Engagement Session - Aud's favs :)

Hopefully you interested parties had the chance to check out Andrea's post on me and Javs' engagement session. Some of her favorites were definitely our favorites too - but we picked some to 'remember' that she didn't - so I thought I'd share just a few with you guys here :)

That and, I learned a lot from the session. (Don't worry I won't give you a play by play, but maybe some final thoughts if I can pull them together at the end of the post!)

*WARNING - this post is picture heavy*

Left A good one of us being us. (its funny - even with them just following us around and snapping shots, I can definitely still tell when we look unnatural vs when they caught us in a really natural moment)
Center Neither of us ever realized just how high I'm looking up to give this man smooches - but I like this one because the angle caught the Studio Theater sign. Feels right that Javs and I would be smooching outside of this theater :)
Right- We're back home - right in our doorway. A bit rosy from the cold, but smiling at each other.I think Javier is looking good. And I'm looking intent. Its just kind of cute.

Left - I think we both look super genuine - also I like that its more of a close up and the bright colors
Center- Don't you just love this pic of Javs? I can't wait to frame it and put it on my desk. I'm gonna marry him.
Right- Another one of our real moments - this picture was the end of a simply, ridiculous series. It started with Andrea suggesting that we almost kiss - you know, you've seen those kind of sultry looking shots of the couples so close - well I just started cracking up cause I - apparently - can't by sultry. After I laughed out loud Javs pulled me in for the real thing ;)
Outside one of our favorite Logan Circle spots: Studio Theater. We just look happy.
Left- One of the only shots we got with my fun signs :) I like it though - just us on the sofa (more of those shots to come)
Center- We really gave Andrea a hard time about putting us in this door frame. Since we were going for the whole 'us' thing (selecting our apt as our location, etc etc) we were laughing at how un-often we pause in that door frame. These ended up some of my favorite shots from the day! (maybe we should hang out in that door frame more often...)
Right- There weren't too many of the two of us both looking at the camera, but this was one we both really liked :)

I love this picture. Its us. On our sofa. (Which is where we are a lot of the time.)And I think this is the winner from the whole shoot. Its just the us I wanted captured.

**Advice Alert** If you can, do. (have an engagement session with your photographers that is.)

I totally understand that its not always in the budget. We were lucky and it was included in the package we got with Andrea and Brian ('included' is so funny to me because we really probably ended up paying for it in the package, but it also wasn't something we could remove and pay less for - funny how that works out in sales sometimes, but that's another post...) N-E-way, I think it was beneficial mostly for the a) time we got to spend with Andrea and Brian and b)being able to actually see some results. 1) It let us understand their style a bit more while they were getting to know us a bit more too. I think this makes everyone more comfortable, but will also help them as far as what will and won't work for you guys as a couple. 2) Being able to see some pictures, how they actually turned out, really helped us have a better understanding for what we want on the day of. Andrea has suggested we tell her our favorite 10 pictures from the engagement session and why. She said that will help her focus on the big day - and make sure she gets shots we want.

I've also already been able to admit to her that I've changed what I thought I wanted a bit. (that's confusing, I know) But I stressed so much that we wanted 'natural' shots that she and Brian really shied away from giving us direction during the engagement session. Now I'm seeing that we probably missed out on some (yes - slightly posed) but really cute shots. (glad I learned now!) So I've already been able to chat with her about it - and feel comforted knowing that they'll direct us a bit more day of. It was awesome to find all this out before getting my wedding pictures back and thinking 'I wish...'

Now, if its not in the budget and you can't do it - I totally understand. I've seen other bloggers suggest going through your photographers portfolio and picking out the shots that you like (organizing them by time i.e. ceremony, reception, etc or by style i.e. lighting, angles, etc) and sharing them with your photographers at a meeting before your wedding. I think this helps accomplish a lot of what I described above - they'll get to know your style/what you like and you can provide them with clear examples of what you're looking for day of!

**Advice Alert** You guys have to know what you want. Oh - and tell your vendors!

Sounds so simple doesn't it. But I'm amazed at how much I've struggled with this. The engagement session is a great example. I wrote that lovely post all about my DIY signs and how excited I was to use them and then....we didn't use them. Yes, we got a few pictures with them, but I didn't make it clear to Andrea and Brian that this was something I really wanted to try. I totally do not blame them - I never spoke up. I think I said something like 'these are some signs I made if we decide we want to use them' and that was it. No wonder we didn't end up using them! And its not because I'm shy (exactly - you guys know I'm not) its just that in these 'wedding' moments - its easy to get caught up (remember I told you guys on day 250 that I'm trying to savor them) well I'm getting caught up in the savoring and I'm forgetting that I probably have stuff I'm supposed to be doing. (like telling our photographers to bring those signs when we head outside cause I want them in my pictures!) Again - glad its a lesson I've learned now (and not later). For me I think it means we need to 1) do more thinking ahead of time and 2) write stuff down. I've kind of laughed at brides I read about the come prepared with the 'must have pictures' list - but now I understand. If I had thought more about what I wanted (a good picture of the two of us looking at the camera) and told Andrea/written it down and handed it to her - then you're sure that your vendor knows! (and you're much more likely to get what you want!

I really am happy with so many of our pictures (don't think this was a failed engagement session) but - I'm equally appreciative of what I learned from the whole experience - it means I know our wedding pictures are going to be AWESOME :)