Today’s Bride isn’t the same Bride when our Mama’s were getting married, and even less than 10 years ago, weddings didn’t quite look and “feel” the same as they do now. While wedding trends are constantly shifting, I think one aspect of the modern “wedding experience” is here to stay – the engagement session.
As I’m sitting here, pre-writing this post for next week, I’m actually waiting on an engagement session to begin! Photographing a Bride and Groom during such an exciting season of life is SO MUCH FUN! To me, engagement sessions are a MUST when it comes to getting both myself and the Bride & Groom prepped for their wedding day! Because when it comes to weddings and a wedding day, there are SO MANY outlets in this highly overly stimulated market and SO many expectations. Sure, a Bride could easily learn how to pose, what to do, and how to plan for her wedding from Pinterest or out of the recent Knot or Martha Stewart Wedding magazine, but what I want to teach my REAL #EmmaLooBrides is what to expect from working with ME throughout their photography experience on one of their most important days of their lives.
Thankfully, I’ve been blessed with clients who understand the importance of an engagement session, but I do have a Bride from time to time tell me that they’d rather pass on their engagements because of time constraints, scheduling conflicts, or would rather “trade in” their engagement session for an additional hour of coverage on wedding day. Although, I can see why some Brides (& especially their Grooms) may not want to take part in an engagement session, I feel that engagement sessions are not only a great way to capture some beautiful and casual portraits of the Bride and Groom, but they are also necessary and VERY HELPFUL.
1. An Engagement Session is like a “Panthers Pre-Season Practice Session”
Have you ever taken a day-trip down to Spartanburg, SC in the late summertime when the Panther’s start to practice? There’s always a fun time down there with fans who pile up into cars and travel to those practice fields to watch their team get prepped for the upcoming football season. If you can think about it in this kind of way… engagement sessions aren’t much different! It’s a way for YOU to work with ME before your BIG DAY! It’s also a way that I can see what poses and directions you are comfortable with. Maybe you two love birds are super-duper PDA-ish and don’t need much direction from me, or maybe you’re both a little uncomfortable kissing in public and need me to tell you what to do or where to put your hands, or to remind you to “softly kiss her temple” and “keep your eyes closes and relaxed while he’s kissing your forehead.”
An engagement session is one-on-one time together without the rush and the pressure that comes with a wedding day. I don’t work with models…ever…like I’ve never had a model in front of my camera, so I work with REAL Brides who are normal, everyday beautiful woman who don’t know the basics of posing or pose variations and who have no experience…like ever…being in front of the camera. (And don’t even get me started on the Groom’s, they don’t like having their pictures taken…ever!) This is why engagement sessions are SO VERY IMPORTANT! Being able to have an engagement session before the wedding day allows time for my couples to completely master their poses and feel 100% confident in front of my camera! When couples get the images from their engagement session back, they are excited and confident that their images look SO good! In fact, some Clients have even said to me “Damn! We didn’t know we looked THAT GOOD!” Hehe! It makes me SO happy to hear that! I include a complimentary engagement session with every single wedding collection, so luckily my Couples get to practice beforehand and REALLY ROCK their images on wedding day!
2. Engagement Sessions Help Boost Your Confidence!
LOTS of people are shy and timid in front of my camera, especially at first. There’s even some times where my Clients must take a shot of tequila or take a drink prior to their session just because they are SO NERVOUS! Now, while I don’t condone drinking before your session…(hehe! But whatever floats your boat! 😉 ) even though you’re nervous at first, I promise you won’t stay nervous for long! Trust me, before my very own engagement session when I WAS A BRIDE..I was SO nervous!!! Not only because I was getting to work with my DREAM PHOTOGS (the ever so amazing Cheyenne & Geoff Schultz!) but I was also SO NERVOUS about being in front of their camera. I’m not one to LOVE photos of myself, maybe it’s a self-confidence thing, or maybe because I’m my BIGGEST critic, but honestly, I hate myself in photographs! When we got our engagement images back, oh my word y’all! I COULDN’T STOP LOOKING! I was borderline OBSESSED with our engagement images! And because of this, I was able to stay 100% confident during our wedding day! I knew that Cheyenne and Geoff were going to capture the best images of me, no matter what!
That’s EXACTLY the POINT of an engagement session! To make sure you feel 100% confident on your wedding day! When my Emma Loo Brides and Grooms see their engagement images they are BLOWN AWAY and know that their wedding images will look just as good if not BETTER!
3. Engagement Sessions are YOU…EVERYDAY!
When prepping my Couples for their engagement session, I let them know that the more comfortable they are-the better! Engagement sessions should show you and your other half’s “everyday” side. It’s a portrait session displaying you both on the casual side but in a beautiful way. For some Clients, an engagement session is really the ONLY images they have of themselves together on something other than their iPhone. The images from your engagement session also help serve as additional decor pieces in your home because these are casual images that you can display in your home without your only pictures being framed images of you in your wedding gown…not that those wouldn’t be nice, it’s just a way to have some great images of you two as “the everyday couple” rather than you both as the “fancy-formal couple”.
4.) NICE TO MEET YOU!
An engagement session is also the BEST WAY to get to know me as your photographer and see how I work, pose, and set-up some shots. I tend to be a little crazy behind my camera, and when I have a great looking couple in front of my lens doing ultra cutesy things, I tend to go a little wild and say things like “OH MY WORD! Y’ALL ARE ADORABLE” at the top of my lungs!! My brain also moves at WILD SPEEDS! So when I’m on an engagement session, I call it “Ping-ing”…I literally PING from one pretty thing to another pretty thing! (Blame it on my A-D-D, I guess!) Becoming familiar with my vision and TRUSTING what I’ve got in my head is always best at the engagement session rather than the wedding day! Plus, an engagement session is one of the very first times I may meet my Clients and I share some of my most favorite memories with them ON OUR ENGAGEMENT SESSION! When I know a little bit more about who I am shooting, and I’ve spent time with my Clients before their wedding day, I can create these beautiful images for them! Building relationships with my Clients is a MUST for me. When I was first starting out with my business, I only did engagement sessions if the Clients PAID for them, and this meant that not many Couples bought a session. So I would wind up meeting my Bride and Groom for the VERY FIRST TIME ON WEDDING DAY! It was a disaster! No one was really comfortable with anyone, and it took a while for both my Bride and Groom to get comfortable with me…time that we don’t have the benefit of during a wedding. So basically, an engagement session IS the BEST way to get to know me and become comfortable with me and my big camera that I have in front of my face about 99% of the time you see me. 😉
I HIGHLY recommend in getting your engagements done. Thankfully since I include a complimentary engagement session with every single wedding collection, my Clients get to work with me WAY beforehand, and that time together really pays off in the end! Ultimately, your wedding photography is an investment, and you must make the MOST of your wedding experience and your wedding photography! Thanks for reading, and happy Wednesday! 🙂
XO! -Emma Loo
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