Engagement & Bridal Sessions
Engagement Session: $150
Bridal Session: $150
Trash the Dress Session: $150 (details at the bottom of this page)
Your session fee includes:
- Phone Consultation to design your session experience
- The photographer’s time and talent for up to 2 hours
- 1 individual or 1 couple
- Post processing of each individual image, including the Photographer’s artistic hand editing of each image you order
- Approximately 20-30 proofs from which to choose
- Private online viewing gallery to share with family and friends
- Private ordering session
NOTE: Minimum $300 purchase required. Session fees are non-refundable and are due at booking to reserve your date. If you need to reschedule, 24hr notice is required. Payment by phone with credit card is most convenient for booking.
Prices subject to change without notice. NC Sales tax of 6.75% is added to all session fees.
Print Pricing
All prints and products are priced individually and are printed through a professional print lab.
Desk Prints: 5×7: $35 8×10: $55 Wall Prints: start at $95 and are mounted
Specialized Custom Artworks available:
-Gallery Wraps, Story Boards, Display Books, Albums, CD of images, Save the date Cards with your images!
When should I schedule my engagement session?
If you are already planning your wedding, and would like to share these images at your reception, please schedule your engagement session at least 3 months prior to your wedding date. Plan further in advance if you plan for a Bridal sessions as well, even up to 8 to 12 months before the wedding date. The more time you allow between these two big life events the better. Showing the seasons is always great as well. For example, if you’re getting married in June, have your engagement session in early Fall of the year before. If you’re in the middle of a whirlwind romance, and your wedding is approaching soon, please call as soon as possible. Dates are often booked 1-2 months in advance.
Where should we have our engagement session?
Every photo session is unique. You can choose to have your session in the studio or on location. Our complimentary phone consultation will help to determine which location will best suit your needs. We have several outdoor locations to recommend if you decide that is what is best for you.
What should we wear for our engagement session?
Anything goes and clothes changes are acceptable. But here are a few guidelines: solid colors are best, avoid white, choose tiny patterns if any, and please coordinate your clothes together. If you lay the outfits on the bed together and they look like they coordinate, then you’re good! If you can’t decide, then bring a few options and we can look at them together. Consider one dressy and one casual outfit for you both. Don’t go too far out of character. One thing Vanessa G. Photography is known for is representing authentic people and moments. Your images will be best when you feel more comfortable. Clothing plays a part in that.
What if he doesn’t want to do the engagement session?
For those men who are not real excited about this type of session, you will be pleasantly surprised that things go more smoothly than expected. The only person you need to concentrate on is your lovely new fiancé. No fake, ‘say cheese’ required. You will be allowed to laugh, talk, and be the man she fell in love with. As a bonus, she will love that you did this!!…and you will too!
What if I don’t know how to pose or stand together for our engagement session?
That’s ok! We are not trying to complete a list of poses like your boring department store photographer. You will do things naturally that will look great. If needed, a little direction will be given about how to use your body to accentuate the positive. The key is to relax and be your self. Even if that’s silly, serious, crazy, shy, loud, quiet, etc. Your session images will turn out fantastic, don’t worry about that. Expect a big variety, from far off images to very close, in-your-face images. If you want, you can check out a few magazines to get some ideas. We want all sides of your relationship to show. We want to see all the reasons you fell in love and why this relationship works. And you do not always have to look at the camera, in fact, some of the best images are when you together are just being YOU together. You will not be forced to do anything you feel uncomfortable doing. Think of this session as a way to document the two personalities you were before the wedding because over the next few years, you will inevitably mesh into a new existence. Not a bad thing. It’s love that makes the world go round.
When should I schedule a Bridal Session?
If you would like to display your bridal images at your reception, then plan to have your bridal session at least 3 months prior to your wedding.
Where should I have my Bridal Session?
Every photo session is unique. Bridal Sessions by Vanessa G. Photography are offered in both the studio and on location, our specialty. During your pre-consultation we will help you decide what location will be best for you. Bridal sessions should show your personality and your style, however, going completely creative and outside the box here is awesome.
How should I prepare for the Bridal Session?
Plan to bring at least one other person with you to help maneuver the dress. All the other details are up to you. You can decide if you want a bouquet, fancy hair up-do, manicure, different shoes, a red sash, an antique hat, etc. There are no rules here. This can be as non-traditional as you’d like. You are expected to have fun modeling the most expensive dress you’ve ever owned.
Was that girl in the Unique Brides gallery really in the water with her wedding dress on?????
YES! This was, of course, after the wedding day. She had actually been married several years and had the dress re-altered for this special session call “Trash the Dress.”
What do you mean “Trash the Dress”?
The idea behind Trash the Dress is to essentially design a bridal session with no limits. This type of session would assume that you had no desire to store and keep your dress for your future daughter who will think it is out of style and might not fit her. Because all normal restraints are removed, you would have the freedom to go anywhere and do anything in that beautiful dress.
The main goal is to create artistic images to be used as artwork in your home. Anyone can have the studio posed, doll-like images of themselves in the wedding dress. Few will have created edgy, timeless, unforgettable artworks. These certainly will command attention and will be the most memorable of anything you do in that dress. Why condemn that dress to a lifetime in a box or closet? You loved when you bought it, make it last forever.
A Trash the Dress session is NOT an event where we purposely try to ruin your wedding dress. We will not throw mud on it and rip it to shreds. However, this session comes with the understanding that your dress may likely be indirectly damaged through the session and may not be reparable.
This Trash the Dress session can also include your husband. The location is your choice.
Maybe you’ve been married for more than a few years and that wedding dress still hangs in the closet. Let’s trash it!
Would you be available to photograph my wedding?
At this time, Vanessa G. Photography is not offering Wedding Day services. Keep in mind that you are not obligated to have your Engagement or Bridal session with your Wedding Day photographer. If you think our style is better suited to your taste for your Engagement or Bridal session, then please give us a call.
Ordering Questions:
When can I see my proofs?
Generally, it takes about two weeks to edit and prepare your images for you to enjoy. Digital files will be uploaded, narrowed to a gallery of 20-30, and then hand edited one at a time to near perfection. Black and white conversions will be made from those color images with the best contrast for this style of print. After your session is complete we will look at the calendar and select an Ordering Session date and your proof posting date.
Why do I have to come to you? Can’t I just see them online?
Vanessa G. Photography is a custom portrait service. In order to better serve you and provide top quality customer service, you will be asked to attend an ordering session at the studio. This is to your advantage. You will have the opportunity to see and touch all products offered. Some of which cannot be fully appreciated by viewing online. In addition, you can see sample wall galleries on display to help you visualize the possibilities of your own images.
You will have a professional at your side to answer any questions you might have about prints or products offered. You will be able to view your own images in the exact size you might want to order. If needed, you can compare two or more images side by side and zoom in to see details. Should you select a custom product like a Storyboard or Birth Announcement, it can be edited to your satisfaction during your session. You will be able to approve the final proof during this time. None of these are possible when viewing online.
To maximize our time, you should invite all of your decision makers to your ordering session.
Rest assured that there will not be any pushy sales tactics involved. You are expected to enjoy this experience and leave feeling happy and satisfied.
Do I have to place my order NOW? Can I wait until later?
Your contract agreement requires an order within 30 days after your images are available for viewing. If your session includes a print credit, it will expire after 30 days. If you have not placed an order within 30 days, a $300 deposit is required to keep your digital files available for an extended 30 day ordering period. After these 30 additional days, your $300 deposit will expire. Images not ordered are still purged regularly.
Can’t I just scan my smaller prints and make copies for extended family members?
NO! It is very illegal to scan prints and make copies of them. You need to purchase as many images you need. All images taken by Vanessa G. Photography are copyright protected by federal law. No reproductions, print or digital, should be made without written consent of the photographer. At your session you will be asked to sign a Session Contract and Model Release form acknowledging these facts. Violations of our copyright will be taken seriously and are punishable by law…even without a signed contract.
To be very clear, the following are not permitted and are in violation of our copyright:
DO NOT scan images and reprint them.
DO NOT scan images and post on line (Facebook for example). If you have the disk of images, you have permission to use them online.
DO NOT take photos of your prints with your cell phone and post those images on line (Facebook for example).
What happens during an ordering session?
First, you will be invited to explore the studio galleries and gather a few ideas for the prints and products you might be interested in having. You will enjoy comfortable seating and be offered a light refreshment. Kleenex’s will be available at that time of your viewing because happy tears are expected.
The next step will be narrowing down your list of favorite images and deciding how to use them.
I want my family to see the images too. Can you post them online?
Yes! The images will be posted in a private online viewing gallery for 7 days.
How long will it take for my order to arrive?
Generally, you can plan to pick your order up within 3 weeks.
Do you offer a payment plan?
Yes! When you reach a certain investment level, you can choose the 3 payment plan option using a credit card. Two payments are required before your order is processed.
Can I order more prints at a later date?
Yes and No. Because digital images require digital storage, images not ordered in 30 days will be frequently purged from the storage system. Any image ordered during your 30 day window will be kept on file for as long as possible. This may be up to one year. As long as your images are on file, you may order additional items. All non-ordered images will be deleted to conserve storage space, as they will be considered unwanted.
I want a CD of my images. Can I order that?
Yes! Low Resolution files, for digital sharing only, are FREE and are gifted at multiple investment levels. High Resolution files, for printing your own images, are available for purchase. Find more about this topic under the CD of Images tab under Session Information.
Copyright Notice: All images taken by Vanessa G. Photography are copyright protected by federal law. No reproductions, print or digital, should be made without written consent of the photographer. At your session you will be asked to sign a Session Contract and Model Release form acknowledging these facts.
The TEXT found on the website and blog is also copyrighted to Vanessa G. Photography. Photographers may link to this page if needed, but should not COPY our text.