A Gulf Shores Engagement

When I first started photographing weddings I did not realize what an important role engagement sessions play in the wedding day experience. I photographed several weddings where I met the groom for the first time on the wedding day. While we still got great portraits on those wedding days, I slowly started to realize that the engagement session actually plays a vital role and needed to be part of every couple’s wedding experience. This is why I now gift an engagement session to every single couple who books their wedding with me!

How can the engagement session affect wedding day? It’s the warm-up, the practice round, the time where you can get used to being in front of the camera. Come wedding day you’ll be all warmed up and will know what to expect. Muscle memory is not just a thing with sports. It works with portrait posing too! Photography is a creative endeavor, so there is definitely a minimum amount of time needed to create amazing bride and groom portraits, but the engagement session means we can work at a slightly quicker pace because the poses come more naturally. On a day where every single second counts, that is definitely a bonus!

Julie and TJ live in Texas, so we had a bit of trouble aligning our schedules for their engagement session. In the end, we decided that it made the most sense to do them during wedding week. Two days before the wedding I met up with these two at the beach for this session. We were able to shoot at the same house where the wedding was held, which was amazing! I loved getting to meet their families and some of their friends ahead of the big day too! Enjoy some of my favorites from their session!