What is the purpose of prewedding photography session?

Question

many of the wedding photographers offer pre wedding sessions for the couple. I always wonder how is it helpful? it make the final day's photography better?

Answer 1

My wedding photographer did an "engagement " shoot as part of the package. This served a few purposes from our point of view.

1. To get to know each other a bit, so photographer and couple will be comfortable with each other on the day
2. To understand what kind of shots the couple favour, so these can be prioritised
3. For the couple to get used to being natural with a camera pointing at them. Most people aren't used to this so it's good to get a go at it when the results don't matter as much.
4. Of course, for the couple to get some lovely photos showing how much in love they are a short time before their big day.

We aren't the sort of people who generally like being photographed so we weren't sure what to expect, but our engagement shoot was amazing fun and well worth it to feel more at ease with the photographers on the day.

Answer 2

Pre-Wedding photo sessions are big business.

They are extremely popular with the Asian and Indian Communities where they will happily spend $1000’s on this one session.

Sometimes, it may even be themed at say Disney or perhaps a different part of the country or maybe even abroad.

Generally, the idea is for the couple and their very close friends to be themselves!

An example is of a couple who wanted a Bollywood themed photo session. They dressed up in their respected wedding outfits, but it was all staged and modelled with props and friends.

Another couple wanted their pre wedding photos on an old aircraft. They both work for an airline and this was their way to show their engagement. Once again, their friends were invited, they also dressed up in their wedding outfits.

On a different note, there are those couples who prefer to have their staged photos done; pre wedding at the actual location. They prefer to leave the actual day for real emotional photos and not care so much on the technicalities. The kind of photos that would mean a lot to the couple, but not neccessarily be a part of the photographers portfolio.

These sessions are also very helpful for both the photographer and the couple to get acquainted and have a more relaxed wedding day as everything thereafter, will be candid and quick as the photographer has already gained experience of lighting the Brides curves, dress, face and can freely roam around and position him/her self for the best beauty light hitting her.