Over the past couple of months, we’ve been working behind-the-scenes on a special resource for our Maison Meredith Brides & Grooms! This resource required some help from our Maison Meredith grooms and oh my goodness, some of the information they have provided has been SO great that I just had to share with ALL the grooms-to-be out there!

We realize that, as a guy, it can be a bit more challenging to feel exactly as excited as your bride is about all of the wedding planning details. We know you’re super excited about the getting married part and about spending the day celebrating with your closest friends and family, but all those other details just aren’t as thrilling to you as they are to her! Am I resonating with any grooms-to-be on this?

And then comes the engagement session. In our experience, most guys have a lot of reservations about the engagement session because they just don’t know what to expect. Our hope is that today’s post — written WORD FOR WORD by one of our grooms who has already been through the engagement session — will help you better prepare for and know what to expect when it comes to the engagement session.

From Phillip:

1. The engagement session is for BOTH people! Your fiancé might have some things that she would like, but don’t be afraid to let some of your own personality come through during the session — whether that be through an outfit, your spontaneity, or other things that are fun and make you unique! The photos should be a physical representation of YOUR relationship.
2. There are some poses/angles that are going to feel uncomfortable, but those often yield the most unexpected and intimate photos (they certainly did for us).
3. Don’t feel like you need to formally “smile” at every moment. If you relax and enjoy being where you are, your photos will come out much more natural than if you stop, think, and then smile. If you have trouble doing this spontaneously, which I sometimes did, whisper an inside joke or two that makes both of you laugh. Laughing smiles are much better than rigid smiles. 
4. That being said, smiles are not required at all times! Some of our favorite photos are with us not smiling.
5. You hopefully only get engaged once, so even if it is literally the last thing you want to do, it is only 3 hours of your time. Your fiancé would appreciate it if you give your best effort the whole time and have fun!
6. Remember a belt — especially if you plan on doing more formally dressed photos. I forgot mine and needed to go buy one before our session!

 

For more posts in our For Brides Series, click here!