If you’ve spent any amount of time with me, you may know just how much I adore my CKP Couples. I love helping them dream up their wedding days, plan out timelines, giggle and twirl through engagement sessions, and come wedding day, I love celebrating right alongside them. I value our relationship so much… I wouldn’t want it any other way! There’s a huge key component that goes into building these sweet relationships, and for me, that’s the engagement session!
Today, I wanted to chat about the importance of having an engagement session with your wedding photographer! This isn’t a question that I get asked often, but it is one that comes up from time to time when I chat with potential CKP Couples… should we do an engagement session with you if we’ve taken photos already? (Short answer: YES! Long answer: Keep reading!)
I include a complimentary engagement session with each of my wedding packages for so many reasons, and today, I wanted to share 4 incredibly important reasons why I think you will absolutely want to have an engagement session with your wedding photographer. They may just surprise you, so let’s start chatting right away!
Getting to know your photographer before your day is valuable
I love getting to know my couples before their wedding days. As a wedding photographer, I witness so many intimate moments on a wedding day… from stepping into wedding day attire, to the first look, your ceremony, family portraits, and everything that goes on behind the scene. Wouldn’t you want to feel comfortable with that person? I want my couples to know I am someone they can trust if things get crazy AND that I am someone they can have a good time with too. After all, I will be around A LOT during a wedding day!
Having a relationship with your photographer will make that feel so natural and like an extension of your celebration. I truly believe that this relationship begins with your engagement session! You’ll be able to get to know each other in a lower-stakes environment than on your wedding day, and it’ll give you a preview of what it is like to work with them in person, so you can get even MORE excited for your wedding day! Not only can you ask questions about wedding planning + photography, but you can also get to know them as a person and as a photographer too. Knowing what to expect before your wedding day is a great way to start to diminish any nerves you may have about the photography process.
Allowing your photographer to get to know you before your wedding day is also immensely valuable
As fun and important as it is to get to know your photographer before your wedding, it is also SO important we flip the coin! Your photographer needs an opportunity to get to know YOU as a couple before your wedding day, and the perfect place to do so is during your engagement session. With my style of photography and the way I choose to do life and run my business, I value the personal connection I have with each of my couples immensely. Along with that, I also value the insight I can get about my couples during their engagement sessions!
I include a complimentary engagement session with each of my wedding packages for SO many reasons, but the biggest reason is that it is a low-stakes way for us to get to know each other and for me to learn how to BEST pose a couple! You see… each couple is a little different! I have found that each couple tends to have that one or two poses that they absolutely rock and at the same time, they may also have one or two poses that make them a little uncomfortable! They have certain things that make them giggle, certain ways they like to hold their hands, and certain ways they look at each other in between poses. I want to learn how to capture all of that and more BEFORE your wedding day is here!
Before going into a wedding day, as your photographer, I want to KNOW that I can confidently and quickly capture photos that are true to you as a couple… I don’t want to be figuring it out when we’re pressed for time! The best way to do that is by spending time together.
You can learn how your photographer poses to make portrait time on your wedding day a breeze
This is similar to the above point, but it rings so true! Every photographer has their own way of posing. You’ll get more out of your wedding experience if you have a feel for this ahead of time. As important as it is for me to get to know how to pose you on your wedding day, it’s also a huge bonus when my couples all have a basic understanding of how I work before their wedding days!
Wedding time moves FAST, and can often feel overwhelming. I find there can be some nerves around being in front of the camera on a wedding day, and when you know what to expect, those nerves tend to be just a little less consuming. If you have a basic idea of how your photographer will coach you through poses, you are off to an incredible start! You’ll move through poses and prompts quickly, resulting in a larger and more diverse final gallery—what a WIN!
You’ll have gorgeous images for your wedding reception + home decor
I’m all about meaningful decorations on your wedding day and in your home! What’s more meaningful than images that document your love?! I find that, more often than not, my couple’s engagement session is one of the FIRST times they’ve been together as a couple in front of a professional’s camera… which means… they may not have many gorgeous, professional images together to display as decor!
I love that sharing an engagement session with your fiance results in a full gallery to use however you please! You can print images to display in frames… can craft an heirloom album for your guests to sign at your reception, you can print canvases and large prints to display at home or at your reception, can use your photos on your save the dates… basically, the sky is the limit! There are SO many things you can do with your engagement photos. They really add a wonderfully warm personal touch to your decor both on your wedding day and back at home!
Bonus: It is a really fun date for you and your fiance!
Let’s be honest… wedding planning can be all-consuming! Sharing an engagement session with your fiance allows you to slow down and enjoy time together! After your engagement session, I recommend scheduling a fun date to help you celebrate the season you are in! Whether that is swinging by your favorite ice cream parlor, going out for a drink, or stopping in for a meal at your favorite restaurant, while you are all dressed up, you may as well get a little extra mileage out of your outfits and any hair and makeup!
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