If you’re reading this you’ve most likely either booked our Wedding Commission which included a complimentary engagement session or you’ve purchased an engagement session from us as a stand alone service. If you haven’t booked yet then you’ll enjoy hearing more about our approach and how we use the engagement session as a tool to better serve our clients on their wedding day. Hopefully you’ll join our cadre of lovely clients and we’ll be having our own engagement session together.
To us the engagement session is a fun and experimental session with our new clients. During the session we have a few goals.
- To make photos that you two will love. I want you two to like how you look in the photos and how you felt while they were being made.
- To make photos that we will love. I want to get excited and have interesting things to show future clients.
- To learn what works and doesn’t work physically for you. People come in all shapes and sizes so it’s great when we can play together in a relaxed way without the tight time constraints of the wedding day. I can come up with ideas and approaches to best flatter your bodies and how they fit together. The shoot will not exceed PG-13 so don’t get any ideas.
- To get a feel for your personalities. We can determine if you want to be made to look more sophisticated, fashion forward, or fun and carefree.
- To get you accustomed to having a camera on you for hours on end so that you can forget we’re there. There won’t be any surprises on your wedding day now. We can truly hit the ground running when we arrive at your home or hotel room on the wedding day.
- To have FUN. We love getting to know our clients and the engagement sessions are something we really look forward to for that reason. We love to make great photos and we trust that that sense of fun and adventure will allow you to open up and have some loving fun together too.
Engagement Session FAQ
How early should we conduct our session?
If you want to use the images for your save the dates then I’d recommend having our session at around 6-8 months before your wedding. If you’ll be using engagement prints or making a sign-in book from the images then lets have them scheduled about 3-4 months prior to your wedding. That’ll give us time to process the photos, place your orders, and discuss the session before your wedding day.
Aren’t you shooting weddings all the time? When do you shoot engagement sessions?
Since we don’t shoot weddings every weekend there will be approximately one Saturday and one Sunday per month that we open up for these sessions. In addition to those weekend openings I love joining couples in the golden dusk of weekday evenings as well. Get in touch with us to coordinate schedules.
Where should we photograph our session?
I have a number of favorite urban areas as well as favorite Chicagoland gardens. For couples who want a general urban Chicago flare or simply want an organic and natural environment these options are fantastic. I’m also a huge advocate of planning a totally personal and unique shoot with you. You may choose to have your session at the location of your first date or the proposal. You may have a boat, a favorite neighborhood, or local park where you spend a lot of time. Perhaps one of these deeply personal places could work for you. See some of our engagement blog posts for ideas.
What if we want to go to two different locations that aren’t very close to one another?
For the 1 hour sessions this won’t be practical. We can create a wide variety in one park or setting however sometimes you may want to get a great skyline shot at Navy Pier but also want to hit Wrigleyville. Add a second hour if you don’t already have a 2 hour session and we’ll be able to commute to a second area.
What should we wear?
Dress COMFORTABLY and as casually or as dressy as you desire. One groom wore dark jeans with a sport coat and it was great for a dressy look in the close ups. Then with the jacket off it was very casual. We’ll be walking, sitting, and fairly active so keep that in mind. Jeans are always a safe bet. Dresses look great and have a lot of personality. Short skirts can be tough to shoot sitting in but it’s workable. If you love how you look then we’re game.
Try to avoid LOUD PATTERNS or COLORS like Hawaiian shirts or neon polkadots. It can be a real distraction from the rest of the portrait unless it’s a themed and very intentional vision that you have. I had a couple not too long ago wear plaid shirts that were coordinated (not identical) and it looked really good. I’m not opposed to patterns just really loud ones ; ) Use your best judgement. Obviously if you’re both into pattern making or have a distinctive style that includes layering japanese prints then bring yourselves out in that attire. I’m all for it. We’ll make it work and it’ll be you in that case. Call this the no Hawaiian shirt rule.
FOOT WEAR – We’ll explore the park or beach so be prepared to walk around a bit and possibly get your feet wet or dirty. Stiletto heels may not be what you want to wear unless we’re in an urban (all sidewalks) environment. If you go with heels then wear other shoes or sandals to walk around in until we set up the shot. If you can trounce through sand and/or grass in stilettos then again, by all means, wear them the entire time.
I’m not a fan of matching identically but coordinating color schemes is great.
What about a second change of clothes?
You most likely have a 1 or 2 hour session. If you have a one hour session then I recommend one outfit with possible variations such as jacket on or off. Sometimes the logistics of finding a changing room/area and taking a break in the middle of our hour can burn more time than it’s worth.
In the 2 plus hour sessions there will be ample time for a wardrobe change up, often conducted between location changes.
I recommend leaving the wardrobe in your vehicle where possible or have a friend accompany you to carry bags and changes of clothing while we walk and shoot hands free.
Should I bring anything else?
We’ll be moving around and doing some on the move shots as well so it’s best to keep it as simple as possible in terms of luggage. Again, having a friend along as your assistant can be a great touch to aid with this.
Have some fun. You could bring a PROP or some item that is unique to you two. My brother in law brought a yukalelee to their session and we used it with him playing it for my sister. I’ve worked with frisbees, balloons, umbrellas, pets, bicycles, wigs, a trumpet, a clown nose, you name it. Don’t force it but if something inspired comes to mind then bring it along! This leads me to this next question.
Can we do x, y, or z?
So the conversation usually starts with, “So I saw a really cute [blog post, photo, save the date, media source] a while ago that had the bride and groom holding [balloons, chalk boards, umbrellas, prop] and thought we could do that.”
The short answer is yes. We can do exactly what you saw another couple do. I want to help your vision come to life and record images of you two having fun and loving one another.
It is my belief however that some concepts are overused and tired if not outright cliche’. At the same time there are unique things that you two may actually share which we could do. For example, unless you’re a school teacher and you met your fiance at school then what are chalkboards doing in your engagement session? If your fiance is a helicopter pilot then let’s go for a helicopter ride or shoot in a hangar. I’m a huge advocate of doing unique and personal things with your shoots as long as there is some real context for it that is bigger than “so-and-so did this”.
When will we see our pictures?
We aim to have sneak peaks from your session up in under a week. Those will be posted on our Facebook page as well as possibly appearing on our blog. The whole set will be shared with you within 3 weeks.
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