While many couples see the engagement session as a photographic perk that might be first on the chopping block due to budget, this part of the photo process is the most important to me, and I think it should be highly important to you as well.
First, it lets me get to know you. The last thing you should ever want is a photographer who you don't know peppering you with questions on your wedding day. You'll have enough people vying for your thoughts that day, I promise, and I don't want to be one of them. I want you to forget I'm there, and I want to blend into the background and just capture what's happening around us. This happens a whole lot easier if we've done it all before -- like in an engagement session.
Second, holding an engagement session helps me to find your best angles. I want you to look your absolute best on the big day, and I think you do, too.
Third, if we've done a session already, you can give me feedback. For instance, I hate X angle or I loved X pose with my guy. You get the picture. No pun intended. This is also a great time to tell me that you love the black and white photos more than color, and I should process a ton of them that way for the wedding, or vice versa.
Fourth, when I tell you to pose like Y, you know exactly what I mean because, oh hey we've done this before! This means that photos on your wedding day go waaaay faster, and you have more time to spend with the people you love and care about. Which is exactly what you should be doing on your wedding day, not going over details with the photographer.
Oh! And lastly? If we do an engagement session, you will be totally used to me telling you to get all lovey and nuzzle and smooch etc. and then pointing a big lens right into your faces. I'm not gonna lie, that can get a little weird. But if we've done it before and laughed at the ridiculousness of it and you've seen that the photos are awesome, then on your big day it's no big deal. Which is how it should be.