A Couple Shoot Before the Wedding – Why It Changes So Much

There’s one sentence that comes up in almost every first conversation:

“We’re totally unphotogenic.”

I’ve heard it so often that I no longer take it as information but as a question. Because the question behind it is: *What happens to us when the camera is there?*

And the honest answer is: on the wedding day, something happens – if you experience it for the first time.

What happens on the wedding day without preparation

Picture the schedule. You’ve had people around you since six in the morning. You’ve got married, you’ve cried, you’ve greeted eighty people.

And then someone says: “Right, now let’s do the couple portraits.”

You’re standing in a meadow, alone for the first time in hours – and now you’re supposed to look natural. That’s a small shock. Not dramatic, but visible: the first ten, fifteen minutes are almost always spent letting your shoulders drop.

For couples who have already stood in front of the camera before, this part falls away. They start where the others get to after twenty minutes.

What a couple shoot actually solves

It’s less about practice than you’d think. It’s about four things:

• You know how I work. How much I say, how close I come, how long something takes. That removes almost all the nerves.

• I know how you work. Which of you laughs first. Who needs a second longer. Who takes the lead. I can use that on the wedding day instead of only finding it out there.

• You have pictures you like. And with them a feeling that you’re not unphotogenic after all. That sentence almost never comes up again after a shoot.

• We know each other. On the wedding day, the person with the camera is no longer a stranger. That sounds soft, but it’s the biggest effect of all.

When, where, how long

• When: roughly two to six months before the wedding. Early enough to be relaxed, late enough that it already feels part of it.

• How long: one to one and a half hours. It doesn’t need longer.

• Where: somewhere you like to be anyway. A field, a patch of forest, the city, your flat. Places with meaning are better than places that “look good”.

• Time: the last hour before sunset, if possible.

What you should wear

Less than you think, and simpler.

• colours that work together, without matching outfits

• no big logos, no harsh patterns

• shoes you can walk in

• and above all: things you feel comfortable in on a Sunday afternoon

And if we just skip it?

Then that’s completely fine.

A couple shoot isn’t compulsory, and I don’t sell it to anyone who doesn’t want it. There are couples who are calm in front of the camera from the start – they don’t need it.

But if you’re one of those who have already said the sentence above: then it’s the most effective lever you have.

By the way, my largest photo package (Photo Editorial / Full Story) already includes an engagement shoot worth €290. You’ll find all packages compared on the packages page.