The Importance of an Engagement Session l Ali + Hadley Aiken, SC Engagement Photographer

Lets be really really shamelessly real here for a minute..

Planning your dream wedding usually comes before you even meet the guy..thank you pinterest! I mean, come on, all those beautiful dresses, flower arrangements and those dreamy dreamy flowing veil at sunset shots?! COME ON! Hows a girl to resist?! (I think my wedding pinterest board started my freshman year of college #noshame)Fast forward. You’re engaged! Congratulations!! You share the photo of your new bling on Facebook. Now, what? You mean you have to actually plan this thing?!

Planning a wedding usually isn’t quite as easy as repinning posts on pinterest, unfortunately. BUT, taking your engagement photos can and should be one of the fun parts of planning/the engagement process! Theres usually two schools of thought on engagement pictures:

A-Obviously, I’m taking engagement photos. I mean if a girl gets engaged and theres not a pinterest worthy photo to share…did it even happen?

B-Ain’t nobody got time for that!

So, I’m going to share some of my thoughts with you guys real quickly…(then I’m going to share with you the session I’m currently editing because Ali + Hadley just are the cutest and deserve all the heart eye emojis! I MEAN LOOK AT THEM!) Okay, so here we go. Lets talk engagement photos and why you should totally have an engagement session……

Establish a relationship with your photographer! Emails, phone chats, Skype, coffee dates..they’re all great don’t get me wrong. But shooting together allows us some really fun opportunities..
1. I get to know you two as a couple. I can see how you interact with each other and the dynamics of your relationship.
2. I can find the angles that work best for you both.
3. I can learn about YOUR love story and what makes your story different. This allows me to capture shots on your wedding day that will be even more unique to you as a couple.
4. You get to know me! Chances are I’ll be the one you spend the most time with on your wedding day. It sounds silly and its not something many people think about…but I’ll be there with you every step of the way. I’ve helped button dresses, build cakes and stuff giant dresses into tiny cars at the end of the night (trust me, its totally like trying to get the cream back into a pastry..) But in all seriousness we’ll be spending a lot of time together on your big day! Lets get to know each other!
YOUR WEDDING DAY IS IMPORTANT…..PRACTICE!
1. Ever heard the saying practice makes perfect? You’ll have a camera around you ALL day on your wedding day. With a little practice (and getting to know each other) you won’t even notice the lens on your wedding day.
I AM SO AWKWARD IN FRONT OF THE CAMERA. Seriously you guys there is nothing I hate worse than having my picture taken. Its almost comical. I know I’m not alone in this! Having engagement photos taken can get rid of some of the stage fright and you can see that not only is it not scary but it can also be a fun and rewarding experience (come on we all love having a gorgeous photo)!
You get pretty pictures.
1. Use them for your announcements in the paper
2. Use them for save the dates
3. Send to family
4. Post them on Facebook and make all your friends jealous…I mean share the exciting news…
This is the perfect time to do a trial run with your hair and makeup. See how long it takes. See what you like and see how it looks in photos!
This is a fun chance to get creative. Its not every day you have a camera following you around. This is SUCH a fun time in your life..do something fun to remember it!
1. My mom always reminds me that pictures aren’t just for you (and what are mothers if not all wise oracles?!). Photos are family heirlooms. I love seeing photos of my parents from before I was there. I can’t tell you how many hours I’ve spent looking through shoeboxes of old family photos. Start building your family shoebox..
Because its fun.
1. I promise.