This post was originally meant to go up before the wedding, but then I got lazy. So I'll just whack it up here now for your amusement.

When we were looking at photographers back in the day, I was quite determined to get a simple package that was affordable and served to document the day. It wasn't until I actually started shopping around for photographers (and interviewing a few terribad ones that rubbed me the wrong way) that I realized that the process is far more complex than just "show up" and "take photos" and "give photos".

Well, okay, I had some idea from my photographer friends. But I didn't really get it from the client's perspective until now.

One of the things I hadn't expected was an "engagement shoot" or "pre-wedding shoot". For most photographers this was a session that was part of the package, and you and your intended go get some photos taken. You get some nice engagement photos that sometimes get used as guestbook pages, which is a neat idea.

But, see, we didn't want or need these photos to happen, and were happy to pay less than the asked amount if it meant skipping it. That was when one of the photographers we met with explained it differently - really, the pre-wedding shoot is a dry run for the day.

The reality is that unless you have personal experience being photographed constantly, you're not going to be comfortable with someone telling you to pose awkwardly and while they jam a camera in your face. You also probably won't know how to look natural in such a situation, either, which apparently leads to people looking wooden in a lot of photos.

The pre-wedding shoot sounds like a money-grab, but it's actually a way for photographers to make sure they get the best photos on the day. By "warming up" with a pre-wedding shoot where you get to know the photographer and also get a sense of how the photos will turn out, the couple is more likely to feel and look more natural on the wedding day. This means better photos, which also means lower chances of getting a complaint or bad feedback.

This made a ton of sense to me, and we decided to go for it. I scheduled my hair and makeup trials for that same day so that I could see how it was all going to look in the photos. Since we weren't using the photos in anything (we declined the guest book idea), there also wasn't any risk of giving away how I was going to look on the day anyway.

For the record, the pre-wedding shoot was totally super awkward at first. But you do get into it, and we ended up just making each other laugh the whole time to take the edge off. Which then leads to gorgeous photos of us laughing or smiling together. Which, I suspect, is part of the plan. And we did end up with some pretty great photos.

Now that the wedding is over, the pre-wedding shoot photos can be seen in the Galleries section of the website. Check them out!