Are engagement pictures worth it?

[monkeyprincess]

I am thinking about setting up an engagement photo session - not to put in the paper or for invitations or anything, but just because I would like to have some nice pictures of the two of us. I have no idea why, but every time someone snaps a photo of us, he freezes up and looks very serious. In real life, he is always silly and has such a great smile. He''s not keen on the idea of a photo shoot and doesn''t think it is necessary. So my question is - is it worth it to have engagement pictures taken? Are you happy you did or didn''t? What are you doing (did you do) with your pictures?

 

[sonnyjane]

I didn''t have an engagement shoot, and didn''t miss it either. I have friends that did, and they have gorgeous pictures, but the primary purpose was just to post them on facebook. If he''s not keen on the idea, I wouldn''t push it, plus it''s just an added expense in my opinion. My husband is similar Other than our wedding photos, I have MAYBE a dozen pictures of us in the four years we have been together. He just hates a camera!

 

[wannaBMrsH]

I tried to respond and Pricescope ate my answer!

YES! I love our engagement photos! I think that it is different to have a few snapshots than to have a full photo session. At some point during the photo shoot, your FI will forget that the camera is there and you WILL get some really great pics.

Plus, once we had all of our pics, we were bound to find a few that we loved (we got about 30 that we can''t pick between!) and it seems like someone just took photos of us during a great day and not necessarily a special ocassion(sp.).

I didn''t realize how few photos there actually were of just the two of us at our wedding, so it was great to have additional photos....

I say YES!

 

[RaiKai]

We didn''t, and I don''t regret it either.

I will say I DO wish we had done some more "candid" couple pictures at the wedding, but we had some hiccups so it did not turn out that way. Long story and while slightly disappointing, it is as it is!

My husband likes pictures, but we are pretty bad at taking couples shots as we are always too busy having fun and sort of forget, ha!

I personally have always thought that engagement shoots could look a little...posed...which is not my style. I sort of feel that about any planned photos...so my word should be taken with a grain of salt there. Of course, I have seen some that were cute too....but if your fiance freezes up at pictures, an engagement shoot is not likely to help that!

I have only ever seen them used for save-the-dates, facebook or......propped up on the gift or registration table at the wedding.

If you are getting a photographer for the wedding...sometimes they will throw in an engagement shoot as a bonus....then it would be worth considering!

 

[CurlySue]

We''re having them done, and I''m looking forward to it for a few reasons - we''ll get to build more of a relationship with our photographer, and we''ll get some high quality photographs of the two of us (which we have very few of). We may use these photos as additional gifts for our parents, and we might get a few for just us - possibly to display at the wedding.

With that said, the engagement shoot comes as a part of our wedding package. If we had selected a photographer that didn''t include it, we wouldn''t have paid extra to have one done.

 

[zoebartlett]

We did them but I wish we hadn''t. We didn''t get any of them printed, and in fact, I didn''t like any of them. I blamed it on the fact that even though I wear glasses all the time, I decided to take them off during our photo shoot. I didn''t look like myself though. Also, it was pretty windy that day and the wind was causing my hair to fly all over the place. If I had thought about it more, I may have asked our photographer if we could do a re-shoot, but I didn''t feel comfortable asking. We had ours done on the beach where we got engaged.

We had already booked our photographer for our wedding and then we scheduled engagement pictures to be taken. I wish we would have done our engagement pics first before booking our wedding photographer. If we had, we may have gone with someone else, but maybe not. Our photographer was great but she wasn''t as artsy as we thought she would be. Anyway, this might be something to think about.

I''ve seen some amazing engagement photos, especially if the photographer is artsy.

 

[princessplease]

Yes, completely worth it!!! I LOVE looking at our e pics SO much and they are SO beautiful. It was one of the best things we ever did as a couple, and our friends and family loved them. I''d say go for it!!!!

 

[Amanda.Rx]

I actually did 2 engagement shoots- one with my professional photographer & one with a friend who is an aspiring wedding photographer.

My professional shoots were fun! They can certainly feel strange if you''re not comfortable in front of a camera, but both FI and I were, so they turned out GREAT. They photos themselves were expensive to purchase too, but I plan on framing the larger ones and putting others in an album.

My friend''s shoot was a ton of fun! It felt much more relaxed and casual, and me and FI could "be goofy" in front of him. We paid him like- $100 for a 1-2 hour shoot and rights to all the photos- in return, he put them on his website and added them to his portfolio. Those have been great, since I can legally reproduce them. I made a photo calendar with them and put them on facebook, wedding website, etc.

I''d say, overall, engagement photos are worth it! It gives you some good quality photos of you and your FI (non-wedding gown/tux).

 

[monkeyprincess]

I was contemplating hiring a local, professional photographer, but you bring up an interesting point Amanda.Rx. My freshman year college roommate is going to photograph our wedding. She is a photojournalist for a newspaper but does wedding and senior portraits on the side and really amazing and weird photoshopping. She lives about 6 hours away, but maybe we will have to arrange a trip out to see her and have her take some candid photos of us. She is super talented, but so goofy and lighthearted that I''m willing to bet even my camera-phobic fiance couldn''t help but take a good picture or two. I would just love to have quality pictures of as we are now on a regular day and not just all dolled up for the wedding, so we can look back on them and show them to our children someday. Ahh

 

[D2B]

We didnt. In hindsight I wish we had some nice photos of us as a couple before we got married, engagement photos or other type, done professionally.

My DH and I always joke we can spot photos of other couples before kids and mortgages a mile off, there is a certain carefree look when you are young and in love before either of those set in (especially kids

) which would have made for great photos.

 

[laughwithme]

We love our engagement pics and I am so happy that we got them. We used some as Christmas gifts, and created a photobook for our coffee table. It gave us the chance to wear normal clothes, goof off at the lake, and be relaxed in a different scenery than the wedding will be.

 

[beltane]

We didn''t have any done for our engagement, but we''re old and funny looking -- not a big deal.

My daughter had engagement photos done and the guy gave them a deal because they ended up hiring him for the wedding last October. I love their engagement pictures... very casual and fun.

 

[megumic]

We did not want nor plan on engagement photos. However, our wedding photographer includes it as part of the package we selected and because it was reasonable enough, we decided not to go with a "custom package." Our photographer feels the engagement session is a good opportunity for her to get to know us and understand how we operate, so on our wedding day she''ll be able to catch us in the moment and anticipate the upcoming moments. We''re excited for it!

 

[PumpkinPie]

we did not have engagement photos - but I can see the appeal.. especially since we did not have professional photos at the wedding either.. but for me, it was not worth the cost or the formality

 

[jcarlylew]

a yes from me as well, especially if your friend can make your Fi at ease!
E hates his smile, so i knew our pictures were going to look a little pained. So, we went to the zoo for our pictures (that always is fun) and I made bathroom jokes the whole time. You can really tell the difference once E started to lighten up!

 

[kittybean]

We didn''t have engagement pictures taken, but I wish we had! My brother''s girlfriend is an amazingly talented photographer, and she did a 15-minute photo session with us between our rehearsal and rehearsal dinner (which she very graciously photographed for us as a gift). Those photos turned out to be some of my favorite pictures of us. She is a very sweet, fun girl, and she made it a lot of fun for DH, which was great. I loved seeing his real, everyday smile finally captured on film. My advice would be to find a photographer who puts both of you at ease, and go have some fun taking pictures. I think you''ll be happy with the results.

 

[gwendolyn]

J generally makes weird faces (sometimes by accident, sometimes on purpose

) in front of the camera, and we had no money, so we just had a friend of mine who takes decent photos snap some of us at a party. We just wandered off into the woods for about half an hour and she shot a bunch of photos of us, and we got some very sweet ones (because J felt more at east with someone he knew), and they were free! Win-win!

 

[EyeElle]

I think its nice to have them, but they aren''t needed.
I had 2 done - I didn''t hire a professional as my friend is an aspiring photographer so we let her practice on us.

I think its a nice idea mainly for practice. Especially if you say he freezes up, this would be a good chance for him to experience the whole photoshoot process. It was good for us to see how we photograph as well (since alot of the time I think I look good and turns out it doesn''t come across that way on film

)

But I say if you want it go for it, its alot of fun and a nice memory to have. Plus these photos I think are a fun way for you guys to enjoy this moment in your life, have fun with it and be goofy, as wedding photos I think tend to me more serious and glamorous.

 

[caribqueen]

We got engagement photos, but only because a photographer and colleague of my FI''s at the time offered. He was trying to build his portfolio, so we figured why not. Otherwise, I''m not sure that my FI would''ve agreed to pay a lot of money for it and do them. We ended up giving the guy some money but it was more like a thank you.

We used the pictures for our website and will display one of them at our wedding reception''s well-wish table. (I think it was also nice for our families who had not met the significant other to get a sneak peak look at the other person in the couple before the wedding.)

 

[stephbolt]

I''m glad we got ours done - but we got them for free! We found an aspiring photographer who did them to launch her business. We framed a few of them, and I will probably make a photobook with the rest in the future. I also enjoyed the chance to be in front of the camera. We learned FI has a habit to not look at the camera, somethint we need to be sure to fix for the wedding!

 

[Green with Envy]

based on what you said... you MUST MUST MUST get engagement shots or you are going to waste a whole lot of money on your wedding day pics. tell your FI that the purpose of the shots is too get used to being in front of the camera and a good photographer will help him loosen up and make more natural facial expressions. otherwise he will have that same serious face in every wedding day pic and that does not sound like what you want.

 

[sunnyd]

I loved doing them! It''s a great way to get a feel for your photog''s style and personality for one, so you know what to expect on wedding day and you''re not strangers. We made a guestbook out of the pics so it was completely worth it to us.

 

[marlie]

it was part of the package so we did them and loved it! it was one of the fun parts of the whole engagement experience. nobody else weighing in, just me and FI hanging out with our awesome photographer. it was nice to get to know him better too and get comfortable with the whole picture taking process. i think our wedding photos will be better because of it. plus, they turned out great and i love to just look at them and remember the fun day.

 

[Haven]

I really wish we had set up an engagement photo shoot with our photog so we would have known BEFORE THE WEDDING that he was horrible. Our pro pics turned out awful, and they looked nothing like all the beautiful photos and albums he had in his studio.

One of my biggest regrets is skipping out on the free engagement shoot, and not because I want those pictures. I think it''s a great test run to see *how* your photog works, and the *real* quality of his pictures.

 

[JSM]

We didn''t, and it''s one of my few regrets from my ''engagement'' days. I love pictures, and it would have been great to have memories from that time. Our wedding photos are fantastic, but it would be nice to have good shots of us looking like us, not like a bride and groom.

 

[Lauren8211]

Date: 4/7/2010 2:27:39 PM
Author: Haven
I really wish we had set up an engagement photo shoot with our photog so we would have known BEFORE THE WEDDING that he was horrible. Our pro pics turned out awful, and they looked nothing like all the beautiful photos and albums he had in his studio.

One of my biggest regrets is skipping out on the free engagement shoot, and not because I want those pictures. I think it''s a great test run to see *how* your photog works, and the *real* quality of his pictures.

Totally agree!

The engagement shoot is more than just a photo shoot - its getting to know your photographer before the big day. It was so much easier for me to be around my photog on the wedding day because we had gotten to know each other during the engagement photo shoot. in fact, she didn''t even call them engagement photos, she referred to them as a getting-to-know-you shoot.

Oh - and the pictures came out beautifully! We love them! So happy we did them!!

 

[Anonymous]

We''ve only been engaged since 3/26/10, but I don''t think we will get them. We''re going to be married in NY and we won''t get to see our photog until then (though FI knows them, and has worked with them before so I''m comfortable w/that). I might look into it more if FI hadn''t made sure that he got someone to take our pictures when he proposed, but I just don''t think we need them because those turned out GREAT and really capture our happiness in a relaxed, beautiful setting (a bay cruise with the Golden Gate in the background).

 

[RaiKai]

Date: 4/6/2010 9:35:32 PM
Author: Maevie
we did not have engagement photos - but I can see the appeal.. especially since we did not have professional photos at the wedding either.. but for me, it was not worth the cost or the formality

Yes, we did not have professional photos either at our wedding. So, no test driving was required via engagement photos I guess! We just had to look at how our family members had done in the past via family albums (answer....mixed results).

 

[katamari]

I cannot say yes emphatically enough to this question! I love them infinity more than our wedding pictures, because they are just so much more "us."

 

[wannaBMrsH]

Weirdly, enough, I just thought I would update you on our recent "getting the most for our money" story.

We did two e-photo sessions when we were engaged. One was just the two of us and the other involved his kids (a Family session!). We received all high-resolution files and copyright release for all photos.

Fast Forward a little more than a year and we are re-doing our kitchen. We stripped all the wallpaper, retextured the wall and painted it a very neutral beige (we are going to be selling it this summer) and couldn''t figure out what to put up on the wall. We wanted something artsy, but not a print of someone else''s home or anything. We didn''t necessarily want a photo (or photos) of us, but we wanted something meaningful that we could hang in our next home.

I walked in the door today and DH surprised me with our latest work of art: One of our engagement photos (of just our shadows) printed on a 24x36 canvas that he ordered online. It looks amazing and it''s perfect in sepia as it goes with the beige wall. Best of all, we know it''s us, but it doesn''t scream "vain jerks!" (at least I hope it doesn''t)...

Moral: If you decide to go for it, you can do anything that you want with your photos later...make presents for parents, photo albums for yourselves, put one up at your bridal shower, even make art for your home...at least that''s what we did....