London Engagement Portraits are a fun and useful way to connect with your photographer ahead of your big day. Its completely normal to fret about your wedding portraits, believe me, I’ve been there. An engagement Portrait session in London is a perfect opportunity to hang out and practice being yourself in front of the camera. My Style of documentary photography is relaxed and natural, keeping static posing to a minimum. I don’t ask couples to kiss, hold hands or rest their foreheads on each other for a mock romantic moment. I much prefer to enjoy a stroll and reflect a couples personality through the lens. Narjis and Hanry wanted a glamorous engagement session so they chose Fulham Palace in West London. Champagne and evening dress were the order of day, stylish and elegant.
Booking a London Engagement Portrait Session
Engagement portraits in London are becoming increasingly popular. Engagement portraiture is a great opportunity to get used to being photographed ahead of your wedding day. My approach to an engagement portrait session in London is very straight forward and always a bit of a giggle. You guys choose a fave location, it might be a local park or a London land mark, say the Millennium Bridge. We arrange a time to meet, if you can bare it, super early on a Sunday morning is always a winner as there are less crowds. Alternatively, early evening with the sun getting low in the sky can be beautiful too.
What do I wear for an Engagement Portrait Session?
An engagement portrait session takes around an hour and half. I prefer not shoot overly posed portraits, a relaxed wander with the odd stop is much more fun and produces far more flattering photography. “What should we wear?” I hear you ask. I recommend something non branded and semi smart. Give your footwear a thought, killer heels might be a pain (literally) after an hour of walking a Thames path. I often stop during a portrait session to grab a coffee or if its an evening session maybe a crisp glass of white! I will take a step back and capture some natural images of you both while you relax and chat over a drink. Not all engagement portraits have to be walking through a leafy park.
Engagement Portraits in Regents Park
Maria and Andrew chose to meet me in Regents ahead of their Goring Hotel Wedding. Andrew was quite resistant to having a London engagement portrait session. Maria, on the other hand was fully on board! She had sent me reference pictures of engagement portraits she loved and some she wanting to avoid. Reference pictures are always helpful, feel free to share any imagery you love or hate, its super useful for me, the wedding photographer. With the promise of a beer at The Langham Hotel at the end of the portrait session Andrew learnt to ignore me and relax with his beautiful bride to be. Regents Park has so many different areas that it really works as an Engagement Portrait location. There are wild areas with long grass along side manicured gardens and cute bridges. Basically a ton of wonderful portrait opportunities.
Central London Engagement Portraits
As promised, Andrew got his cold beer in The Langham Hotel in Portland Place. After the engagement session we stopped to chat through the wedding day schedule and wind down over a drink. Both the bride and groom call London home and wanted some classic London streets to feature in their photographs. The Langham Hotel is a short walk from Regents Park and has a wonderful bar, a perfect pit stop!
London Engagement and Wedding Portraiture
If you would like to check my availability for your own London engagement portrait then drop me a line any time. I am happy to include an engagement photography session into your wedding photography package. If you are super nervous ahead of your big day then this might well be the best hour and half you could spend. Getting used to the camera, getting some tips from me and having a giggle are all part of the service, I’m very much looking forward to meeting you. Check out my Portfolio Page for some new 2022 weddings if you would like to see more of my work.
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John Sanders is a London-based wedding photographer with over 10 years of experience. He specialises in non-intrusive documentary photography that captures raw emotions, stories, and stunning locations across London and the South East.
