I absolutely love engagement/pre-wedding shoots! They’re such great fun, but there’s a lot more to them than just that.
Engagement shoots (also called pre-wedding shoots) allow you to get used to the camera, which means you’ll be less bothered by it on your wedding day, and when it comes to taking a few wedding day portraits it’s super quick and easy as everyone is already familiar with the process.
What to do with all those lovey-dovey coupley shots from your shoot though? Here are a few things I’ve seen couples do before, which were really excellent ideas:
#1: Album
Having a professionally produced photo album made of your pre-wedding photoshoot is such a nice way to remember your time together as an engaged couple. It’s also a great talking point for family and friends when they come round.
#2: Framed Print
It’s surprising how few couples have a picture of themselves on their wall at home. Your engagement is a good place to start! Seeing the two of you happy and in love on your wall at home will remind you of how perfect you are for each other.
#3: A Mounted Print Wedding Guestbook
This is one of my favourite ideas – to mount a picture from the engagement shoot and display it at the wedding. Guests then sign the mount that borders the picture with their names and message and this then becomes a wedding guestbook. Some couples then choose to replace the engagement photo with one from their wedding day before framing the picture and hanging it up on their wall forever. This is a “guestbook” that’s constantly on display, not stuck away on a shelf somewhere!
#4: Invitations and Thank You Cards
Many couples produce wedding invitations or thank you cards using one of the engagement shoot photographs as the cover or background for the card. It’s a really nice personal touch for your loved ones when they get it coming through the post, and will probably mean it’s more likely to get put up on the mantlepiece, and not tucked away in a drawer somewhere.
#5: Wedding Website Featured Image
More and more couples seem to have wedding websites, where guests can go to RSVP and find details about the wedding day. What better way to greet them to your homepage than with a lovely picture of the two of you?
Whatever you decide to do with your engagement photos, you can be sure they’ll be a lasting memory of that special time you have together as an engaged couple.