To think engagement photo shoots are the cringiest of cringe

[DollyMixture99]

And I will definitely not be having one!

My DH and I had them and they are so awful that we've never shown them to anyone - we got talked into them by the photographer - waste of time and money. In fact the only wedding/engagement photo on display was taken by a friend

I see both sides really but I'm more on the side of thinking that they're horribly cringey when they're for public viewing. It's one thing for a couple to have these but as soon as they're made 'public', to me it becomes very much about needing public approbation and is everything to do with our 'celeb culture'.

That pregnancy bump post from Talcum made me think how weird and fake it was and I agree with her absolutely.

It's as if normal everyday events are no longer between those directly involved and their families, but must, must, absolutely MUST receive positive comments from the general public, from people who don't even know them. It's so fake...

Russian wedding photos are the best. I really wish more UK newlyweds would copy the style

www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/02/04/russian-wedding-photos_n_4724608.html

I'm with fairylee the overly staged photos just aren't my taste at all. To me there's a massive difference between capturing a moment and making a memory and posing for a photo for its own sake.

If I dressed up for a night out and looked great I'd totally like a picture of it but getting all dressed up just so that I can get a pattering photo done to post on facebook/hang on my wall for their people to see seems narcissistic.

YANBU. They are awful and tacky. It's a direct result of okay type magazines.

However they are NOT on the same scale as marry-oke!

Op, has anyone actually asked you to marry them?

All staged photo shoots are a little bit cringey IMO

Oh, obviously each to their own, but when I was living in the ME, everyone whose house I ever visited seemed to have used the same pregnancy photographer.

It got to the point where DH and I would have to stifle giggles when we went into someone's living room and saw an almost identical photo - this photographer put every woman in a white bandeau type top, wanted to do the shoot at exactly 36 weeks (for the right-sized bump), recommended fake tan (for glow!), loose waves in the hair, and the same make-up artist, and seemed to do the same few poses on the beach with the husband/partner and any older children all staring goofily at the bump like it had just spoken to them. And so soft-focus it looked like she'd shot through three inches of Vaseline.

Can't bear them. What is it with the hiding behind trees?! Though recently I had the misfortune to see a "pregnancy announcement shoot", and that was even worse.

Ha ha, those are so funny, Nancy. I thought the last photo was a bride and a cucumber... ... It isn't.

And on another wall there was always a photograph of a very dressed-up toddler posed in a box, I've just remembered.

Yes of course it's 'each to their own'; it's when they don't keep it to their own and choose to make it public that people have the right of their opinions and will be non-plussed, completely indifferent, grossed out or any other perception they may have.

I think that even some close family members would bit their lips and say nothing rather than let rip with their genuine thoughts.

Very cringey. Am also agog at the photographer having to check people's colourings! Weddings have gone crazy.

Some people just can't stand happy.

Or perhaps some people can't stand artificial, frozen-grinned, expensive re-stagings of 'happiness'? Is an engagement an engagement if there's no photo of the couple adorably playing peekaboo in a wood?

I just don't know why anyone would?! It makes me think that they're a bit narcissistic, surely people don't careTHAT much that you're engaged that they'd want to see a professional photo shoot announcing that fact?!

Geez. MN is so ridiculously judgey and nasty.

Yeah I wouldn't have one done but I can comprehend people are different.

A girl on my Facebook won an engagement shoot as part of a contest and the photos made me cringe, they're so awkward. They're gazing at each other under trees and on bridges but they're so rigid and unnatural, like Chandler in the photo shoot episode of Friends

Horribly cheesy, definitely wouldn't do one. I wouldn't imagine anyone actually caring THAT much if I got engaged.

Naff and unnecessary. Get my wedding photos once a year on our anniversary and hate the look into my eyes, around my eyes photos. My photographer came back at night when we were a bit pissed and more relaxed - these are my favs.

We had one as part of our wedding photo package, only it was called a pre wedding photo shoot. We have one of the photos framed and in our living room. It's just of the two of us smiling at the camera and looking normal, but I love it! Completely worth it to have a nice photo of the two of us that isn't a wedding pic.

These are great: www.buzzfeed.com/nataliemorin/14-engagement-photos-that-will-make-you-happy-you-a0ne?s=mobile

I'm also not a fan of any staged photo shoots, so I can't envision I will ever take my own family to have one done in the future. However, I can totally see why other people get them done. I can think of three I've seen which have tempted me: my mum and dad had a beach photo shoot on holiday in Mexico, which came out beautifully. They both look ecstatic to be together, which is nice after thirty years of marriage. My godmother has four beautiful children, and has a fun professional shot of them all in "play" clothes just throwing each other round a bit. And my friend has a cute newborn shot of her holding her son.

I do privately think that pregnancy photo shoots are all pretty awful, and I suspect I don't do a very good job of hiding my feelings when presented publicly with them. I will NEVER have one myself, I can say that with certainty. I would burn with embarrassment and awkwardness while having it done.

DP and I got engaged last month. I've got two "inadvertant" engagement photos from the evening it happened. We were having a glass of wine in the garden with my family afterwards. Mum snapped one of the two of us smiling for the camera, and my brother got a nice one of us talking together without us realising he was taking a picture. They've perfectly captured that memory for me.

I AM having an engagement party though, which others will doubtless find hideos. But, fuck it, we're not marrying for another 23 months, so my family have found an excuse for a good Cornish shindig in the meantime. And I'm not saying no to an excuse for a cider and a pasty.

Naff in extremis.

Behindhersmile sorry I didn't mean to sound like a complete bitch, I just think that whilst I would be happy two people had got engaged, I wouldn't be interested enough to see photos of it to be honest. Perhaps I'm just a miserable so and so!

I had one as it was part of our wedding photography package, but we haven't shared the photos round. I'm pleased I did it though as we have very few photos of the two of us together as its usually one of us taking the photo!