Engagement Sessions | Wedding Tips | Melanie Reyes Photography

Dec 6

Often I hear from future Brides and Grooms that while it'd be nice, they don't really "Need" an engagement session. Most people mention this because of their budget - thinking surely the engagement session is a non-necessity that could save a bit in the wedding budget. I certainly understand the reasoning, but I'd love to share why engagement sessions from my perspective are so very important to your wedding images. These are some of the reasons why I include an engagement session in wedding packages.

Why I LOVE Capturing Engagement:

1) They're Sweet - and after getting engaged it's awesome to have some beautiful images to celebrate!

2) Yes, in a few months you'll have Amazing wedding images, but an engagement session allows for you to have photographs forever of you in your favorite Jeans/Sweater or Casual dress. It can be more "YOU". It's the casual - "this is so us" - photographs.

3) It's worth remembering! I work with couples to decide what locations mean something to you as a couple. Often couples choose places they won't be able to have photos on their wedding day but mean something to them - their first date spot, their college campus, or their favorite place to picnic. It's wonderful capturing you as a couple in those places, what a great keepsake!

4) It's a wonderful way for us to build a relationship! Nobody wants a stranger following them on their wedding day - I want to know the couple I'm going to photograph - to laugh together, hear your story, and get to know you and your style.

5) Getting in front of the camera. An engagement session gives you a chance as a couple to be in front of the camera. It's a trial run, in a sense, for your wedding. It will give you the opportunity to experience being the couple being captured. It will make your wedding day be that much more comfortable to have had this opportunity!

One other note - my goal is to capture you interacting as a couple. We will get the staple Portrait (smiling into the camera), but my real goal is to natural capture you as a couple: him making you laugh, whispering into your ear, taking a walk, and laughing together. Most couples feel a little silly at the beginning of the session, but as we go through the session most couples say - that was so much fun - and comfortable!