05/01/2026
Most couples think an engagement session is about the photos.
It’s not (entirely).
You’ll get images you love.
The save-the-dates, the gallery, the posts leading up to the wedding. That part is covered.
But the couples I work with book it for a different reason.
Here’s what actually happens.
You show up and you feel stiff. Everyone does. Nobody knows what to do when a photographer says “just be yourselves” - that is not a natural situation. The first ten minutes are uncomfortable. Your hands feel wrong. You’re overthinking your outfit. You’re smiling the way you smile in photos, not the way you smile at each other.
In a few moments, something shifts.
You forget about me. You say something only the two of you think is funny. You laugh for real. That is when we start getting the photos that make it to the gallery…
But here is why that matters beyond the session.
On your wedding day, I am going to be close, probably the closest of all the vendors you have.
During the vows. During the first look. If that is the first time we have worked together, there is a warmth-up period. An hour or two before you stop noticing the camera.
But we have already done this, you walk in and breathe. I already know how you two move together. Who reaches for the other one first. Who holds it together and who doesn’t.
What side you like to stand on.
A decade of shooting weddings in New York has taught me that the couples who feel the most natural on their wedding day are the ones who showed up for this session first. Not because of practice, rather because of trust.
You will get photos you are proud of. But you will also walk into the biggest day of your life already knowing the person behind the camera has your back.
That is what the session is actually for.
—
josemelgarejo.com
