Introduction

The entire process of getting engaged and them planning a wedding is both exciting and a bit of an intimidating rollercoaster. There are many details and decisions that you never would of imagined now need to be made. One of the first events in this whole process is your engagement session. However there is no reason this has to be stressful and anything other than a ton of fun. 

I have been a wedding photographer for almost twenty years, and working in the beautiful city of Boston for six of those years. I encourage each any every one of my clients to plan and capture an engagement session as the start of a fun and rewarding process.

Why this is so important?

Your engagement portrait session is one of the first and very important steps in your wedding planning. This is the event that will tell all of your family and friends that you have meet your true love and they you two have decided to spend the rests of your lives together. You will be creating the passionate portraits that will be use to show everyone the love you have for your fiancé. With this importance can come some anxiety as well. Will the portraits express the real us? Will the images looked forced? Are we going to looked posed? What if I am just not a picture person? What if I do not like the way we look?

These are true concerns, but they are also one's which are easily overcome with just a little bit of pre planning. In the almost twenty years I have been a wedding photographer I have develop a simple yet effective process to make sure that not only will your engagement portraits be breathtaking, you two will also have a ton of fun capturing them. 

Talk to your photographer

One of the first actions I would recommend you and your fiancé doing while planning your engagement portrait session is engaging in active conversations with your photographer. Portrait photography in general, and weddings are no exception, is a very personalized and custom profession. In all the years that I have been capturing weddings, as well as engagement sessions, I have never had two couples that were alike. Every couple is different. Every couple has a different story, a different style, and two distinct personalities that love each other.

Thus I highly recommend telling your photographer the story of you two. Get together for a cup of coffee and chat. Tell them about how you met. Tell them about your first date, why it was so memorable, and what happened next. This simple little conversation will go for miles in helping ensure your portrait session produces amazing and authentic portraits.

Choose a location meaningful to your relationship

This section is probably why the engagement session is my favorite part of wedding photography. In the modern world we live in, we can literally capture images anywhere. We are no longer confined to the studio. We can literally go anywhere to create the portraits that tell your story. I love this part of the process. I love talking with my couples, hearing about their story and they discussing ideas about where we can shoot. I have captured portraits at the restaurant where they had their first date, the park where they like to relax, or even Fenway where the groom loves the Red Sox but the Bride is a Yankees can through and through. Basically, what I suggest is this. Take some time and think about a place that has been very important to you and your relationship with your fiancé. Perhaps it is your home, your local park, a favorite pub, the beach, or even on the subway. Think it over and where you come up with, have your session there. 

Just Relax!

Lastly, and most importantly, the best advice I can give you for your engagement session is simply please relax. Get a good, solid night's sleep the day before and just go into this big day as you being you. Have a decent meal before hand and just let it happen. Do not go into with numerous ideas. Just relax, breath, follow the photographers direction, and let it happen. More specifically, let your true self show through and you will be amazed by what happens. 

I hope this article was helpful for your wedding planning needs. If you have any questions about engagement sessions or about the wedding photography work I do please drop me a message below. I would love to chat.