Reasons For Booking A Pre-Wedding Shoot
Despite what loads of people think, we believe an engagement shoot (or a Pre-Wedding Shoot as we call it) is a wonderful thing for a number of reasons. Read on to find out why we think booking a Pre-Wedding Shoot might just be the best decision you make for your wedding.
Reason One
Meeting Your Photographer
A Pre-Wedding Shoot a great opportunity for a couple to meet their photographer before their wedding. On the shoot the photographer and couple get to know each other better. Couples find out more about how their photographer works and the process etc. The photographer learns what’s important to the couple. All the small details or last minute queries about the day can get ironed out in person, all of which ultimately making a couple’s wedding run even smoother.
Meeting couples before their big day arrives is so much fun. It’s so much more relaxed when first meeting them privately rather than on the wedding day itself. We love putting their minds at ease if they’re at all feeling tense about getting their photograph taken (most are, don’t worry). We always find weddings go even smoother when we show up having met the couple beforehand.
On a wedding day we’re like 10/10 chilled, but when we’ve done a Pre-Wedding Shoot with the couple, our chill factor is turned up to 11.
Reason Two
Get Camera Ready
Secondly, a Pre Wedding Shoot is a great opportunity for a couple to get comfortable in front of the photographer’s lens. Not everyone loves getting their photograph taken in fact most people don’t. Think of booking a Pre-Wedding Shoot as practice for your wedding day.
This is one we have first hand experience with. When we (Ross & Ruth) got married, an engagement session came as part of our package and honestly, initially we were like “do we really need this”…
Turns out Ross really needed it! He was overthinking the whole thing, didn’t know what to do with his face or his hands, or where to look etc. We’re so glad we spent that time with our photographers (The Lous) before the wedding arrived to almost have a practise run at our portraits.
Reason Three
Anytime, Anywhere
One of the best things about a Pre-Wedding Shoot is that it can be done anywhere. If there’s a beach/forest/city location that has a special meaning to the couple but they can’t visit it on the wedding day itself, the Pre-Wedding is the perfect opportunity to capture it. As a couple, it’s always nice to have some photographs together in your everyday clothes in a rad location - as well as lots of lovely photographs from the wedding day.
We’ve done many many many Pre-Wedding Shoots over the years and they’re always nicer when the location means something to the couple. Whether that’s a beach, forest, mountain walk you always take… or where you first met… or your favourite pub in Belfast… maybe even the place you got engaged. We’re always up for meeting couples in a place that has meaning to them. If you don’t have a ‘place’ don’t worry too much. We have a load of cool locations up our sleeve that always work a charm.
Another point to make here is that on a Pre-Wedding Shoot, you can just wear your normal/comfortable clothes. Honestly when we look back at our wedding photographs verses our pre-wedding photographs, the ones of us we like the best are from before the wedding when we were photographed in locations we like, in clothes that we like. Now almost 10 years on since our own wedding, when we look back those are the photographs we see more of ourselves in.
Reason Four
Using The Photographs
Finally a couple can use their final photographs from the Pre-Wedding Shoot on the wedding day itself, whether that’s as a printed guestbook, used for invites, wedding websites, table plans, cake toppers, thank you cards, whatever! The photographs from the Pre Wedding Shoot can make your wedding even more personal and memorable to those attending.
We love seeing our photographs from a Pre-Wedding Shoot used on a couple’s day. Often they are printed for welcome signs or guestbooks and we get a real kick watching guests admire the photographs we took. Obviously they’re swooning over the couple more than our photographs, but that’s when we know we’ve done our job correctly!
Well are you sold on a Pre-Wedding Shoot yet? Hopefully so. Get in touch via our Contact Form to book one of our Pre-Wedding Shoots for yourself, we’d love to hear from you…
Photographs featured in this post are from Michael & Emma’s awesome Pre-Wedding Shoot on Murlough Beach in 2025. Check out more photographs from this shoot here…
