This is the eighth in a series of articles by Monroe Payne about weddings, photography, vendors and what you should look for - and avoid - in anticipation of the perfect wedding day.

Today, in our fast paced world and frantic life, we are always looking for ways to cut corners and have to do "one less thing". Nowhere is this more evident than when you are planning your wedding. The commitments are adding up, the reception is going to cost thousands more than you thought, the DJ you wanted is unavailable, and you have to use your second choice at a higher cost. If you live out of town, certain issues make another trip home necessary, and on, and on and on.....

Then, your photographer suggests that you have an engagement session in addition to all of the other functions you are already having them perform.

(This is where you are tempted to run off into the night, vowing to elope...)

 

Take heart. This is one occasion where your photographer is actually trying to make your wedding day LESS stressful, although he may not actually say so in so many words.

 

Your wedding day is supposed to be the most wonderful day in your life; a day filled with emotion and joy, family, friends, a heck of a party and good feelings.

 

What it can end up being is an occasion for your last nerve to be trampled on.

 

The LAST thing you need is for someone that you don't know very well to be sticking a large lens in your face.

 

The engagement session is where you get to know your photographer and get used to their way of doing their craft. This way, when you get to your wedding, you are actually comfortable with the photographers, and look forward to playing with them as they capture your day and the delightful emotions that flow.

 

Photographers are more than image makers. They are friends, psychologists, fixit people and holders of all sorts of necessary stuff. My partner Mindy carries her "bag of many things" which seems capable of producing the things our brides need at the moment - things like lip gloss, breath mints, deodorant, jewelry, tissues and more. She says she doesn't plan what goes in there - it just happens to have what's needed....

 

Without the engagement session, you won't have the kind of comfort you get in having a friend and advocate doing your photography.

 

It works the other way too. When you have an engagement session, your photographer will get to know you and your likes, dislikes and the way you like to be photographed. Tim and Jessica (above) are a delightful, passionate couple who aren't reluctant to share their joy. Others are more reserved, and show their love with expressions, the way they hold their hands, or gently touch each other.

 

These are things that your photographer needs to know and experience through the camera before your wedding day, so that when your day arrives, he will know you, and be able to capture your day's emotions the way YOU want and deserve.

 

So make that extra trip home. And don't worry about the weather. Blizzard or bright sunny springtime, your photographer will be able to show your love in a beautiful engagement series of images that you will treasure forever.

 

 

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Monroe Payne and his partner Mindy Porter are owners of The Payne Family Photographers . They have been life long residents of the Ithaca area, and have been in business since 1996, photographing weddings, families and events throughout the Northeast United States. Monroe is also the Vice Chair of the Finger Lakes section of the Professional Photographers Society of New York State, and active with the volunteer photographers organization "Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep".
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