Chris and Carly

I’ve often had the vibe from others that engagement photos are a tad indulgent & cheesy, and they’re something more common in the US than here in Australia. My fiance Chris and I had our engagement photos taken a few weeks ago, and regardless of what others think, we absolutely loved both the shoot and the finished result! I’d highly recommend an engagement shoot to other engaged couples, especially if you’re having a long engagement.

In particular, I’d suggest picking your wedding photographer first, and asking if they can take engagement photos. We paid extra for ours, but Chris and I both agree it was money well spent.

Here’s why I think engagement photos are so important:

  • I’m sure I’m not the only female who’s overly critical of certain areas of my body – like my batwing arms. I spent the two weeks after our photo shoot, before we saw the first bunch of photos in “post-exam-esque paralysis”, second guessing all the styling and posing decisions I’d made. I was sure all the photos would be of my “massive” arms and that I’d be disappointed.  All that evaporated when Tess sent us the link to our photos. I started crying. They were so beautiful, and most particularly, they brought out our best. All the self-doubt washed away. I wasn’t looking at my arms, my necklace, my hair… I was looking at love – my love for Chris and his love for me. They are the absolute best illustration that an awesome photographer will capture you at your very best regardless of how you see yourself. Most importantly, it has completely put me at ease for our wedding photos. I know they’ll look amazing, and that I don’t need to fret about mindless little insecurities.
  • As for the shoot itself, it was fantastic to see how Tess works and to actually be able to relax and have fun with the photos without the mess of emotions and the time pressure we’ll have on our big day. We had a great time, felt comfortable with her and with total public PDA – now we know what to expect on our wedding day. Even better, the pier photos were taken at roughly the time we’ll be taking some of our wedding photos, in the same location at the same time of year. As long as the weather holds, we know we’ll have beautiful light on our wedding day. Because we got engaged here, and we’re being married at the Yacht Squadron, it just felt right to have some of our engagement photos taken there too. We plan to use the photos for our save the dates and invites, and I know I’ll be struggling to choose which photos to use 🙂

In the background is the Royal Melbourne Yacht Squadron, our ceremony and reception venue!

 

For me, the best thing to come out of our engagement photoshoot – other than truly amazing photos – is complete reassurance. Reassurance that we made a great choice of photographer, reassurance that our wedding photos will be everything we hope for, reassurance that I don’t need to stress about my body. And with another round of dress shopping planned for this weekend, it’s great to know I don’t need to be quite so worried about covering my bat wings!

If you’re considering engagement photos, but are slightly on the fence – or your fiance is on the fence – I urge you to go for it. I’m going to be so much more relaxed at the wedding now we’ve had a “dress rehearsal”. And we have some amazing photos we can frame to remind of us this stage of our relationship. I’m so happy!

Photos by Tess Follet

Ms Gingham says: I’m enjoying following Carly’s story immensely! I can’t wait to see how it all comes together!

Carly says: “My “day job” is as a receptionist (hoping to get a new job soon!) but I also run my own pageant site – long explanation needed there but it brings me a lot of satisfaction, I’ve made some amazing friends in the US and was even blessed to have them donate two and a half grand to get me to Vegas for the show last year. icon smile How Early Is Too Early? ”