Photographs are the true and beautiful way to document every aspect of your wedding. From the engagement to the honeymoon, photographs tell the whole story.

Capture the beginning of your love: For you, the beginning may be long before the engagement, or it may be the engagement day. Engagement photos can commemorate every step taken towards the wedding day. Whichever it is, a photograph can capture the happiness and excitement and the love and commitment.

The Announcement: For a formal engagement announcement you will want to sit for a formal portrait. The style and atmosphere of the photograph is up to you. You may prefer to have a different photo for your ‘save the date’ announcement than the one on your personal blog.

The Date: When the wedding date is set and the invitations are going out, another photograph is appropriate. This photo can be very stylized and more like a painting than a snapshot. It may go on your wedding website or as part of a reminder to your invitees to save the date. This is usually sent about six months before the wedding.

The Photographer: If you still haven’t selected your wedding photographer by six to eight months before the wedding, it is time to choose. Your photographer should give you the unique, innovative and artistic engagement and wedding photos you want. Make sure you have considered the five Ps: price, priorities, perspective, packages and personal relationship. You need to know exactly what you are getting for the price. Engagement photos are usually included in the wedding package.

The Look: You may want to try out different hairstyles and makeup, so you will have exactly the look you want on the big day. Bring along your photographer, to take high quality photos of each style you try. If your friends and family also have a day at the salon, these photos will not only help you choose the look you want, but they will be a record of the day of fun.

Memorabilia: Many couples like to have their portraits printed on the marquee, balloons, programs or any other item at the reception. This should be done about one month in advance so everything can be printed on time.

When you are deciding what to wear for your engagement photographs, choose outfits that make you feel comfortable. You want to forget about the clothing and focus on each other, so avoid wearing clothing that makes you self-conscious.

Engagement photographs also give your photographer the chance to experiment with lighting, face angles and the atmosphere of the kind of photographs you want before the big day. When you see all the pre-wedding photos you can select the look and mood you like the best. For engagement photographs, the background can be your own home if that is what makes you comfortable, but going out adds excitement and memories that can be captured on camera and saved for the days when you want to remember every detail. The photographer can experiment with different poses to find the one that suits both of you the best. This can be the one you send to the newspapers.

Every wedding has a budget and most of them go over budget, but there are some things that need to be right. The dress, the cake and the photographer are just the beginning. When looking at the portfolios of photographers in your area, notice the quality of the photographs. Are they artistic, well balanced, color coordinated, sharp, clear and do they make you feel happy? If a photographer’s portfolio of a stranger’s wedding can make you feel happy, chances are your own wedding album will do the same. If you choose the least expensive photographer you meet, there is a good possibility the photographs will be poor quality. Also, make sure the engagement photographs are included in the wedding package.

Engagement photo shoots are a lot of fun. Each one is unique to the life story of the couple. They are most often taken outdoors, so the weather, time of day and location has a big impact on the results. Couples may have a particular engagement photo idea when they start out, but while discussing their relationship and history with the photographer, they get new and inspiring ideas, so the results are way beyond their expectations. Engagement photos offer an opportunity for capturing many different memories and moods. The wedding is the Event, but the engagement shows the road leading to it.