Engagement shoot or extra hour of wedding photography?

I would do the engagement photos then!

I would do the engagement shoot instead of the extra hour! We did one and even though it only lasted an hour, it was a great opportunity to get comfortable with the photographer and to simply get comfortable being photographed! Plus we got some great photos that we were able to use for our save the date.

Is your photographer able to develop a timeline of the day to better understand how those hours will be used? She had us fill out a form of questions to determine who will be in the pictures, what combo of pictures we wanted (mom, dad, bride; mom, dad, bride, groom, etc), which helped her to develop the timeline. 7 hours sounds like it will be plenty of time for what your looking for. I think we had about 8 hours and she was able to do first look, through the ceremony/reception, dancing, get on a bus and go to the Vegas sign and ride around on the party bus to get some shots. We have TONS of pictures.


I personally was not going to do engagement photos, but it ended up being included in our package, so we did. I thought it was a lot of fun and a great way to get more comfortable with the photographer. Also can discuss details for the wedding. Plus you can get additional photos of yourself and future hubby that aren't wedding. Maybe could use them as decor for the wedding?

It really was a lot of fun to dress up and have an hour with the photographer. You can tell the difference for us - we went from very forced, rigid poses to relaxed and just being goofy with each other. Plus you can use the photos on your save the dates - I didn't have any other professional photos of us - and put a bunch on the website. Seven hours is probably plenty of time to get the shots you want, tbh.

I've been told the same thing so I say take the engagement photos.It will make your wedding photos go a lot faster if you're already comfortable with the person and they know exactly what you want. I really love our photographer and plan on using him for our anniversary photos in the future just for fun memories😊

I love our engagement photos so much, we already had two sessions and we’re having a third next month. I told our photographer we don’t really want dancing photos at our wedding. I think you’re fine with 7 hours for the wedding, and if you’re worried about it can your photographer give you a quote if he/she stays an extra hour?