It’s engagement season and I just have to do one huge shout of for 2015. This is “my year” as I keep saying and I am so excited to share that I am pretty much fully booked for this season (ahem, this means I could be convinced/persuaded/begged to add one or two more weddings to my list, but for the most part, I am ready to rock!) My calendar is filled with amazing couples who I absolutely love and I can’t wait to be shooting all over Wisconsin (and the country) over the summer months! With the wedding planning comes the opportunity to do some engagement photos and I wanted to share a few reasons why engagement photos are important, fun, and critical if you want beautiful wedding day images.
1.) We are all awkward (especially me) in front of a camera: Let’s be honest, the last time you were in front of a professional camera was probably for your senior year photos. Trust me, you don’t want to see mine (why, oh why did I wear a ball gown for some of them?) That experience is uncomfortable as it is but this time you have to juggle looking good with someone else, working with someone you might not know well, and figuring out how the heck those people on Pinterest look so good. First and foremost, I give you full permission to feel awkward. In fact, I might do some things to loosen you up (ahem, beer) before the session and let you know that I’ll probably delete the first 30 frames or so. As time goes, you get the hang of it and pretty soon you are waiting for Tyra Banks to call you up. I promise you, it gets easy and comfortable and doing engagement photos makes sure you know what you expect when your wedding day rolls around. Seriously, you won’t be showing up on BuzzFeed’s 10 Most Award Wedding Photos list, pinky promise.
2.) We all need “real life” photos of ourselves: While I would love to pretend that I run around my house in my French lace wedding gown everyday, the reality is more yoga pants and less high heels. My wedding photos take me right back to the day that we said “I do” but there’s something about having photos dressed down that make it feel a little more real life. Engagement photos are the perfect time to relax, dress like you normally would, and get photos that will remind of you this stage of your life sans a wedding dress and bouquet. (A lot of my brides take advantage of this time to get a make up trial to see how their make up photographs and who doesn’t love an excuse to sit in that salon chair?) Most of my couples bring one change of clothes to their engagement session so they are able to get two different looks and a bundle of photos that help showcase their relationship is! Real life trumps perfection, so while I am certain you will look stunning on your wedding day, don’t dismiss the thought of engagement photos!
3.) Let’s hang out and become best friends: Chances are we have spent some time chatting via email or the phone but engagement sessions are an awesome time to catch up, talk about life, show you how I work, and get to know each other outside of the wedding world. While I love to hear about your bouquet and your dress colors and what kind of dessert I’ll be eating (yum!) I would love to hear about your life, what you are working towards, things you are looking forward to, you know, stuff beyond the wedding. When I show up on your wedding day, I don’t want to just be “the photographer,” I want to be Jenna, your friend, amiga, dancing partner, dress bustler, champagne fetcher! You know, I want people to think I’m your second cousin who has full permission to lead the electric slide on your wedding night! Engagement sessions are a great time for us to connect, build our relationship, and talk things through before your big day!
Whether you are newly engaged, single, or busy planning a wedding, consider engagement photos for a million reasons but especially for these three mentioned above. If your budget allows and you can swing a trip to Johnson Creek, let’s hang out, make beautiful images of the two of you, get you to feel comfortable in front of a big scary camera, and laugh until we cry. I promise, you won’t regret it, it will be an absolute blast! (Plus you’ll have photos for save the dates, your wedding website, your Facebook profile, and all the cool things you need awesome photos for, duh!) Let’s do this, let’s make it happen. I’ll give you more details but definitely consider an engagement session before you walk down that pretty aisle.
In case you need a little more inspiration for an Engagement Session, here are past posts I’ve written:
Tips for Beautiful Engagement Photos // Five Things to Remember for your Session
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