If you just got engaged, congratulations! It’s so exciting to begin your wedding planning journey. Getting married is a beautiful time for couples, however, there can also be a lot of stress involved. Some of this pressure revolves around finding the right photographer for your wedding pictures. Through your engagement photoshoot, you can test out a photographer and take some of the stress away from the big day. Here, we’ll give you the highlights of what you need to know about your engagement photos.
The Basics
You first want to start by creating a budget for your photos. This will affect all your decisions going forward, like who your photographer will be, where the pictures will be taken, and what you’ll wear. Wedding planning can be expensive, so it’s important to try to save anywhere you can. Basic engagement photos cost around $300-$600 depending on where you’re located, and how experienced your photographer is.
Who Should Take The Photos?
Many brides struggle to know who to choose as a wedding photographer. Do you take recommendations from your family or friends? Or do you search local listing and Instagram from whose aesthetic speaks to you? Our recommendation would be to begin on Pinterest and create a mood board of engagement photos you love. This will help you nail down what your vision is, as well as have something to send a photographer to convey your wants. Be sure to notice the photographer’s editing aesthetic as that is generally more locked in, whereas the style of pictures be that formal poses, candid, or portrait can change.
Another thing to consider when trying to decide on an engagement photographer is would you want to spend your wedding day with them. Your engagement photos are a dry run of your wedding photos, and you want to like the person you’re spending time with, so make sure you facetime or meet before you choose. Many a bride’s bid day has been ruined by a rude videographer or photographer they don’t get along with.
Consider The Timing
Some use their engagement photos are save the dates, while others want to keep them as memories of this special moment. But whatever your intention is, timing is key. If you want to use them for save-the-dates, you need to give yourself ample time. Especially because good wedding and engagement photographers book up to 10 months out. Also, depending on where you live, you’ll want to wait to shoot the pictures till either fall or spring to shoot their pictures as the weather is the mildest, and easiest on the hair.
Get Comfortable
Engagement photos can be whatever you want them to be, and this also applies to your look. Some brides want to try out a makeup look that they may have for the wedding, while others want to look more natural. The most important thing is that you’re comfortable and you and your partner look like you fit together (HINT: Don’t your groom pick out his outfit).
We can’t wait to see how the pictures turn out!