Why do people have pre-wedding shoots?

From my perspective that's all true Bill. I use the opportunity to practice etc.
Tbh I don't know any photographer that couldn't benefit from more practice. To be able to take more risks and try new ideas that you might not want to at a wedding can help you develop as a photographer.

Clients also find out they don't suck in front of a camera as allot of people seem to think. This can raise there confidence and stop them worrying their wedding photo's will suck.

Lastly there is an added benefit for the photographer. When I turn up for a wedding after doing an engagement shoot, I'm not a complete stranger to the family as strange as it sounds. It's a great ice breaker because family and friends will often go out of their way to tell you how much they loved the engagement photo's. It's like you walk through the door with instant respect as a photographer rather than some guy with a camera calling himself a 'photographer'.

Below is an engagement shoot from a while ago that had this effect. And yes as you can probably tell Bill, it was freezing but they enjoyed it.

Engagement Shoot

Here is a card from my clients own words. It can be beneficial.

Having said all that. I don't think engagement shoots are critical to the outcome of the wedding pictures, far from it. Just that they at least can be beneficial.

I think that the value is in building a relationship. Yes you meet up when you book your wedding although getting to know the togs style of shooting should help you to be more at ease on the day when your nerves will be frayed. Seeing a known face, someone you can trust and be relaxed around and allow to get on with their job simply delivers great photography.

Peter

Should add that the shot below was from an engagement shoot for a hitcher. This shot has gained me lots of comments and bookings.

Waterloo Station for those interested...Lovely couple now married....

Peter

I think I meet about 5% of my couples, otherwise the first time we meet is on the wedding day and I seem to get on with not only them but there family and friends?

I guess that's what they call a "Brucie Bonus".

Yeh I really liked that shot as well Peter. Good idea to slow the shutter a little. I aslo think it would work great in B&W.

wow I didn't think I wanted one until I saw these pics! They're fab!

That's just brought up another question. Am I the only person who doesn't like black and white photographs? I don't hate them or anything but I have asked our photographer to not change any to b&w as I just like colour.

Rhys, that's a fantastic shoot.

Thank you Bumble19 & Kharv. ?

Those are lovely photos Rhys. I suppose I find the thought of any photo shoot of me and my partner just incredibly vain and self absorbed. But... I'm not the kind of person who puts pictures up of myself around the house, yet some people do. A wedding itself I suppose is very self absorbed as there's no 'need' to have guests or a photographer, for example, but I suppose it is recording a special day so has a purpose in my eyes. I'm not saying anyone who chooses to have one is an idiot, I just find it hard to see the appeal (other than practice in front of the camera perhaps) personally. I think my word to sum up how I feel about them is 'cheesy' and we all love a bit of cheese in different places. I really am rambling on now. Each to their own. No offence meant.

I like both, but favour colour overall. Sometimes though the colours in a picture can look yucky so B&W will work better. Also if B&W ( especially if used sparingly in a set) can draw attention to a moment as there is less distraction.

Thanks Rhys, good points. It can be a lot more flattering too I imagine.

We have our engagement shoot in a few weeks, about 7 weeks before the wedding. Mainly we are doing it because:

- OH is a bit camera shy
- we get to spend some time with our tog on our own to get a feel for how we will all interact with each other
- we are doing it at the venue, so we can scout for locations for the big day
- it was included in the price

The way I see it. Time is precious and it fly's by. Pictures taken of me growing up were practically worthless to me at the time, now they are incredibly precious. People often say "I don't know where all the time went". Personally I would like to be able to look back on pictures and remember/show others. I love looking through my family's old photographs, you learn things about them you never knew. Even if it's as superficial as how they looked.

I love photos, I really do as I have an awful memory. It's the whole staged fun of a pre-planned session that I guess just isn't my bag. They seem to take place generally quite close to the wedding so people don't 'need' photos of them at that time as they won't have aged much between then and the wedding. I feel like I'm probably coming across as a complete nob. Sorry everyone! I am genuinely interested on people's views on them.

You're not at all. I completely see where you are coming from. I'm a bit similar myself, but being a photographer now (it makes you a hard to please customer) I would be very picky who I chose to shoot it.
Tbh, if you are genuinely having fun on the shoot with someone you love then there will be real moments to capture within a contrived situation.

As I said though, in terms of how it will impact your wedding pictures. They are not critically important at all.

I had a pre-wedding shoot with our TOG, it came as part of the package, and we had them about 8 months before our wedding.

I'm really pleased we had it, it felt like a bit of a practice run for both of us - we could see what she expected of us, what she was like when she had a camera in hand (people are often different over the phone than when they're working) etc and she could see what we were like, what shots we were most comfortable with, what kind of thing we were happiest to do etc and she tried out a few things as well just to see how it would work.

I don't get why doing pre-wedding shoots equals an inexperienced photographer. And since when has practising been a bad thing? Doesn't every photographer, however good they are need to 'practice' in the sense of developing (excuse the pun) their photography and growing as a photographer? I can't see how you're able to try out new things on wedding days without wasting couple's time or giving them shots they need so how do you learn new techniques/new ways of doing things?

And for me, no amount of Skype of stranger telling me my nose/eyes/face won't look big in the photos is the same as actually seeing a photo where this happens. The same with nerves. Thanks to my pre-wedding shoot I now know the photos won't be as awkward or as uncomfortable as I thought it would be, so it's one less thing to get anxious about on the day, and I like that we've met our photographer and we'll know what is expected on the day. It wouldn't matter how many times you told me on Skype/the phone that it will all go fine on the day, I still wouldn't believe you and I'd still be nervous. But if she can get nice photos of us in the park on a cloudy day in my jeans then I'm pretty confident our wedding photos are going to be just fine.

The photos themselves we probably won't use many though I intend on putting one in a frame as we have no nice photos of us. We also used them for the invitations - we knew we wanted to do this and asked our TOG beforehand if she'd be happy to take a particular shots for them as we wanted a photo strip on the invitations. You can't see it's us in the shots though (we are two figures on a hill) but this was exactly what we were looking for and I love those pictures.

P.s Sorry for the long post - but I felt I needed to reply to the 'pre-wedding shoots are for inexperienced togs' thing! And Rhys - those photos are lovely.

I loved our pre-wedding shoot. We had it about 12 months before the day as we wanted to use a picture on our Save the Dates. It came as part of our (experienced!) TOG's package so we figured why not? We got some great pictures, had a lovely walk and got to chat with our TOG and get to know her more, and she us. I'd emailed her, and spoken on the phone previously, but my partner had only met her the once.

I don't see why they would be a bad thing for anyone really, but if it's not your thing then hey ho - don't judge others because it's theirs.

We are having an engagement shoot with the guy who will prob be our TOG soon.

It gives us a chance to see how he works and make sure we like the pics he does of us before commiting ourselves to him for the big day.

He offers this completly free of charge as hes so confident we will love him! TBH, im pretty sure we will be booking him, but just gives us chance to make sure hes the right man for the job!

Also, I love the idea that you shoot it at your venue and then when you get married you got back to the same spot in your nice clothes and recreate the image. So its something we really wanted to do.

Like others have said, we have very few pictures of ourselves together so a nice chance for a few of them as well!

I love the pre-wedding shoot. A lot of photographers offer it in their packages and it's usually to meet up again with the couple, have a catch up and it's also for the couple to get a feel of what we're actually like when we're holding the camera. I find a lot of people, upon first hearing the words "pre-wedding shoot" want to run for the hills, although every one of my clients ends up really enjoying it and says they're very glad they done it. Most people usually say it's a lot less staged/awkward than what they thought and that they feel a bit more prepared for the wedding day itself ?

Our photographer has one included in the price of the wedding package. We originally asked for a quote without it which she duly did but after meeting her for the first time and discussing what we wanted for our wedding she really sold the idea to us.

Neither myself nor OH are particularly ones for posing and for this reason there are very few pictures of us as a couple despite being together for 13 years, which is a shame. I'm hoping this shoot will be a practise for us more than anything. She said it tends to be the couples who are most reluctant towards the idea end up saying they got the most out of it. I'm sure it will be awkward to start with but if we can get that bit out of the way pre wedding hopefully our wedding pics will look a bit more relaxed.

Plus it's the chance to get a few nice pictures of us together with our dog!

I also always find it's the couples who are not keen on posing or the people who may be a bit camera shy who end up being the most pleased with the results. I'm sure you'll have a great time and you'll really enjoy it. Even nicer that you have you will have your dog in some too, just play with him and act naturally and your photographer will probably capture some nice natural shots ?

This.

Aside from all the other great reasons 'for' the pre wedding shoot it's a great opportunity for couples to get portraits of themselves looking, well, like themselves. You're not just a couple on your wedding day after all!

I don't think it's cheesy at all!

but I love posing for pictures... However nothing prepared me for the fact myself and OH were initially so uncomfortable in front of the camera together! We didn't know what to do, where to look and it's just felt so awkward in general!

1hr into the shoot was when we were able to relax and really enjoy ourselves! Looking back at the pictures now you can really tell the difference between the pictures taken at start of shoot and those near the end! We had fun, enjoyed ourselves and went with the flow!

plus we got lovely pictures to show of on our wedding site but then I guess that's just very self 'absorbed' of us....

If we get our dream photographer it will be someone I booked a boudoir shoot with before. I got on so well with her and the pictures are so amazing that she's worth the huge chunk of our budget. In spite of that, if I have to go with anyone else, I still won't have an engagement shoot - it feels kind of awkward to me. I'm not really any good with self-publicity. There are a few photos of me in my house, but they are all holiday photos rather than photos taken for their own sake.

This is exactly how I am with my OH. Been together for 11 years and we don't have many photos of us because I feel very uncomfortable in photos and you can see in photos how I have an awkward smile plastered on my face when I'm posing for a photo. I have been complimented on how I have a beautiful smile but it just doesn't show in photos.

When looking for a photographer I specifically looked at those who had an engagement shoot because I know this would help me feel more confident. I feel nervous and tense in front of a camera and would hate for it to show on my wedding. At least with an engagement shoot I can feel more comfortable and feel more relaxed around the photographer.

We offer pre-wedding/engagement shoots because we love to do them! Especially if its soon after the engagement. The romance and excitement between a couple makes for lovely images! I got married last year and wish I'd had one. As much as I love our wedding pictures, I wish I had photos of us looking a little more like we normally do.

I don't think they are essential to a wedding, I do think it helps a couple to connect more with their photographer, and it's fun!

Just wanted to say, what an absolutely beautiful set of photos Rhys. I particularly love the shot of the two of them with the pine cones. Just gorgeous ?

Thank you Laura. Your work looks lovely to! ?

Definitely agree with what's been said about the value of engagement shoots and the benefits of having them (relationship building, reassurance etc)

I find that a lot of my couples like them because they also get some nice photos of themselves together that they can then use to 'personalise' aspects of their wedding day.

For example one couple wanted to send out information for their day in a card, like menu choices, map/directions, pressie requests etc (they already had their invitations done so sent guests one envelope with everything inside) They were able to choose their favourite image from the E shoot and have it on the front.

Another wanted something personal to help decorate the ceremony. The got themselves a nice big frame from Ikea, again put their favourite E shoot image in it and away they went! After the wedding they just swapped out the engagement photo for one they liked from the wedding and saved themselves some money.

So these are just little practical considerations and uses that you could, if you fancied it, put your engagement photos to.

(I'm going to try and put examples of the above two in this post so you can see what I'm blathering on about - fingers crossed it works!)

I am one that is for them. We're having ours a few months before the wedding.

For us it's that we want some nice pics of us the photos of us atm tends to consist of us trying to take selfies and one of us missing half a head!

Ours was also afford in our package. I really get on with our tog we email each other regularly and she's helped us in the planning etc.. despite this good relationship I am still scared of stepping in front of that camera. So for me it's to get over that in a relaxed environment