When to Take Engagement Photos

Engagement sessions go by many names. You might hear get to know sessions, E-sessions or practice sessions, but whatever the name they are a fun photography session in the time between getting engagement and getting married.

You may be asking yourself is this something I really need to do? The short answer is no you don't need to do anything you don't want to, but there are many reasons an engagement session might be a great thing for you and your partner. So here are 5 reasons you should do an engagement session.

Get over the awkwardness

Getting your photo taken can be weird. Even though you may have taken lots of photos together through the years it's rare to have photos made by a professional photographer so it can take some getting used to. Use the engagement session as a way to get comfortable with your photographer and with each other when you're in front of the camera. It's nice to be able to do this before the wedding day so that you'll have one less thing to worry about on the big day!

Test drive your photographer

The engagement session is often a part of your wedding photography package or can be booked separately with the same photographer who will be doing your wedding photos. With a low stress and low stakes engagement session before the wedding day you can see not just how the finished photos turn out, but also have your photographer works. Do they do anything that makes you uncomfortable? Does their style of posing and direction help you? Are they fun to be around and talk to?

If there is anything you don't like about the way they work or the way the photos turn out you have a chance to speak with your photographer about it and make sure you can work with them to have the perfect wedding photos for your day. If they are completely wrong for you it's much better to find that out before your wedding day and not during or after your wedding day when it's too late!

Get beautiful photos

How many great photos do you have together? Most people have some selfies and vacation photos maybe taken by your waiter, but it's rare to have more than a handful of great photos of you and your partner together. So why not get some great ones to add to the collection that aren't from a specific occasion just beautiful photos of the two of you in love? Plus you can get tons of use out of the photos on your wedding invitations, wedding website, wedding day slideshow and wedding decor.

Test drive other vendors

A great way to make the most out of your engagement session is to schedule your makeup trial or hair trial with your makeup and hair professional on the same day. That way you can test out how the styles look in photos as well as how they stand up to a day of wear. Other things you may be able to get a sample of to test drive during your engagement session are some of your wedding day jewellery, flowers or shoes. Even if they won't be the ones you are using on the wedding day it can be a great way to see styles in photos and how they hold up in a real world photo session.

Celebrate your relationship

The engagement session can be a great chance to celebrate your relationship in a way that doesn't work on your wedding day. Do you have a favourite pub or restaurant? Do you love to hike or rock climb? Do you have the cutest dog in the world? While it might not be possible to go to the pub, drive to a favourite hike or bring your puppy to the wedding you might be able to during your engagement session! These personal touches can make for a great, unique and personal engagement session and can get you some amazing photos that might not be possible on a busy wedding day.

It's fun

With the right photographer or photography team getting your photo taken is lots of fun and can be a truly memorable experience. Get to know your photographers and each other in a different way while getting some one of a kind photos. What's not to love?

These are just a few of the reasons why an engagement session can be a great idea for you and your partner. This is why The Nogues Photography offers an engagement session completely complimentary as part of all of our wedding photography packages over eight hours. We believe in engagement sessions and we want to get to know you so we can make the best photos for you on your wedding day and this session can help with that. Plus we just love taking photos so lets get together and have a great time!