I recently had the pleasure of setting up a pre-wedding photo shoot at Aphrodite Hills with a lovely young couple named Elena & Constantinos. The setting was divine: The sunset unfurled its rainbow hues gloriously over rolling hills of green as the clouds drifted along lazily, dreamy puffs lingering in the summer haze. The warmth and splendour of nature surrounded my subjects as they enjoyed a beautifully private moment together—despite my presence clicking away with the camera—holding hands, sharing a glass of wine, cuddling together, and even leaping into the air, alight with joy.
As I photographed them, I got thinking about the importance of having a pre-wedding photo shoot. Some couples tend to skip this ritual and instead only take pictures during the wedding, but in doing so, they miss out on a valuable opportunity: Having a pre-wedding photo shoot is every bit as important as ensuring professional photographs are taken on your big day.
This is the case for both practical reasons—it allows you and your partner to have a chance to get used to interacting in front of the camera, and allows the photographer to learn all of your best angles—and personal reasons. As you can see from the pictures, having a pre-wedding photo shoot allowed this couple a chance to express their creative souls (Elena is an artist—whose work can be seen here—and Constantinos plays guitar), to capture timeless memories of the inspiration they draw from one another. It gave them the perfect setting to express the soul of what makes their love unique.
Pre-wedding shoots give couples the opportunity to take pictures that reflect who they are as people, outside of the ceremony of the wedding itself. They often feature a favourite hobby or shared passion, something special and meaningful, which may be symbolic to the couple (often an element of what brought them together—hence the inclusion of Constantinos’s guitar in the shots).
They also give couples some precious time to simply relax and truly memorialise their love, without the pressure and hubbub of many people around them. Preparing for a wedding is thrilling, but also hectic and often stressful; as such, it’s vitally important to take time out, as a couple, to just be with one another, to focus on the magic of the connection that brought you together in the first place.
Pre-wedding photo shoots offer a place of peace, tranquility, and creativity, allowing couples a moment to fall in love with each other all over again while a photographer stands quietly in the background, capturing each tender smile, each touch of the hand, and every tender kiss. After all, it is these perfect, fleeting times a couple spends totally focused on one another that truly nurture the blossom of love itself, and flow together to create something unforgettable.
