Wedding Planning Tips – Engagement photos: Do you need them?

Do we need engagement photos?

Well, the short answer is no. You don’t NEED them. But you might WANT them. Here’s why…

Most of my couples tell me that they don’t photograph well, or that they’re just not good in front of the camera. And I get it. The idea of a big pro camera pointed at you, and having to “perform” for it, can be pretty intimidating! And of course you want to have beautiful photos of yourselves on your wedding day, and that’s why you’ve hired a professional photographer…but why on earth would you want to have even more photos taken, and put yourself through the stress of being in front of the camera on a whole other day as well?

Well…because being in front of the camera shouldn’t be stressful. At the very least, you should not care or notice that I’m there, and at the most, it can be super fun! Most of the worries my couples have about being photographed stem from fear of the unknown, because they’ve never done this before. Is it going to be awkward? Are we going to feel stupid? Are we going to look like Chandler from Friends in that episode where he can’t smile for the Christmas card photo? Are you going to put us in cheesy poses and make us do stuff we’re not comfortable with?

The answer is no. I don’t do any of that. When we’re out on your engagement shoot (or on your wedding day), it’s like we’re just a trio of friends hanging out; and I happen to have a camera, and you happen to be wonderfully in love. There’s usually a lot of laughter, chatter, and a bit of silliness. And after a few minutes of relaxing into it, you’ll suddenly find yourselves enjoying it immensely and wondering why you were worried about it in the first place!

Couples who have engagement photos know exactly what to expect from the photos on their wedding day, so they can worry less about being in front of a pro camera for possibly the first time in their lives, and concentrate on the joy of the day instead. Which is great – there’s so much going on on a wedding day, that one less thing to think about is a blessing!

It’s also really lovely to have something to commemorate being engaged – it’s a special time in your lives that’s often over really quickly in the frenzy of wedding planning. And quite often my couples use their engagement photos at their wedding – as part of the stationery, table listings, guest book, or printed out large to cover up the paintings they didn’t like in their reception venue! (true story).

Another thing to consider is using places that are special to you as the location(s) for your engagement photos. You might live in Shoreditch but be getting married out in the countryside – well, then you can do your engagement shoot “at home” instead, on the streets you walk everyday, outside (or inside!) the places you love to go. Or it might be completely the other way around, and your wedding is in the city, but you’d love some photos of you in a sunflower field at sunset – again, we can make that happen! It’s all completely up to you; I never make anyone do an engagement shoot if they don’t want to, but they can be awesome for all sorts of reasons.