Same person for Engagement Photos as the Wedding Day photos?

We used the same photographers for our engagement photos as we did our wedding photos. It was included in our package and was a great way to get comfortable with their shooting style and directions prior to the actual wedding day. As far as inspiration, what are you looking for? A good photographer should have a bunch of locations they're familiar with to choose from for the shoot (just make sure all necessary permits are taken care of either by the photographer or by you!). Instagram would have great ideas for outfits, if you search #engagementphotos or something similar. As far as posing, I'm a big fan of organic shots, so we chose photographers whose work is more candid than posed. If you want posed, you can find some good natural poses on Instagram as well, though your photographer should be able to direct you to what looks good on camera.

I highly recommend hiring a wedding photographer that includes engagement photos in their packages -- you want the opportunity to work with your wedding photographer and get to know them BEFORE the big day! This'll also help ensure you are happy with their work, communication, etc. Your photographer should have ideas for you -- whether their style involves posing, or they're skilled at getting more candid shots. I'd spend some time researching the kind of photography style that you like (in terms of posing, editing, etc.), and find someone that matches that. Then you won't really have to worry about photo ideas, unless you wanted a few really specific shots (involving props, or doing heart hands or something like that).

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So neither one of us are truly into posing so I'm looking for a more candid Photographer. My dad's wife has offered to do our Engagement Photos but I wasn't sure about the pros and cons of having 2 separate Photographers for everything. I'm wanting us to just have fun with the whole event! I'm really into art and my fiance agreed to do some photos with the powdered paint! So I'm at a loss! lol

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Thank you!!! I've been dreading all this!! It's been majorly stressful!! lol

A lot of photographers include engagement photos in their packages so it is generally cheaper to use the same photographer. It also gives you a chance to work with the person prior to your wedding to make sure you like the photographer and are happy with their work. I looked a lot on Pinterest for ideas like you've already done, but you could also look at the photographer's portfolio to get an idea of what they have done previously. You could also just Google engagement photos and see what images come up.

We’re using a different photographer for our engagement photos. We live in Florida, are moving to Colorado, and are getting married in Tennessee. Our wedding photographer didn’t include an engagement session in their package, but I’m kind of glad they didn’t because it opened up the option to have our engagement photos in a different place, instead of being forced to travel to Tennessee and/or pay the photographer to travel where we want the photos to happen. We’re going to Colorado in a few months for house hunting, so we’re going to have engagement photos there with a local photographer! As much as I like the idea of being able to work with the same photographers so we can get to know them before the wedding, I also am really excited to have photos done in two different places and get a variety of backdrops 😁

Most photographers either include an engagement shoot or offer a discount for one with them. Ours is actually a friend of my cousin's who happens to be a professional photographer who owns her own studio. She just got our engagement pictures back to us (which were included with the wedding photography) and we're super excited for the wedding pictures already! Neither of us are super comfortable in front of the camera, but she gave direction really well when needed and often just gave us an idea and let us roll with it. The wedding day will, of course, be a bit different. Your photographer isn't going to make you pose in a specific way for the kiss, for example. But having that time with them for the engagement shoot to get used to their style and see how you can work together to make things work is priceless. Both of us would probably be a lot more nervous about wedding day pictures if we hadn't already worked with our photographer for the engagement shoot.

Totally agree with everyone- most have engagement photos as part of their packages.

It’s a good idea to use the same photographer. That way you have some time to get comfortable with them. Think of places or activities that are special to the two of you and use a similar setting.

Yes the engagement pictures are taken by the wedding day photographer as a warm up. You can find ideas on Instagram under "yourcityweddingphotographer"

View Quoted Comment If you prefer more of the candid style, look for photographers who have a photojournalistic style. That’s what we looked for and our pictures turned out insanely amazing. Having your fiancé be adventurous makes the shoot so much more fun! You could almost turn it into an editorial shoot! When you said artistic, I immediately thought of a cool desert shoot with powdered paint or the colored smoke bombs. I don’t know where you’re located, but I’ve seen some amazing shoots doing something similar out here in the CA desert. Something like what I included here could be so fun!

I believe that’s the best option. The photographer gets a feel of who you are. You will definitely be comfortable the day of your big day. Some photographers usually have a package where the engagement session is included. I believe that’s a great option.

While many do have engagement packages, it's not required.

If you don't like the photographer, feel free to change for the wedding.

We did two different photographers, but we had a unique situation. A friend of ours is married to a ... rather known... photographer, who also had done our friends' weddings. He was unavailable for our wedding, but did our engagement session, and then essentially picked our photographer for us. (One of those: when someone in the industry says, "use this person", you stop researching and listen.)

Ask your friends for recs.

As for posing, a good photographer will help you feel comfortable in front of the camera.

I'm having my younger brother do our engagement still paying him because we understand it's a job especially with the editing. We are going to go with someone else for our wedding though because we want him to be able to enjoy the wedding.

View Quoted Comment I agree with this! My fiance and I chose a photographer who included an engagement session in his photography packages. This gave us the opportunity to get to know him before our wedding, so that we feel comfortable being around him all day on our wedding day. We spent a lot of time researching different photography styles so that we could choose a photographer whose style we really liked. The engagement photo session gave us an idea of what types of poses he uses, how he typically works, how the photos turn out, etc. Kind of like a practice session for the wedding day. Your photographer should have ideas of poses and locations and how to make you feel comfortable in front of the camera without the photos appearing awkward.

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I agree with this! Our photographer included our engagement session with our wedding package! She helped us feel comfortable during our engagement session, and we were able to feel out her shooting style! She gave us great ideas for poses and movements for her to get candid shots from as well! She also asked us which ones we preferred from that day and felt the most comfortable in so that she can take some of those on our wedding day.

In my opinion, having one photographer is so beneficial for all the reasons we've listed out on this forum! You have one person that will handle everything from start to finish.

We did not use the same photographer from our engagement photos for our wedding. The reason is because my bridesmaid is a professional photographer and took our engagement photos. She is in the wedding so we have someone else take the wedding day photos.


A lot of people use the same photographer for engagement photos and wedding photos. Unless they didn't like the photographer from their engagement photos. Plus I don't know if it's the same where you live, but in my area a lot of the photographers included engagement photos in with all their wedding packages.
You could look on social media, they might have a group for fun pictures. Or Google. I'm not sure where else

Thank you all so much for the different perspectives! I've been having this debate in my head due to my Dad's wife wanting to do our Engagement Photos for us so that it was "easier" on my fiance's schedule. He's in the Army and stationed a couple of states away from me. I really appreciate all of y'all's help!!!

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I'm located in Texas, and him being Army, he's not in the same state for awhile! lol I love the powdered paint and smoke bomb ideas and just got him to agree to them!! He was worried that they wouldn't come out well but after looking them up he is completely hooked!! We were thinking of using the smoke bomb as a fun but elegant photo of the 2 of us!

Some do and some don't. I am using different photographers for each.