You’ve just got engaged - congratulations! And now you’re debating whether to have an engagement photoshoot or not bother. Let’s talk about why you should.
I’m Nazlee, director of award-winning wedding venue Offley Place, where we’ve hosted hundreds of beautiful wedding days. I recently got married too, so I have all the insider secrets and top tips to share from both sides of the aisle.
An engagement photoshoot is a wonderful way to celebrate your love and capture the memories of this special time in your relationship. These are the reasons I think you should consider having an engagement photoshoot to celebrate your love.
1. Treasure the Special Moment of Your Engagement
Your engagement is one of the most special and meaningful times in your relationship.
You’ve just made the amazing decision to commit your lives to each other, and before the stresses of wedding planning commence - it’s truly a precious time.
An engagement photoshoot is the perfect way to document and remember this snapshot in time.
It’s your chance to have fun and celebrate your love with your partner, and create beautiful photographs that reflect both your personalities.
These photos are perfect for displaying around your home during the wedding planning process, and to share online or with family and friends.
When it comes to the photos from your actual wedding day, there is usually such a lot going on - gorgeous outfits all round, incredible setting, your wedding cake and your guests. Engagement photo shoots are much more pared back, raw and simple - just the two of you and your love.
An engagement shoot is something that you can look back on to relive the excitement and joy of the special engagement period for years to come.
2. You’ll Get to Know Your Photographer
Do you already know who you want to photograph your wedding?
If you do, then planning an engagement photoshoot with that photographer is a brilliant opportunity to build some rapport before your wedding day.
This is going to help you feel so much more comfortable when it comes to your wedding photos - which means that they will feel so much more natural and authentic.
It’s also an amazing way to get a sense of what your wedding photos will look like. You can see how your photographer works, and get a good idea of the style and quality of photos they will produce.
This can help you get a feel for your wedding photographer’s personal style, and make sure you’re 100% happy with it before your wedding day.
If you choose a photographer that you love, and they’re not available on your wedding day, then don’t panic.
This is exactly what happened to me.
We worked with the amazing Ayelle Photography for our engagement shoot. I’ve worked with them for years before and we knew we would feel super comfortable with them.
And of course, they shot some amazing photos for us, but they’d already been booked on our wedding day.
We had to go back to the drawing board, and find another incredible photographer to take our photos on our wedding day.
In the end we loved having the two different styles for our engagement shoot and wedding day.
So if this is what happens to you, don’t panic, it’ll all work out either way.
3. You Can Practice Your Posing
An engagement shoot is the perfect opportunity to practice posing, and get comfortable in front of the camera as a couple.
For most of us, posing as a couple in front of a professional photographer is quite a new thing, and there’s no better way to practice getting comfortable than in front of the lens.
Your photographer will usually guide you through different poses and styles so you can get a feel of what works best for you.
Camera shy? I get it. When it came to our engagement shoot it was something I felt very nervous about too.
I promise you, it will be fine. The more photos we took, the more we started to feel comfortable in front of the camera, and the results were amazing. We were so pleased with them.
If you're camera shy it’s even more of a reason to book an engagement shoot, so that you can get a sense of what it feels like before the big day.
Ultimately these are your photos, so if you don’t want to share them with anyone afterwards, you don’t have to.
When it comes to your wedding day, you are not going to be able to escape the camera - so this is one that you might as well embrace, get comfortable with and you might find you even enjoy it.
4. You Get to Be Affectionate with Your Fiancé in Front of the Camera
Another reason to book an engagement photoshoot is to practice being affectionate in front of the camera.
This is a big thing for most people, as it’s usually the first time you’ll have photos of you taken in this way.
Practice really does make perfect.
Start with holding hands, and build up to cuddling and kissing in front of the lens - these are going to be similar photos to the ones you’ll be taking on your wedding day.
As well as capturing some magical moments for you, you’ll also be getting some good practice to make sure you’re relaxed and comfortable for the big day itself.
As hard as it might be, try to pretend that your photographer isn’t there, and it’s just you and your partner.
This is the best way for you to get those natural shots, the candid photos where you look like yourselves, interacting as you naturally do.
You’ll be able to almost feel the love and affection through those images, so try your best to be in your own little world.
5. You Can Use Engagement Photos On Your Decor and Invitations
Call me an over-planner, but I’m always thinking about the next step (sometimes the next steps!)
And I’m here to make sure you do the same.
The photos from your engagement photoshoot are perfect for your engagement announcement card, which you’ll be able to share with friends and family.
There are many more uses for your engagement photos - invitations to your engagement party, wedding invitations, your wedding website, thank you cards - the possibilities are endless.
In a season where we’re celebrating your love, professional images are never going to go to waste!
As well as sharing with friends and family, we used our engagement photos as decor at our engagement party.
We found an antique mirror, had photos printed and attached them for our guests to look at. They loved getting a special little glimpse into our love story. We also used the photos from our engagement shoot on our wedding website to set the tone and inject a little bit of “us” into the aesthetic.
Our engagement photoshoot photos were perfect for making everything we sent our guests a little bit more personal. It’s all in the little touches that make up the overall feel of the wedding, and that all starts with the engagement of course!
Overall, an engagement photoshoot is a wonderful way to celebrate your love, and capture the memories of this special time in your relationship.
If you’re on the fence, I hope I’ve managed to convince you, because this is one I don’t want any brides to miss out on.
Still nervous about the idea? Take some time to think about it, but it might be just the thing to give you the confidence and practice to get the best shots for the big day itself.
Plus, you’ll be capturing these special moments. It’s not all about the wedding, it’s about your whole love story, and your engagement is a huge part of that.
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