Will We Regret Skipping Engagement Photos?

I didn't do them and don't regret them at all. The money I'm saving from not doing an engagement shoot we are doing on our honeymoon where we will be tan and in shape hahaha

We originally wanted to do them, and we're in the same boat as you. We had a pretty hard fail for local photos. Either they were way too pricey (Who asks $4,000 for those???), not available, or in our case, just not that great. We weren't looking for much other than STD photos, but we were so uncomfortable, we chose to redo the photos of our dog and just use that.

I don't think you'd regret not doing them. We did them, but I've actually used them. I used a couple of photos in our STDs and I have a collage frame displayed in our living room with some of our engagement pictures. Not to mention, FSIL is in college for photography so I wanted to commission her!

I enjoyed the experience and the pictures I received for it. My FH and I hardly ever get our pictures taken together, so they're special to me.

We took a couple photos with my FFIL's DSLR. We do not regret this at all, we really don't care about having a bunch of pro engagement photos.

Engagement photos just aren't a thing where I'm from (Australia.) As lovely as yours all look, I just think this seems like an uncessary expense.

We had a DW. My friend who's dad used to own a camera shop & is into photography did our engagement pics for us. We took them at a beach in Holland, MI. Took a day trip out there with her for pics and then had dinner. It was nice. Otherwise we were planning on just taking pics downtown Chicago.

I didn't do them, because it's just not important. Engagement photos are just another photo shoot and is 100 percent unnecessary. But we travel a lot and take pics of us all the time.

They don't have to match your theme/location. The colors we wore in our engagement photos have nothing to do with the wedding colors. I enjoyed the experience of them so I would say if it's in the budget go for it.

Okay, as a photographer, although I highly recumbent it, it is not the end of the world and don't fester over it.

Here is why I do what I do and why I believe in engagement shoots.. I offer to do a complimentary engagement shoot with any couple who is looking for a photographer because it does one of two things.

1. it gives them an opportunity to actually try me out and see how we work together and how I actually photograph them. Sure I can show them my work in albums and on my web site, but seeing them in my work is better. Much like when you dress shop. You look at photos of dresses to guide you to what you want, but you don't actually say yes to the dress by just looking at pictures. You actually try them on.

2. When we start the engagement shoot, most couples are stiff and not to great to photograph. By the end of the shoot, they are loosened up, and they know what I am looking for, my photographic style, and how to do the shoot. When their wedding day comes, they are already past the awkward stage. I don't feel that your wedding day is the time to try and figure out your photographer and they to figure you out. Know how to work with each other gets that out of the way, ultimately leading to better wedding day photos.

With that being said, sometimes that just happensIt's not optimal, but as I said before, It is not something to dwell on. I hope that helps. Good luck and congratulations in advance.

I would skip them then. I think the big thing is using them on the STDs! I really wanted them simply because we never really had good photos of us together and we got a great deal!