work!!

So for those of you out there are contemplating getting engagement photos done but don’t REALLY think it’s necessary, IT IS! That is why they are usually apart of any photographers wedding collection. 🙂

Bonus Tip

Bring a second outfit to add more variety to your final gallery. This will add a ton of variety to your session and give you lots of options for Save the Date cards, or for photos on your walls and social media.