Many of my London wedding clients are keen to escape to the countryside to do their engagement shoots but its not everyday one of my couple’s suggests doing their shoot at their place of work. I was intrigued when Gemma and Liam suggested it but now I completely get it.
The private gardens of The Odney Club in Cookham, where Liam is a chef, is a hidden gem of peace, tranquility and natural beauty and it was well worth the walk through the vast fields of buttercups to get to the water garden where we just hung out for a couple of hours, shaking off the nerves and having a good old practice in front of the camera before their big day. They’re getting married in just over 5 weeks at one of my favourite venues, Great Fosters in Surrey, and I can’t wait to shoot their wedding!
Having an engagement or pre-wedding shoot is such a great ice-breaker particularly for anyone who is a little camera-shy or just more private. When going through my images after a shoot, I usually notice a huge difference in the photos taken at the end of the session compared to the first 15 minutes or so. No matter how confident or comfortable in themselves they are, the smiles and moments of intimacy are always so much more natural and heart-felt by the end of the shoot when my couples have properly relaxed into it and got used to the rubbish I seem to spout to get them to laugh!
For anyone wondering “Should an we have an engagement shoot?” consider that if the schedule on the wedding day is tight, we might only get 15-20 mins for the couple portrait session, sometimes less, so if we’re already over that initial awkwardness of me being the gooseberry while you get smoochy in front of the camera, then we can use that precious time to capture the most genuinely beautiful moments. Plus, you’ll come away with another awesome set of photos of the two of you before you were Mr & Mrs, so what’s not to love?
If you’d like to see more of an ‘urban’ London engagement shoot, please do check out the images from a shoot with Hannah & Mark – we took a little trip down memory lane, in and around the Portobello area where they spent all their time dating which was pretty nostalgic! Or if you’d like to discuss any element of your wedding/engagement photography then please do get in touch – I’d love to chat!