An engagement session is not just for save-the-dates. It is a rehearsal for how you and your photographer work together — and it makes your wedding-day portraits faster and better.
When to book
Nine to twelve months before the wedding. That leaves time for save-the-dates, and it means your photographer has already learned how you two move together before the day that counts.
What to wear
Two outfits: one elevated (what you would wear to a nice dinner) and one that feels like you. Solid colors and gentle textures beat busy patterns. Coordinate, do not match. Steam everything — wrinkles are forever in photos.
Where to go
Pick meaning over prettiness. The trail you hike, the neighborhood of your first apartment, the coffee shop from the first date — those photos age into heirlooms. A pretty park you have never visited ages into a stock photo.
The golden-hour math
Book the session to end at sunset, not start there. The best light is the final 60–75 minutes of the day; work backwards from your local sunset time.
What it does for the wedding
By the wedding day you will know how your photographer directs, and they will know your good angles, your height difference, the hand you hide your ring on. Portraits that took 40 awkward minutes now take 15 relaxed ones — which you will spend at cocktail hour instead.
Planning your wedding?
Elizabeth Scott photographs and films weddings nationwide — travel included, dates limited.
Check Your Date