Are Engagement Pictures Really Necessary?

[TinkerSofi]

FH and I are trying to cut down some costs so that we can splurge on the photographer and videographer for the wedding (among other things). We live in Canada so really the person taking our engagement pictures would not be the same as the one taking our wedding ones. What do you ladies think, are engagement sessions completely necessary or should we just skip that and pocket that money for more necessary expenses on the wedding day?

The only use I thought we could give them was to put them on our wedding website but really that's it. We don't like STD or invitations with our picture on it. 

 

Thanks for your opinions! 

[TammyWright]

I love seeing engagement pics but we didn't do them.  I am not sure we would have done anything with them if we had.

I also wanted to add, I do not like getting pictures taken or have them up (hence the cat pictures) so I may not be the best person to ask 

[DianneP]

Our photographer's package came with engagement pictures (we are flying her into the DR for our wedding), although we opted to just have a photo shoot on a catamaran the day before our wedding instead... I think those will come out spectacular compared to anything we could come up with state-side for engagement pictures.

[Rainmaker]

I haven't decided if we are doing engagement pictures or not yet either. I would love some additional nice pictures of FI together but not necessarily lots to pay for an extra photographer to do one here before. I am lucky that I have a handful of friends that are amateur photographers so I might just ask one of them to take a few pictures one afternoon then get them a gift certificate somewhere as a token of thanks.

[Mandiesue]

We are not doing engagement pictures and saving the funds for the rest of the ceremony and decor.

[krisdaversa]

@@TinkerSofi I don't think the are 'necessary' I think it is up to the person/couple how important they are to you? My package from my photographers come with an engagement and a trash the dress. I actually won an engagement shoot through a  photography company in Toronto they teach at a University and needed volunteers/couples. Maybe look into contest to see whats out there or get a friend who is artsy to get some photos if you want to save money.   

[csho]

I agree with @@krisdaversa. They are not necessary. It just depends on whether you want them or not. If you don't plan on doing anything with them then whats the point! But you have to go with what's important for you and if by not having them taken and it allows you to spend more on your wedding photographer or videographer, then that might be a better use of your funds. I did have engagement photos, however, we did them while on a trip to Croatia. I absolutely love them and am soooooo happy we did them, but I think it was more so because they are very special for us as they also document a fantastic trip that we went on together shortly after our engagement. I do not think I would have had them done though if we were just doing them at home. We ended up creating a photobook guest book with our photos and we used one of them on our Thank You for Booking Postcards... I will hopefully eventually get a few favourites printed off and put them up around the house.

[LissaSou]

We also didn't do engagement pics. My fiancé hates having his picture taken, and since he's accepted the fact that it's going to happen on our wedding day, I didn't want to push the issue

[csho]

@@LissaSou haha that was kind of like my fiancé... he really didn't want to do them, he hates having his photo taken! But he finally agreed to do it... although I think it was only because I convinced him that we'd then have beautiful photos of Croatia... I am not sure it would have worked if we just did them at home... but once we were doing them he actually enjoyed himself. It was actually a really nice intimate time. It was way more fun then I even thought it would be!

[TinkerSofi]

We also didn't do engagement pics. My fiancé hates having his picture taken, and since he's accepted the fact that it's going to happen on our wedding day, I didn't want to push the issue

 

 

@@LissaSou haha that was kind of like my fiancé... he really didn't want to do them, he hates having his photo taken! But he finally agreed to do it... although I think it was only because I convinced him that we'd then have beautiful photos of Croatia... I am not sure it would have worked if we just did them at home... but once we were doing them he actually enjoyed himself. It was actually a really nice intimate time. It was way more fun then I even thought it would be!

That's another thing, my fiance really doesn't like being in pictures and the only way he is ok with it is if we get a really good photographer who doesn't make us pose. That means extra cash though and I would much rather spend it on the actual wedding. I was just wondering if it's a big no no. I also got some reluctant responses from photographers here when I asked them how much they charged for engagement sessions only. Thank you for your responses!