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engagement photos...worth it or not?

So after being engaged for 6 mos...my fiance and I have finally set a date for June 30 2012. My question is....are engagement photos worth it? My fiance doesn't seem to think we need them. We got engaged while visiting some of his family in India and they threw us an engagement party. So we have pics from then. I'm starting to think he might be right - we don't need the extra expense. But I know that photographers often offer an engagement session as a part of their packages. Has anyone skipped this and opted to include something else instead? Thanks in advance for your feedback!

Re: engagement photos...worth it or not?

  • edited December 2011
    We skipped engagement pics. They weren't a part of our photography package anyway. We sent out a STD without a picture on it (although if we wanted to include one, we have plenty of our own pics). We are probably doing a picture at the wedding in a frame for people to sign, and we will just use a pic that we already have.
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  • ginabean82ginabean82 member
    Knottie Warrior 100 Comments Combo Breaker
    edited December 2011
    We decided not to do engagement photos, but they were included in our package.  Instead we got 100 thank you cards for free in place of the engagement photos.  To be honest, I really don't see a point in getting them done.  You don't really use the photos for anything, and it's just an extra expense.  
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  • edited December 2011
    If they weren't included in our package, we would have skipped them. We wouldn't have wanted the extra expense. But since they were included, we did them and used one for our save the date.
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  • edited December 2011
    Some people opt for engagement photos as pictures for thier save the dates, and as a try out of sorts for thier photog.  Having the engagement shoot really gives you a feel for the comfort level you get with your photog, you get used to smiling for a long time, and things like that.  I personally didn't request them but I won some through a bridal show and another set were  part of my package (he wouldnt substitute).  So if you don't think you need or want them, talk to the photog about thank yous, parents albums, brag books, or something you do want.  They will not likely drop the price however, as vendors are more inclined to throw things in or substitute rather than lowering prices (obviously this doesn't apply to a la carte photogs)
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  • cindyn9178cindyn9178 member
    1000 Comments 5 Love Its
    edited December 2011
    They were not included with our package, and we didn't do them, but had they been included, I don't think we would've done them anyway. For us personally, I think they would just be a waste of pictures we'd never really look at.
  • mbcdefgmbcdefg member
    10000 Comments 5 Love Its Combo Breaker
    edited December 2011
    I wanted them done, but not so much for the actual photos. I wanted an e-session because I wanted to see how our photographer would work with us, if we would be comfortable with him, what his final product would look like, and what his turnaround time was like.

    Basically, if we didn't like him, I wanted time to bail out of our contract and find someone else. I would rather eat the deposit than discover after the wedding that our photographer sucked.

    Luckily that wasn't the case with our guy. He had great credentials and we were comfy in our initial meetings with him so I knew he wouldn't be horrible, but we were incredibly happy with the e-pics. We were comfy around him (MH especially, since he wasn't thrilled with the idea of e-pics at first), and have gave us a great product very quickly. I was very glad we had that peace of mind, instead of going into the wedding day just *hoping* that things would turn out O.K. Lots of wedding photographers get good reviews, but their attitudes/styles and their final products might not be right for US, know what I mean?

    And we got some cool pics to put up on Facebook and use for some wedding-related things, so that was a plus as well.
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  • edited December 2011
    We did them.  They were included in our package, but we wanted to do them anyway.  We're using them for some stuff in our wedding (guest book, table numbers) and we also just wanted nice pictures of us.  We've only been together a year and a half, so it's not like we have a ton of pics, so it's nice to have professional ones that aren't of the actual wedding.
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  • sgdc2011sgdc2011 member
    1000 Comments
    edited December 2011
    they were part of our package.  It really made us feel comfortable with our photographer and made us realize we picked the right photographer for us.  We used pictures in our stds, and guest book.  we also ordered some to put around the house.  I think it was a positive.
  • Laurms15Laurms15 member
    2500 Comments Combo Breaker
    edited December 2011
    We got them done I think we paid like 100 extra for them. We did NOT use them for the STD. HOWEVER we found them to be really helpful in getting used to the photographer and their working style. We really found we enjoyed his humor and how he worked with us and it made for a MUCH smoother wedding day once we knew what was going on.
  • edited December 2011
    I would recommend getting them done for a few reasons:

    1.  It's good to have nice professional portraits of you in everyday clothing at this stage of your life.  And by portraits I mean PRINTS.  Not digital files that will die with each hard drive crash or computer upgrade.  When is the next time you will do this?

    2.  It's a good trial of your photographer's work and a great experience to get to know each other and get a feel for how it will be like on your wedding day

    3.  It's a good trial to fix anything you don't like in the pics like odd facial expressions,etc, for your wedding day pictures

    Most of the time they are included, if they are not, they really don't cost (or need to cost) much.
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  • blueikaosblueikaos member
    100 Comments Second Anniversary Name Dropper 5 Love Its
    edited December 2011
    We have been together for 6 yrs and never once had professional pics done.
    Our parents always gripe that they have no "nice" ones of us.

    Our friend is a photographer so she is going to do them for us for next to nothing, as many places as we want.
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  • edited December 2011
    If it's part of the package, I'd do it.  If it isn't part of the package, I'd skip it.  We skipped it and thus far have had no regrets. 

    Part of the reason I'm not a huge fan of them is because within 1-2 years (or much sooner, in your case) of having the e-pics done, you're going to be married and therefore you'll get a ton of pictures of the two of you together, so I just can't understand the need to have so many professional pics of yourself taken in such a short period of time.
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  • StefaniBelStefaniBel member
    Third Anniversary 100 Comments
    edited December 2011
    Engagement pictures aren't really necessary, but I think it is a good thing doing them.
    My fiance and I are doing the engagement pictures for the exact two reasons "USER876" just posted.

    I am 5'2" and my fiance is 6'6".  In pictures we normally take sometimes don't look so nice because of our height diferece.  Plus pictures taken by a photographer are SO much better than the ones taken by regular people (family and friends). Normally we would never had professional pictures taken of us, so engagement pictures are a nice opportunity.  We are going to print some of them and hang in our house, and some I will print to have in an album.

    Fiance felt so much more relaxed knowing we will be able to test our photografer with our engagement pictures session before the wedding.  One of his sisters had a beautiful wedding and end up with bad pictures of it, so he is really concerned about the quality of the photographer. We will also get to know better how the photographer work with us, and more about her personality.  I was told once "The photographer is going to spend most of your wedding day with you, so you better make sure you feel comfortable with that person". 

    Example of picture taken by a friend ( so you can see the "problem" with height difference...lol !!!) :


     
    Now a picture with a photographer friend:






     
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  • edited December 2011
    In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_new-jersey_engagement-photosworth-not?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:90Discussion:e57564ef-b8b9-4c77-a329-528838ceca8dPost:da42c1bf-ad4f-4323-95b3-b1a856aea833">Re: engagement photos...worth it or not?</a>:
    [QUOTE]If it's part of the package, I'd do it.  If it isn't part of the package, I'd skip it.  We skipped it and thus far have had no regrets.  Part of the reason I'm not a huge fan of them is because within 1-2 years (or much sooner, in your case) of having the e-pics done, you're going to be married and therefore you'll get a ton of pictures of the two of you together, so I just can't understand the need to have so many professional pics of yourself taken in such a short period of time.
    Posted by peaches178[/QUOTE]


    I think your engagement pictures are more versitile because you are in everyday clothing.  I agree how many pictures do you need from your wedding in the tux and  gown.
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  • edited December 2011
    I also used my e-pic day as my make-up trial, which helped!
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  • edited December 2011
    In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_new-jersey_engagement-photosworth-not?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:90Discussion:e57564ef-b8b9-4c77-a329-528838ceca8dPost:8d5372fb-ece0-4290-bfc0-883f43cbed9e">Re: engagement photos...worth it or not?</a>:
    [QUOTE]In Response to Re: engagement photos...worth it or not? :<strong> I think your engagement pictures are more versitile because you are in everyday clothing. </strong> I agree how many pictures do you need from your wedding in the tux and  gown.
    Posted by USER876[/QUOTE]
    I agree with that, but if the pictures aren't included with the package then I just can't justify paying even a couple hundred dollars to get more pictures of the two of us (on top of the wedding photos) in such a short time period.  For us, we'd really have no use for them.  If I had to choose between showing people our wedding photos or engagement photos, I'd probably show the wedding photos just because they'd be more meaningful to us than shots taken at a random park or train station or wherever (though I do know some people have their e-pics taken at places that mean something to them).

    After our wedding, we'll probably get professional shots taken again once we have our first child (God willing).
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  • edited December 2011
    A couple of hundred dollars is what a decent photographer costs for good quality portraits.  I mean if you don't consider Sears Portrait Studio a decent set of portraits.  I get it if budgets are a little extra tight over the other wedding costs, but in general, for what they will mean to you over time, a good portrait session is a bargain.
  • blueikaosblueikaos member
    100 Comments Second Anniversary Name Dropper 5 Love Its
    edited December 2011
    I also think they work well for long engagements.  We aren't getting married for 2 years so I'd like to get pro shots done :)  By the time the hype is over from our e-pics, we'll be ready to take our wedding ones. haha
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  • LissyM83LissyM83 member
    Fourth Anniversary 500 Comments Name Dropper
    edited December 2011
    We just took our engagement pictures 2 weeks ago and just got the proofs back today. They weren't included in our package either but I'm glad we took them because we were able to see what it will be like to work with our photographer on our wedding day and I now have an idea of what types of shots I like/dislike. 
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