engagement photos...yay or nay?

laurenpearl01

so i recently told my fiance that we need to get our engagement photos done, but then he asked "why do we need engagement pictures?" we've been engaged for about 2 years so i wouldnt consider them engagement pics anymore. and if i cant find a real specific reason of why we need them done, i might say heck with it, why spend money on them? .... and suggestions or advice..?

LesPaul

E-pics are nice, but they aren't necessary.  I'd say save the $$ for your wedding photographer.

alecat9

Sometimes your photographer will include them with your package. Pros: It's a good way to get a feel for your photographer. Some brides use the engagement pics for their STDs or table numbers. Also gives you a nice picture to send with your engagement announcement to the newspaper.
Cons: Can be expensive.
You can also just have a friend take some nice photos of the two of you together and call those your engagement phots...or just forego them. They aren't necessary but I personally am glad I did them (although mine were free because my cousin is going to do all my photography).

bbyckes

I would say yay.  This way you really get a feel for your photog, their style and how fast they work.  Like pp stated, many photogs will include them for free in whatever package you purchase.  Even though you've been engaged for 2 years, you're not married yet, so you are still engaged. 

trix1223

Unless they're included in your photography package already, I say nay, not necessary.

handfast4me

I vote Yay.  We had them done in Scottish Country Dress (Fi in kilt) in an historic cemetery.  Our wedding, in contrast, was on the beach, and I wore an ivory dress, he linen pants and shirt.  So, they had a very different feel.  We have the engagement photos hanging all over our house, and use them at our various Scottish Highland events throughout the year, at our Clan tent.  The wedding photos are in a book on our coffee table.   Because we used different photographers (because we were in different states between e-pics and wedding pics), we didn't have the advantage of "trying out" a photographer.  But I did learn something very interesting, that my then Fi, now DH HATES to have his picture taken.  He was uncomfortable throughout the e-pic session.  I was glad I found that out BEFORE the wedding, so we could talk about it, and I could mention it to the wedding photographer, so she handled things a lot differently thant the first photographer. 

quotequeen

I didn't see the point either.

jenn.daniel

We're only doing them because they came free with the photography package.

jrpetrik

We almost didn't do them. All of the ones we'd seen looked silly and cheesy and we just didn't like them - even the ones of a classmate of ours who is the last person in the world you'd expect to have cheesy engagement photos had cheesy engagement photos. Our photographer, however, offered them for free and it was a good opportunity to get to know her style (I already knew her). We were still hesitating, but some friends of ours encouraged to get them saying that it's nice to have some professional photos of you as a couple that aren't just wedding photos... So we did. We were pleasantly surprised that they came out quite natural and not at all cheesy looking. It was even pretty fun to do, though neither of us enjoy doing posed photos.

So yeah. If it's part of your photography package, go for it.

karmellah

my e photos were only 100 so thats one reason why we did them. another was we needed a nice photo for thr newspaper. ive never got as nice photo of david. love the ephotos

unplainjane

nay. we're not doing them. i don't really get the idea of them. if it was included in our photo package we would do them but we didn't budget for it or even think about doing them.

tashala107

My vote is yay. Ours was part of our photo package, but I would've paid extra for an e-pic session. We just had ours last weekend; it was great to get to know our photographers. I now feel 100% confident they will do an amazing job on our wedding day. 

aerinpegadrak

Ours was included with our package.  We used one of the pictures for our STDs, and another for the envelope liner.  Plus, it was just a lot of fun.  I'm not sure I would have paid extra for it, but it was something I appreciated having.

laurenpearl01

thanks for the input ladies! putting them on the tables at the reception is a really good idea. im not sure if the e-pics are included with our photog or not. we're having a friday night wedding so he said he'd make up a special contract for us to give us a little bit of a discount...so we'll see

MrsJG2Be

FWIW, FI and I had ours done and I'm glad we did. Most of the pictures that we have of us were ones where one of us held the camera. So these pics were ones I wanted of us. Our families love how they turned out too.

t.kaufman

I would also say yes. Good opportunity to get comfortable with your photographer and with being in front of the camera! Some nice pics of you and FI might also show you things that you wish to change about your appearance before the big day!

vickivail98

Ours were included, but I would have squeezed them into my budget anyway.  Aside from getting to know our photographer, I also wanted to test out my self-done airbrush makeup look.  I did a less dramatic but similar to wedding day test and can't wait to see how the colors turned out.  We are using our pictures (which we get digital rights to) on tables as numbers, at the engagement party and (I hope this isn't too wierd) I plan to put one into invites of family I know cannot afford to travel to the wedding.  I want them to have a nice pic of us and to know that we miss them and love them.

runnerchic06

I opted not to do engagement pictures...I decided I would rather spend that moeny to get a better wedding photographer and better wedding album.  Some wedding photographers will let you do a free engagement sitting, if you book them for your wedding.  Then you just have to pay for the prints.  That might be a good option.  

kpwedkk

Nay we didn't do them either - with a professional photographer. We had some family pictures taken after we announced.  We are saving up for our 5 year anniversary, or further down the line - mature love, and what we've been through for the future years - including kids or pets when we have them

zappatini

My fiance said the same thing.  We decided to save the cash.  If our photographer had included them in the package for free then we would have either done them or tried to negotiate a lower price by not doing them.  We have used pictures a lot for engagement parties, bridal showers, save the dates, and grooms dinner invites.  We ended up asking a friend to take pictures for us and they turned out fine.

lemken

At first I wasn't going to... but then I started thinking about how my FI and I had no nice pictures together yet and decided to - and I'm so happy that we did! I absolutely loved them!

hlefler

I say nay! I feel like they are just a waste of money; the photographer will try to hook you saying it's so you can feel more comfortable around them.

My fiance and I have been dating for nearly 6 years. If we don't have a cute picture of us at that point, a photographer isn't going to be able to take one either!

If you want an engagement type picture, have a friend take a posed picture of you two at your favorite locale. That's what we are doing.

wwnbw

we didn't...we didn't have the money and it wasn't apart of my package because we are getting married on a Friday night as well and he cut us a good deal with the wedding pics. maybe later i may wish i would have but right now i could care less that i don't have them.

laura_fett

I vote Yay! We just did ours a couple of weekends ago, and had so much fun. We don't really have a recent pictures of us, so we wanted to get some updated pictures that we could put on our walls. I'm not into the traditional posed style of pictures, but that's why we didn't hire a photographer with that style. Our e-pics are very natural and beautiful. We are so glad we got them. Plus there is a very big difference in the quality between having a professional photographer and having a friend take some pictures. FI's father didn't get it either, until he saw the pictures our photographer took. GL!

bexx246

I vote yes!  We paid a little extra for ours, but it was totally worth it!  My fiance was kind of nervous about it at first, but it actually turned out to be a lot of fun.  It was a little awkward at first, but once we got comfortable, it was awesome.  We ended up with a lot of really great pictures.  We used them to put an annoucement in the paper, send STDs, and are using them at the reception.  However, I really do think the most important thing was that we got comfortable taking pictures together with our photographer.  I REALLY think it's going to make our wedding pictures turn out better because we will already be more comfortable.

luckyme502

We didn't do engagement pictures. 

farmtowngirl

We did epics for a few reasons, one they were included in our wedding package so we thought ok. But the main reason I pushed for them is it is a nice way to get some nice picts of my fi and me, and it was a nice way to get a family pic with him, me and my son. So it all worked out.

millercr621

I didn't see the point either.

simplebride_24

We did engagement pictures, but they also came with our package through our photographer.  We have pictures taken every year or so, and our family has gotten a custom to receiving them.  That was one reason why we had them done, the other reason was because I wanted to do a time-line of images from when we started dating to our wedding day.  Because I have all these images, and more.  

 

I say Yay, but I believe that pictures are necessary to keep life going, and to keep memories of each other.

savinapopp

There's no need to spend money on engagement photos..just have one of your friends/family members (whoever is halfway decent at taking pictures) snap a few shots of you and your FI.  If nothing else, you can use them for your save the dates, or not use them at all if they don't come out the way you wanted them to!

hallk33

We weren't planning on getting engagement pictures done but I'm really glad we did. It helped us get used to our photographer and posing. 

We got the pictures and session for free because we booked from a bridal show.