Pre- and Post-Nuptial Photography

Gone are the days of stuffy studio portraits where gussied-up engaged couples, heads cocked to one side, smiled uncomfortably for the camera. Wedding photographers are pumping charm, personality, and a touch of sass into engagement sessions. If you’d like to capture the post-wedding fun (and relief) as well, post-nup shots—where newlyweds need not fear a smudge or smear on nuptial duds—in cool locales can provide the perfect finale for your album or thank-you notes.

Here are some tips and tricks from three local photographers who specialize in fabulous pre- and post-nuptial photography.

Relive Your Big Day
Twin Cities photographers are helping lead a new national trend, scheduling post-nuptial sessions as part of wedding packages. These shoots can take place weeks or even months after the big day. The benefit, according to photographer Erin Johnson, is the flexibility.

“You can add dramatic makeup and fun accessories, go to multiple locations with different looks, and of course you can get down-and-dirty,” Johnson says. “I have had couples jump in a lake and fountains.”

Some photogs call these shoots “trash the dress” sessions. We’d rather you keep that keepsake gown intact, thank you very much, but whatever you do on your photo shoot—you get to wear your gown one more time.

It’s Personal
Photographer Bjorn Meisner works hard to draw out couples’ interests and personalities during engagement shoots.

“We don’t have an event—nobody is walking down the aisle, there’s no first kiss—so we need to create situations,” he says. “The best pictures come out of couples taking that given situation and making it their own.”

One of Meisner’s most memorable client couples, Kathy and Michael, loved all things St. Paul—especially the coffee shops. For their session, Meisner took the pair to several shops in the Grand Avenue and Cathedral Hill neighborhoods: He staged scenes of the couple sipping at Starbucks, kissing in Nina’s doorway, and lounging at Dunn Bros, among others. He also captured the couple frolicking in a dog park and posing inside the University Club of St. Paul.

Know Your Photographer (and Vice Versa)
Prenuptial shoots provide couples with great keepsakes they’ll actually want to hang on the wall, but engagement sessions have an even more important raison d’être: Photographers sneak a peek at the way the two of you move in front of a camera—before the big day.

“I get to know my couples better and vice versa,” Anderson says. “I see what kind of lighting works best and how they photograph and react together. There’s a comfort level there that can’t be beat on the wedding day.”

Reconnecting on Camera
Truth be told, my husband and I had a stressful engagement. We lived hours apart—he in school in northern Minnesota, I working in the Twin Cities—and planned our wedding in less than six months. One of the few relaxing moments came when our photographer, Kristian Olson, led us around downtown Minneapolis for an engagement photo shoot. Kristian gave us some loose direction, and soon we were laughing, posing, and hamming it up for the camera. For a few hours, we put the wedding-planning stress on hold and reconnected. Three years later, we love to flip through our engagement album—which doubled as our guest book at the wedding—and reminisce about the joy we found in that session.

Months after our big day, my husband, Michael, and I donned our wedding finery and hit the Minnesota State Fair. With our fearless photographer, Kristian Olson, in tow, we rode the Ferris wheel, flew down the Giant Slide, and ate our weight in Sno Cones. During this shoot, there was no pressure to keep on schedule, greet guests, or try to keep my dress hem clean. To this day, these are some of our favorite “wedding” shots.