Engagement Pictures Poll!!

awed81

If you had/are having an engagement shoot before your wedding, when did you/will you do it? What made you pick that time? Did you/will you use the pics for anything wedding related? Did you/will you do anything unique for your pics? Fun outfits or unconventional locations? I am in the midst of gathering ideas for ours and would love to hear some feedback on how other people planned theirs. Links would be great, too!

SoonToBeB

Our wedding is May 22 2010, and we just did our pictures Sunday.We wanted it to still be warm out but did not want to wait till spring.We plan on using them for STD cards and a guestbook.We did two outfits but nothing crazy.  To me getting my photo taken is painful, so we made sure the photographer was someone who made us comfortable.

TheMorrisseys

If you had/are having an engagement shoot before your wedding, when did you/will you do it? What made you pick that time?  We did it about 15 months before the wedding. We picked that time because we were engaged and in Italy Did you/will you use the pics for anything wedding related?  Yep, our "guest book" which was a framed engagement pictures (us holding hands - PIB), our card box, wedding shower (my aunt incorporated them), STD's, and a few other things I'm sure... Did you/will you do anything unique for your pics? Fun outfits or unconventional locations?  We were in Italy, it was awesome! Pics in planning bio...there's a link to off the homepage.

January Bride

We chose late September for our engagement photos because it was fairly close to our wedding and we were able to get some nice fall photos.  We displayed some of the photos at my bridal showers, and we used a photo of us in our programs.  We also used a photo for an announcements in the newspaper.Our locations were fun.  We took some on the Chicago bridges, at the Quincy el stop, and on the el itself.http://clients.lifeonprints.com/Engagement/20080928-Jennifer-Jimpassword: pattison

kavc016

We took our engagement pictures this past June and our wedding is September 25, 2010. So it was about 15 months before the wedding.So far our engagement photos are on the STDs. I'm sure we'll use them for other things too.We took our engagement photos while on a cruise. This way we got tons of pics with different types of backgrounds and different outfits everyday.

krisdi78

If you had/are having an engagement shoot before your wedding, when did you/will you do it? What made you pick that time? Wedding was May 09 and we did our shoot Dec 08 - we don't live in the same state as where we had the wedding but were there for the holidays and wanted to do it with our wedding photographer, so that time just worked for us plus I think we were able to get some great winter shots in the city which is a bit different.Did you/will you use the pics for anything wedding related? Our guest book was a photo book made of pics since we had been together and then we also made one with just the engagement photosDid you/will you do anything unique for your pics? Fun outfits or unconventional locations? We did our pics as a combination of outside shots downtown and shots inside Union Station - for the outside shots we had our coats on because it was -7 degrees that day (-30 with windchill) and for the inside shots we took coats off, but nothing that unique or unconventionalHere's the link to ourshttp://schademann.us/northrup/ep/

ChicagoG&A09

If you had/are having an engagement shoot before your wedding, when did you/will you do it? What made you pick that time?  We did ours the May before our wedding, it was finally getting warm out.Did you/will you use the pics for anything wedding related? We used them at my bridal shower and for our save the date and holiday cards we sent outDid you/will you do anything unique for your pics? Fun outfits or unconventional locations? We did ours in the West Loop/Fulton Market areaPics in bio.. Have fun!

mandybear7

If you had/are having an engagement shoot before your wedding, when did you/will you do it? What made you pick that time? We are taking them on Saturday- hopefully it's not raining or too windy! We didn't want to wait until Spring and have been dragging our feet, so we are hopefully squeezing them in before it's too cold.Did you/will you use the pics for anything wedding related? Photobook guest bookDid you/will you do anything unique for your pics? Fun outfits or unconventional locations? We are going to be by Millennium Park and Grant Park... that's about as conventional as you can get in Chicago, ha.

Bubbala

If you had/are having an engagement shoot before your wedding, when did you/will you do it? What made you pick that time? We did ours a few weeks ago.  Our photographer had specific areas designated during specific dates, and we wanted to do it at North Avenue beach.Did you/will you use the pics for anything wedding related? Yes, they are going to be used for our Guest Book, but I haven't decided what else.  Did you/will you do anything unique for your pics? Fun outfits or unconventional locations? I wore a black dress with white polka dots, and FI had on a black shirt and dark jeans...nothng too crazy, since it was at a beach location.I am in the midst of gathering ideas for ours and would love to hear some feedback on how other people planned theirs. As much as I have been planning when it comes to the pictures for the wedding, I didn't plan on the the pictures for the engagment pictures.  I wish I had brought some I wanted to take...Links would be great, too! Sorry, the pictures aren't in yet :-)

gkb0910

We got two engagement sessions included with out photography package.  We chose to take advantage of them to get more comfortable with our photographer and with taking pictures.  Plus, it's nice to have some professional pictures of us and I don't know another opportunity for this. I was thinking of using them for our guest book or card box, but I'm not sure yet.  If not, I plan to make a book of pictures of us from the beginning of our dating through our engagement, like a story. We took our first set of pictures at Kemper Lakes before our shower started there.  The golf course is gorgeous.  FI really wanted our reception at a GC, and when they weren't available, my mom decided to do our shower at one for him.  We took advantage of the location. Our other session was Sunday afternoon at Busse Woods.  We dressed casually for this.  Half of the pictures we were in our Blackhawks sweatshirts. Our first session's pictures are in my bio if you want to see them.

jess&lane52804

I don't know that we would have done e-pics if they weren't included in our photography package. Now that we've had the pictures done, I'm very glad that we did0 it will be nice to have some pro shots and since we were both so awkward in front of the camera, I think it will help us to relax more on the wedding day. E-pics were taken last weekend and the wedding is in August 2010. I wanted to get them in before the cold hit.Save the dates, guestbook, slide show, etc.We did the typical Grant Park/Millenium park pictures, which isn't anything too exciting if you're from Chicago. However, most of our family/friends do not live in Chicago, so city pictures are more unique to them. I wore a plum colored cotton dress and FI wore khakis and a pinstripe shirt. I would call it "dressy casual".

WoodsSeltzer09

If you had/are having an engagement shoot before your wedding, when did you/will you do it? What made you pick that time? We took them in Shorewood by the River Walk and in our Photographers back yard. We waited to do them in July – we became engaged in November. But I wanted them to be all outside photos so we waited. Did you/will you use the pics for anything wedding related? Not so much. With the package we purchased we received wallet sized photos so I’ve been sending those to Aunt’s in their TY’s from our shower. Did you/will you do anything unique for your pics? Fun outfits or unconventional locations? Unique based on who’s standards? = ) We did a couple photos of us dressed up (parent photos) but then we changed into Jeans (FI wore his favorite Black Label t-shirt) and we just had fun   For us our biggest goal was to make sure they were photos that we had fun doing. Plus our photographer is know for her outdoor photography skills so it w as a must. HTH – Good Luck

marcikabarec

If you had/are having an engagement shoot before your wedding, when did you/will you do it? What made you pick that time? we did ours about a year ago - we had been engaged about 3 weeks, and we wanted to get some great Fall photos in before the trees were bare. we did them in a forest preserve (PIB) Did you/will you use the pics for anything wedding related? save-the-dates, photo guestbook, stickers that we put on our candy buffet bags...Did you/will you do anything unique for your pics? Fun outfits or unconventional locations? we went casual, i wore jeans and boots with a brown jacket, he wore jeans and a brown sweater (we did not mean to match!). We basically just took a 2 hour stroll through the forest preserve, and our photographer captured us great!! PIB!

lizbride0609

If you had/are having an engagement shoot before your wedding, when did you/will you do it? What made you pick that time? We did it about 12 months before I think. The weather was perect. It was included in our package. Neither of us had ever been photographed before and my husband was really nervous. But it worked out in the end. Did you/will you use the pics for anything wedding related? STDs and also gave them as gifts to our parents. We thought us in normal clothes in addition to formal wedding attire would be something our parents would still want. Did you/will you do anything unique for your pics? Fun outfits or unconventional locations? We went out to dinner and wore what we were comfortable in. We had no kinds of accessories that stood out unfortunately.

beautifulnryan

1.) We did ours in August.  I wanted to be able to dress up and not be cold.  Fall pictures would have been cool, but I wanted to send my save the dates out in the Fall.  As for timing of the day, my photographer suggested either early morning or right near sunset.2.) We are using the pictures for save the dates, website, and our engagement picture guest book.3.) I wanted a garden spot, but also some urban looking pictures.  My photog came up with the Art Institute, the Loop, and Kinzie Street Bridge.Here is a link to our pictures: http://danielleaquilinephoto.blogspot.com/2009/08/lady-may-ryan.html

MAKohler1986

Our wedding is in March and we did our engagement pics this weekend and they turned out AMAZING! We chose right now because it's not too warm so we won't be all sweaty, but not too cold so we won't look like we weight 300 pounds under all our winter wear.   The fall leaves also look beautiful!We had a few shots of our feet - his dress shoes and my high heels. We'll be using a few of the shots during our cocktail hour. We also used the pics on our wedding website. I have a one year old daughter, so we took some amazing shots with her. I also bought one of those "Soon To Be Mrs." hoodies from this website, and we got a shot of him hugging me with the back of the hoodie to the camera. It was really cute. Then the feet one... you'd have to see it to get it.

LexiMS

-Had them two weeks ago--wedding is July 31.  We did it when we could fit it in our schedules/photog's schedule.-We may display some at the wedding, haven't decided.-We took them at home and did some shots of us cooking--that was fun and it got us relaxed!link--heatherparker.com/blog, its the video (3rd entry down as of tonight)

principessareale

we did ours a loooong time ago and it was a gift to us. we got a wedding package from the same photographer with a discount. it was chilly out but we didnt want to look bundled up. we brought parasols and i guess now the photographer uses parasols a lot because of us. we will have a postcard of a picture of us, at each place setting, that tells what we are donating to in lieu of favors.