How to Prepare for an Engagement Session?

Imagine: You’re a bride-to-be / husband-to be. You’re scouting for potential suppliers for your wedding day. You’re exploring the entire internet for inspiration for that “Perfect Wedding” you have in mind with your partner. You’re sending PM’s, DM’s and E-mails to every wedding supplier you see pass through your news feed, and in soon-to-wed groups you recently joined in. You’re able to shortlist a number of bookable wedding suppliers which will make your dream wedding come true. You’re now comparing wedding packages between them and then, a certain phrase pops out, – with a “Ding!” – and it has caught your attention. You’re now baffled, confused and dumb-struck. You’re now asking yourself what this phrase means: WHAT IN THE WORLD IS AN ENGAGEMENT SESSION?!

Now, imagine this: In a flash of blinding light, you see the Heavens open up! The clouds part and, like an angel in descent, you see your friendly neighborhood wedding photographer, wrapped in a halo of holy light! He / She hands you something and it says: “Your Wedding Photography Experience BEGINS with your Engagement Session.”, and in another flash, your photographer vanishes into thin air, leaving a list of things for you to accomplish.

Nah, in the reality of things this won’t happen – an angel won’t be there to guide you through this phase of the wedding preparations. However, your friendly neighborhood Rainwalker is here to help! Read on through to know how one ideally needs to prepare for their Engagement Session.

What is an Engagement Session?

The Engagement Session, as what wedding photographers call it, comes from the words “Engagement” and “Session” (well, thank you, Captain Obvious! *Sarcasm).

With the term “Engagement”, the couples and their suppliers, mainly their wedding photographer and / or videographer, “engage” into working with each other. No individual is the same – we’re all different, and that’s how it goes with couples and wedding photographers as well – different personalities, different photography styles, different likes and dislikes, etc. With the term “Session” comes a reference of one’s time spent, doing a specific activity.

In short, an Engagement Session is an activity done to engage both the couple and the wedding photographer into how things work, to create a comfortable working environment and a seamless wedding experience. This is normally done BEFORE THE WEDDING DAY, as a per-requisite, since the Engagement Session breaks the fourth wall.

How do you prepare for your Engagement Session?

(Coming from the flash of blinding light above…) Now that we’ve defined what the Engagement Session is, let’s talk about how you as couples, and how we as your wedding photographers prepare for it.

Disclaimer: The information you’ll find here is primarily-based from our workflow at Rainwalker Photography, meaning this is how we go through the planning of our couple’s engagement sessions. You might find a different approach for a different photographer – probably better – and that’s alright. There’s more than one way to skin a cat. *Wink

1. Decide upon a Concept

This might sound like a no-brainer, but this is the most complex part of the planning.

The concept of the engagement session is the heart of it. The concept will be the one which will dictate the pace, the flow, and the feel of the entire engagement session. The concept will make or break the engagement session, since it defines the bounds of what can and cannot be done.

The first step into defining the concept is to answer an Engagement Questionnaire we prepared. The Engagement Questionnaire lets us know our couple’s personalities through questions about how they met, how the groom proposed, how they are as a couple, etc. Once we are able to get the answers, that’s when we recommend concepts that are attainable and we get them in-line with what our couples have in mind.

We’ve had couples who are leaning towards the home-y and laid-back side. We’ve also had fierce ones. We’ve also had couples from all walks of life – architects, nurses, doctors, military and police personnel. We’ve even had Spider-man and Spider-Gwen on our shoot! The concept is the intent, making it easier for us to make the photos they love.

2. Book a Location

Next to the Concept is the Location. The Concept is the Heart, making the Location the Body of the Engagement Session. The Location gives substance and tangibility – it encloses and gives boundaries to the entire Engagement Session. You need to make sure that the Location matches with the Concept faithfully.

“Ronald and Kathlyn’s Engagement Session at the University of Santo Tomas” sounds just like a normal university day for lovers. Add the element of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, that’s when things get exciting – and it makes sense that they chose this particular location! When you hear Hogwarts, you think about the pillars, hallways and the buildings; you think about the mood of magic; you think about the feel of nostalgia when you first opened the Chamber of Secrets.

This is how the Location plays a huge part of the Engagement Session.

3. Choose the Perfect Time of Day to do the Engagement Session

Depending on your chosen photographer’s style, they may recommend certain times of day to do the engagement session. This are mere recommendations since it’s still the couple’s call, and is mostly subject to the Location’s operating hours. Of course, if you’re aiming to have a session with the Milky Way present, you can’t do the shoot during high noon (you get the point). For us, we recommend having either a Sunrise or Sunset Session – whichever is more practical to our couples (but we tend to lean towards the Sunset Session, see why below).

Sunrise or Sunset Sessions are great, because no time of day will always be better than the exchange between day-to-night or night-to-day. The Golden Hour, the Blue Hour and the Night Sky – the best lights of day to make beautiful photographs – are here.

Sunset Sessions give advantage to couples who hate mornings (and that includes me and my wife). Sunrise Sessions give advantage to photos with the heavenly bodies – The Milky Way, for example.

The Time of Day is the Soul of the Engagement Session, since this will dictate the overall feel. For us, we really love to shoot at the ideal times of day, but mostly, we end up shooting with less than ideal situations. Good thing, we have our Godox Lighting Equipment and our MagMods – Magnetic Modifiers – to save the day. Whatever lighting condition we might encounter, we’re ready.

4. Know what to Wear…then, SLAY!

The best thing my wife taught me was to “Dress to Impress”. Being the owner, you are the Brand Ambassador of your own business, so it’s important to dress appropriately. The same goes with preparing for the Wardrobe.

Our advise is to always prepare at least THREE (3) sets of outfits: one casual, one semi-formal, one formal. We also ask them to send the photos of the outfits to us so that we can give recommendations. Of course, like all aspects, the wardrobe should complement with the location.

Mark and Rachelle, our couple who are both policemen, wanted to wear their uniforms during the Engagement Session. Knowing their dedication to the duty (and that they will get penalized for not doing so), they wore their COMPLETE uniforms, including their firearms. Our team was taken aback when we tried to hold their rifles, with their permission – it was totally heavy! Overall, they slayed the Engagement Session with full conviction.

The Wardrobe is the Backbone of the Engagement Session. The Wardrobe serves as the framework that connects the entire system. The Wardrobe provides the consistency and the continuity of the Engagement Session’s story. The Wardrobe, when done wrong, will lead to a major disconnect.

5. Plan Out the Expenses

There are Engagement Sessions which require traveling by land, by air or by sea. Often times, suppliers charge for Out-of-Town Fees (OOTFs) to cover for the team’s transportation, food, lodging and accommodation.

There are locations which require permits to shoot for certain number of hours only. The permits are normally taken care of by the clients.

We have this inside joke with our couples where we say: “Di nyo naman kami obligadong pakainin, pero pansin namin, MAS MAGANDA ang photos pag busog ang team.” (You as our couples are not required to feed us, but we noticed, the photos LOOK BETTER when our stomach’s are full). From then on, no couple made us face an Engagement Session, with hunger in our minds and tummies!

The Expenses serve as the fuel to the engine. The Expenses power up the entire mechanism of the Engagement Session. The Expenses and it’s discussion might be taboo for some but it’s inevitable since the Expenses will enable the movement of things during the Engagement Session. So plan ahead, and plan properly!

Conclusion: For Photographers

“Wise men learn by other men’s mistakes, fools by their own.” – H. G. Brown

Most of the time, photographers tend to think that all they have to do is just show up, shoot then leave. Part of the Rainwalker Experience defies this belief – we are part of the bigger picture (pun intended) and we should do our part in making (or breaking) the entire wedding experience for our couples.

Conclusion: For Soon-to-weds

“If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.” – Benjamin Franklin –

Don’t make that mistake in overlooking your preparation for your engagement session. Remember: this is the only time you get to “Engage” with your dream wedding suppliers, before your big day. Don’t miss the chance to get to know how they work.

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