This year was full of such wonderful engagement sessions in such a huge variety of locations!

From the city sessions in D. C. and Alexandria to the mountain sunset sessions at Skyline Drive to the historical setting of Hartwood Acres in Pennsylvania, I saw it all!  More importantly, I had that special time to meet with each of my couples.  So along with introducing the 17 engagement sessions of 2017, I’d like to share my top five reasons why an engagement session is so vital.

First, it gives us a chance to get to know each other before the big day.  The more I get to know you and the two of you together, the better I can serve you on your big day.  It gives me a chance to see how you interact, which is vital!  Are you a couple who loves to smooch often or do you crack each other up all the time?  This gives me the chance to find out and it also gives you the chance to see how I work as well! Jessica and Chris’ Airlie engagement session was both romantic and fun!

Second, it’s FUN.  It gives you a time to connect with each other.  I tell my couples to schedule a date night after the engagement session because you are going to have such a special time together and you want to be able to continue the fun!

Jackie and Todd’s Morven Park engagement session incorporated their love of travel and having lots of fun adventures together!

Third, it eases your mind before the wedding day.  So many people tell me that they feel awkward in front of the camera, but I assure you, you WON’T when we have our engagement session.  I keep you moving throughout the session, enjoying each other with minimal posing.  I never tell you to “act naturally” because none of us knows what that means!  I help kind you into poses and movements that flow with who YOU are as a couple.

Melissa and Tim danced, smooched and played with their pup, Herbie…all the way around the World War Two and Washington Monuments!

Fourth, it gives you an opportunity to show yourselves as couples when you aren’t in your wedding attire.  Some couples bring two outifts…one dressy and one casual.  I encourage you to consider an outfit that embodies how you are together on a weekend as well as one that says, “We are headed out on the town for a very special occasion.”  Plus, these images will make amazing “Save the Dates!”

Rachel and Robert wore casual clothing for half of their session and then donned this more formal attire for their time in the gardens at Hartwood Acres.

Finally, you have an opportunity to explore a new place together OR visit a place that holds a special memory.  You might want to pick a place that you’ve never explored together or perhaps you want to go back to the place where he proposed.  Either way, it makes for a wonderful evening to spend together in a special place.

Amanda and Noah decided on a JMU engagement session because it is not only their Alma Mater but also the place where the first met!  We even visited outside their classroom where they first met.

Here are a few more fun facts about this year’s engagement sessions:

1. I will not be photographing two out of the 17 couples’ weddings as they are both out of state and/or country on days I am already booked.
2. Three engagement sessions were not in Virginia.
3. Four engagement sessions incorporated bouquets.
4. Five sessions included a fur baby.
5. Eight sessions were with couples who tied the knot in 2017.

There are still twelve more couples who either tied the knot this year or are doing so next year whom I have yet to introduce so without further ado,

Mollie and Garrett’s Alexandria engagement session was loads of fun with some of our favorite stops and their Walden Hall Wedding was out-of-this-world amazing!

Meghan and Trevor’s Georgetown engagement session included their sweet fur baby, a bit of ubering and gorgeous weather for an equally gorgeous couple.  And their Rixey Manor wedding with the ceremony at St. John’s Catholic Church was simply phenomenal!

Amanda and Alex’s Skyline Drive engagement session was a picture of Fall perfection and Cody shared the day with them, just as he did at their romantic winter Airlie wedding!

Sari and Cole explored Great Falls with Piggy on a beautiful and warm day.  I can’t wait for their Old House Vineyards wedding this year!

Hayley and Sam explored Maymont for their fun and very sweet engagement session and later tied the knot at Brandy Hill Farm on a warm summer’s day!

Chris and Beth danced their way through the Great Marsh estate prior to celebrating their candlelit, romantic Early Mountain Vineyards wedding day.

Megan and Ben actually had two engagement sessions…one in the pouring cold rain in Alexandria (but didn’t they rock it?!) and the other at their wedding venue.  I can’t wait for their Walden Hall wedding this year!

Abby and Shashtri’s engagement session took place on her family’s property, close to her heart.  One season later we were celebrating their Wolftrap Farms Wedding Day!

Alyssa and Eric enjoyed the Spring blooms at Sky Meadows Park and later celebrated with their Valley View Farm wedding right next door!

Anne and Jon’s Great Falls engagement was met with a very dark sky and a steady rain, but that didn’t phase these two one bit!  They later had bright, warm and sunny weather for their Airlie wedding day in August!

Taryn and Cody’s Pearmund Cellars engagement session was bright and beautiful with perfect Fall weather.  They will be tying the knot in Mexico this Spring!

Kelsey and Mitchell were so much fun and made Snead’s Asparagus Farm look amazing!  They will be tying the knot in Florida this Spring!

Congratulations to all the Lieb Photographic couples who had fun on their engagement sessions with me in 2017!

Michelle Lieb with Lieb Photographic is a Virginia Wedding Photographer, Charlottesville Wedding Photographer, Culpeper Wedding Photographer, Fredericksburg Wedding Photographer, Washington DC Wedding Photographer, Phoenix Wedding Photographer, Destination Wedding Photographer and a wedding photographer in the surrounding areas.