A picture is an image that is frozen in time. It doesn’t get old, or forgotten. It is a memory that lives, even when your brain can no longer contain it. It is proof of a moment that is almost forgotten. It can speak to you, bring you back to a time that is long gone, and put a smile on your face. Pictures are important (and I’m not just saying this because I am a photographer).
Now, for the couples who are engaged and ready to be married, tell me this: Should you do a pre-wedding photo session? Quick. quick. Give me the answer at the top of your mind.
I’ve met people who tell me that arranging a session with a photographer to take their engagement portraits is the first thing they did after he proposed and she said, “Yes!” They said that having their portraits is a great way to get comfortable with the photographer who will be shooting their wedding later on, or to have some nice pictures to showcase at the wedding. On the other hand, I’ve also met people who see absolutely no value in doing an engagement shoot at all. “Why waste time and money?” they’d say. “Who needs it?”
I’d say, “You need it.” (And again, I won’t be saying this because I am a photographer, but) Because an engagement is a moment worth remembering. Because in that moment, you found him and he found you. In that moment, you fell in love. And in that moment, you decided that you wanted to spend the rest of your lives together, to commit to each other, to even raise a family together, and to know that no matter what happens after that, you will always have each other.
That moment changed your whole life. And isn’t that moment worth treasuring for, umm I don’t know, forever?
Engagement pictures capture one historic moment and freeze it in time. To have this moment forever preserved so that you can go back to visit it any time you want, to feel the emotions you felt at exactly that moment again… that’s priceless!
Pictures are not for today. It’s for the rest of our lives. People who take engagement pictures simply to have nice frames to showcase at their wedding are thinking of today. But there is a deeper purpose for engagement pictures, and that is to forever have a little bit of magic at your fingertips whenever your memories grow dim. It’s to feel the same joy, times and times again. It’s about preserving history, the one moment that changed your life forever.
