Our E-shoot

Who doesn't love e-shoots, those precious moments of ultimate PDA? I enjoy admiring over them, but the thought of actually having to go through one? Uh, not so much. Why? It's kind of weird to get all close and snuggly to my guy with someone's huge lenses poking in on our makeout session. I just couldn't see myself feeling natural with the whole thing.

But we didn't think we would have an e-shoot, because we thought it was an added expense we couldn't afford. Besides, an e-shoot fell in our nice-to-have-but-not-all-that-important category. So a friend of ours borrowed a camera and we headed down to San Clemente where the fiance proposed. We had a blast playing around at the beach and hanging out. My fiance and I wore Samoan beaded necklaces--the same necklaces his parents wore on their wedding day. I also wore a flower on the left--a Polynesian tradition to signify me being "taken"-- and an old white sun dress I've had for a couple years.

So, in the end, it wasn't a stiff photo shoot, but a chance to just have fun at the beach with friends...and get some neat pics out of it, too. They weren't professional photos, but I think they came out nicely. Not only were the photos free, but my friend--an amazing graphic designer--offered to retouch them and give us all the photos. So we can use them for whatever we wanted, like the Save the Dates (which she also designed), a photo guestbook and our Web site. We'll print a few photos and display them at our reception, as well.

If you really want a professional photographer capturing your prenuptial love session, then go for it! But, if you're strapped for cash, and would rather save the professional services for the wedding day, then ask a friend with a good camera and a good eye to be your e-shoot extraordinaire!