Why are engagement sessions such a big deal?

If you follow me on social media at all, you’ll know that I am a firm believer that engagement sessions are so important. I’m pretty obsessed with them. Not only are they important for YOU, they are super important for your photographer as well. Having an engagement session prior to your wedding day is a must for me. So much so, that I offer complimentary engagement sessions to couples that book a full day wedding collection with me.

So why exactly are engagement sessions so important? Read on, friend.

1. You get to have photos taken in a stress-free environment

Weddings, no matter how hard we try, have an element of stress that is unavoidable. Even if you have the most laid back, well planned day, the last thing you want is to meet the people responsible for making it all run smoothly the day of.

In order for me to get the types of images you see in my portfolio, you need to feel comfortable with me. I make stupid jokes to get you to laugh, but I also give you some prompts that are meant to make you feel vulnerable. That’s hard to do when you haven’t eaten in 5 hours and all you want to do is get to cocktail hour so you can eat a damn coconut shrimp.

During your engagement session, really all you have to do is relax and enjoy being with your beau. It’s like a date, but you get awesome photos out of it. Win-win.

2. Establish your expectations

Maybe you realize halfway through your engagement session that you really don’t like to kiss on camera, or your fiancé is super self conscious of the way their hair looks from a certain angle. It’s way better to let me know all of these things now, when we have time to see what DOES work for you, rather than on the wedding day when are on a more strict timeline.

This also gives you time before the wedding to see what the actual wedding photos might look like. I’ll be honest…I ask you to do stuff that feels awkward AF, but looks GREAT on camera. I want you to see the engagement images and think ‘omg she was right, that’s actually really cute’. That way, when I have you do something similar on the wedding day, you’re already familiar with what the outcome will be.

3. Get to know your photographer

Probably the most obvious reason engagement sessions are so important is so that we can get to know one another before the wedding day. Like I said above, you might realize you like or do not like certain things about having your photo taken, and I need to know that! Likewise, you’ll get to hear a bit about WHY I photograph things the way I do.

Before you book your photographer, you should have spoken to them a time or two and made sure your personalities match, but this is the true test. Does this person make you feel comfortable? If not, what can they do to FIX that? This is the time to figure that out together.

4. It’s a time to just enjoy being engaged.

Wedding planning is stressful as hell. I 100% get it. Think of your engagement session as a time to just reconnect and enjoy being engaged. Dress up, get your hair and makeup done, make dinner reservations for after your shoot, and spend an hour or so remembering WHY you’re marrying this person.

I hope this helped you understand why I am so obsessed with engagement sessions.

If you want to see some of my favorite engagement images, click here!