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To have an engagement photo session or not to have an engagement photo session, that is the question. Yes, this is what my life is coming to. Major dilemma.
So, it seems to be a huge trend to have your wedding photographer do what is called an engagement session. Basically you go to a favorite spot or just plain scenic and romantic place to take photos of you as a couple. These pictures are often used at the wedding (guest book cover, framed photo to sign, etc.), on a wedding website, to be sent in to newspapers with the announcement of your engagement, or just plain to have as a keepsake. As an added bonus, it gives you time with your photographer and get to know them, so you feel the most comfortable on the day of the wedding.
These are all great things. Of course I want one! However, the cost (approx. $450), while not unreasonable, makes me wonder if it’s worth it. I’d hate to look back and wish we had photos of this time–but would I really do that?
What are your thoughts, guys??
We didn’t get them and I don’t feel like we missed out. My favorite pictures of us aren’t staged anyway, so I don’t think I would love the results. They look phony to me, like the Glamour Shots I got as a young teenager.
We did get them but only because it was included in the package that we chose with our photog, I wouldn’t have done it otherwise, but they were nice! It certainly did allow us to get more comfortable with our photographer and I think allowed her to get to know what kinds of poses/situations we were comfortable with and then she used that info to help her get great pics on our wedding day. Whether that is worth an extra $450 or not… I don’t know.
I love our engagement photos. We got engaged in NYC where we live but our wedding was in my home state so we had our engagement session in NY. It got us comfortable with our photographers, prepared for what to expect on the wedding day and we got some great shots of our life here.
Otherwise we didn’t use our engagement pics for anything. We gave one pic to each set of parents as part of their Christmas present but that was it.
One advantage to the engagement session is that you can “try out” your photographer for $500…and you can make sure you like them before you spend $3,000!
We chose a photojournalistic style, which we like aesthetically. But, since neither my DF nor myself are particularly photogenic, we were really worried about getting good pictures. After getting the proof book, I wasn’t worried: they were great.
So, that was a good thing. However, I really don’t know what to do with them! We’ve been handing out framed pictures as our “thank you” gifts to shower hosts. We’re also planning to buy electronic frames and load the pictures onto a disc for our parents; we’ll give them wedding pictures later.
We had them done. I think it’s nice to have professional quality photos of us in street clothes…not wedding gear. Ours only cost an extra $100. I think we will use ours more for historical sake, rather than wedding related things.
Maybe you could see if your photographer would lower the cost for a shorter photo session. We ended up with about 120 great photos in 4-5 different locations downtown.
We did engagement photos, and I am glad that we did. 1) It allowed us to get comfy with our photographer 2) We were able to get some photos with our dog, who was not included in the wedding day 3) We really didn’t have that many photos of us together, and we wanted some where we weren’t in formal wear!
Granted, ours were only $150. We used them for the newspaper e-announcements, and will probably frame pics for the parents. Really, it is just nice to have nice photos (aka not the take-it-yourself shots!)
I wasn’t intending to purchase a separate engagement session but ours came with the package as well. I’m really warming up to the idea for the same reasons that Mrs. Pumpkin mentioned. That and I’m having my makeup trial that morning so I’m testing out my makeup artist as well. The wedding pics are gonna be great but I’m probably not going to have more than 3 of them framed around the house….so this will give me some other nice pics of us together. And it’ll probably be the only time we’ll get professional pictures taken as a young couple. All said though, I probably still wouldn’t pay for one if it was extra since $450 can go a long way in my budget.
In my case, I definitely want an engagement session simply because my fi and I have (seriously) 4 nice pictures of the two of us from the 5 years we’ve been together.
So if I want any pictures of us at this stage in our lives not in a wedding gown, the e-session seems the way to go.
Speaking of photos, but not on this topic, I just went through pro photos of a wedding I was in a couple weeks ago…the photographer seemed super-obsessed with one of the bridesmaids - to the point of there being a couple of thumbnail pages where there were more pictures of her then the bride!!
Is this a little creepy to anyone else? She is absolutely beautiful, but…
We found the engagement pictures to be very useful. We debated getting them done too, but they turned out great because when are you going to be able to have some casual yet great looking pics of the two of you again. We just really had a great time, got to know our photographer, got to know how we should stand, smile, not smile, positioning, where to put our arms, etc. I think it’s worth it.
Things we’ve used our e-pictures for: wedding website, Save the Date cards, magnets, water bottle labels, stationery, bridal shower, x-mas cards, framed gift to parents, guest book, framed around the house, weddingbee profile pic, and I can’t think of anymore right now but if I do, I’ll list it.
I will most probably be opting for an engagement session, but I do have mixed feelings about it. On one hand, it does give you a chance to get comfortable with your photographer before the big day and gives you some great, professional shots to display at your wedding reception and on your wedding website. On the other hand, I almost see it as yet another thing brides are convinced they “must” have. And I don’t know what people do with them afterwards– I don’t think too many other people other than close family members want professional photos of us.
We did the e-session and it was so much fun! I’m an IL native, so taking our photos at the beach in sunny SoCal was something different! We brought along all three of our dogs and had a great 1.5 hours on the beach with them and our photographer. We haven’t received our pictures back yet (it’s only been a week), but hoping they turn out great so that we can rest assured our photographer choice was a good one! Our engagement session was included in the package price, but I think she valued it at $200 in the package breakout.
I love our photos and I’m so glad that we had them done. I feel like I would’ve regretted not having them done. After saying that - our pictures were very reasonably priced and I don’t know that I would have spent that much to do them though.
lol cs!
i actually regret not taking engagement pictures because we don’t have a lot of pictures together. 
i’m happy with not having them done! i’m not the type to have pictures of me or us put up in our apartment unless it evokes a certain moment or trip or something specific. to have pictures taken just for the sake of having pictures of us is a bit meaningless to me. i look forward to framing a wedding picture and remembering the happy moments of that day.
I wanted engagement pictures, but not the cost that comes along with them. So, we’re having a friend we trust with a digital camera shoot hordes of photos of us cavorting in a park, and will hope that out of hundreds, we’ll get a few great shots. Isn’t that the benefit of digital photography?
I didn’t take them and don’t feel like i missed out. We had a destination wedding in hawaii and a banquet at home so we had 2 photogs. but it didn’t matter to me either way and my fi didn’t want to take them so it worked out for us.
I didn’t want to spend the extra $400 for an engagement session in hawaii.
Ours were included, I don’t think I would have paid $450 for them…but now that we have them, I am SO HAPPY that we did them!
(Is there any way you could get a deal from your photog? Take only 1/2 the photos that they normally would, therefore cutting out 1/2 of the time they would spend a)taking the photos b)touching up/processing the photos?)
I feel so much more relaxed about the photos going into the wedding day, for all the reasons Miss Snow Pea listed. I was thinking of coloring my hair before the wedding, after seeing the e-photos now I know I will not. I was considering doing my own makeup for the wedding, and practiced for the photos, I liked the way it turned out and now I will definitely be doing my own makeup. We were also able to notice from the e-photos that FI has a sunglasses tan-line that is EXTREMELY noticeable in photos (even though it’s not so noticeable in real life), so he will be wearing sunscreen from now until the wedding. Oh, I also noticed that I will need to make a focused effort on my posture on the wedding day - there are many e-photos where I look slouchy.
Anyway, my point is there are MANY good things that can come from e-photos…but $450 is more than I would spend.
Good luck, tough decision!
We negotiated the engagement session out of our wedding package, and haven’t regretted it a bit. I just can’t imagine what I’d do with all those staged couple photos….aren’t the wedding ones enough? I do think that it does serve a useful purpose in getting you more comfortable with your photographer, but I feel like that’ll happen in about 10 minutes on the wedding day anyway….
Our cost was about the same, and we got hundreds of pictures back, plus a signing mat and framed 8X10 picture of our choice from the session. We used it as the guestbook at our wedding, and it now hangs in our home.
We had a Shutterfly book made from our favorite pictures, and it was a huge hit with friends and family. We LOVE our e-pics and are so glad we took them.
I say go for it!
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Miss Peppermint, LA/Palm Springs Age and Occupation: 23, Actress Fiance's Age and Occupation: 24, Web Producer Engagement Date: October 21, 2006 Wedding Date: December 2007 Blogging Since: July 2, 2007 Venue: historic estate overlooking the heart of Palm Springs About Me: I am a Southern California native who enjoys cooking, writing, travel and all things in the arts. Mr. Peppermint and I met in college and he proposed on our four year anniversary in one of our most special places, Joshua Tree National Park. We're having a destination wedding in Palms Springs that will incorporate tradition as well as reflect our personalities!
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